Think this is disgusting?

That’s disgustiing, and I’m not talking about today’s picture. Which I’ll admit is pretty disgusting. However to God sometimes the things we do are even more disgusting to him than this picture. We try to bring things to God and say look at this or look at me. We try to act all cool when we think we are in front of Him and the truth is He sees us all of the time. When we go to church or do good things again we say look at me God, Look at what I’m doing and when we do it just to try and impress Him, it disgusts Him. After all how can YOU impress God? It’s all about intentions. What are your intentions for the things that you do? If it’s to try and impress God, good luck with that. If it is out of a love and worship for God He won’t be impressed but He will be pleased.

Isaiah 1: 11-14
¹¹ “What makes you think I want all your sacrifices?”
says the Lord.
“I am sick of your burnt offerings of rams
and the fat of fattened cattle.
I get no pleasure from the blood
of bulls and lambs and goats.
¹² When you come to worship me,
who asked you to parade through my courts with all your ceremony?
¹³ Stop bringing me your meaningless gifts;
the incense of your offerings disgusts me!
As for your celebrations of the new moon and the Sabbath
and your special days for fasting—
they are all sinful and false.
I want no more of your pious meetings.
¹⁴ I hate your new moon celebrations and your annual festivals.
They are a burden to me. I cannot stand them!

Fashion tips for today's Christian

I apologize in advance for the length of today’s blog, people appreciate the brevity of these blogs however today isn’t the case and it was not fair to split it up.

Notice how this soldier is dressed, he is ready for battle and you should be too. Perhaps today’s blog will provide fashion tips for today’s Christian.   

 With today’s soldier the belt of truth is called a LBE (load bearing equipment ) it holds the soldiers equipment like his handgun, grenades , a knife and extra ammo. They would never think of going into battle without it. Our belt of truth for spiritual war is knowing the truth about Jesus Christ.

 The breast plate of righteousness is putting on the right kind of living. If you live the wrong way God is going to see it even before you do it. If you look at today’s picture you can see that he has put on everything he might need to survive.

To soldiers their boots are very important to them. It has been said that historically  more soldiers have gone down from foot problems than from bullets. So as a Christian your feet should be important to you as well. The right kind of shoes keep you from slipping when standing firm. Just think of the many different kind of shoes there are today. Football , baseball, track etc. They are all designed for a special purpose. we are rooted, grounded  and standing firm when we are wearing our shoes. They were created for the purpose of standing firm against Satan.

There are not too many shields used in today’s battle field. The closest thing that I can think about is the Kevlar vest they wear to protect themselves. The other one I can think of that resembles the one Paul talks about hear is more like the riot shields you see the police carrying. Back in the Roman times the Roman carried shields that were about 2'x4' and they stood together and interlocked them for protection.  The most powerful asset we have is our faith. The stronger our faith is the better chances we have to withstand Satan. Just like the Roman soldier stood together with their shields we need to stand together with other believers to fight our battles.

On the battlefield the soldier’s helmet is one of the most important pieces of equipment they wear. They wear it to protect their head.  Your head needs protected on the battle field. The head is the first place Satan attacks so we need our helmet salvation to protect us from wrong thinking. We can’t stop a bad thought from entering our mind but with our helmet of salvation we have the ability to send it right out.

The sword of the sprit is the word of God. It is the most powerful weapon we have. It is not only a defensive weapon it is an offensive weapon as well. Any soldier will become absolutely intimate with their weapon. Just like the gunslingers from the old west. They eat with it they sleep with it and now everything about it. They know how much they have to depend on it to possibly save their life someday and they know they couldn’t accomplish their mission without it. So in turn we need to do the same with the word of God we need to eat with it sleep with it and just put it in our hearts and our minds so with can draw it as fast as possible when needed. Not putting on all this equipment would be like going into battle naked. That is something you just wouldn’t do.

 Ephesians 6:13-17

¹³ Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm. ¹⁴ Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness. ¹⁵ For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared.^{[d] 16} In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil.^{[e] 17} Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

Hate your enemies

Hate your enemies? I’m sure you are thinking has Mike lost it? I thought he was supposed to be this Christian and that Jesus said love your enemies? The first thing we have to do is establish who the enemy really is and I think once we do that you will understand the title of today’s blog. The real enemy is revealed in Ephesians 6:11-12:

¹¹ Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. ¹² For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.

I’m pretty sure that we should not love the devil, evil rulers, evil authorities and evil spirits. In fact we are to suit up and fight against them. We are given the battle plan to fight against Satan in verse 11. It does not say go out and seek the devil it says stand firm. That is all you have to do is to suit up and stand firm. Remember what they say war is hell, it may not be easy but just stand firm. As you know the Bible also says resist the devil and he will flee. Going out and looking for him is probably not a good idea. Also keep in mind that all of the stuff that you go through every day that is caused by people and we know there is plenty of that, that it’s not them you’re really fighting against it’s the things listed here, the devil, evil rulers, evil authorities and evil spirits.  Believe it or not as Christians there are things that we are supposed to hate, these things and sin are on that list.

Who’s the boss? I’m not talking about the sitcom that aired from 1984 to 1992.

It does not matter if you have a great job a terrible job or something in between if you understand who the real boss is I think things will go much better for you. Where ever you are God has you there for a reason and you may or may not know what that reason is, but there is one. So if you’re there you might as well make the best of it. What’s really cool is when you figure out why you are there, what His purpose for you is. So start praying for God to show you why you are where you are. If He chooses to show you great, if He doesn’t He has a reason for that too. Do the will of God with all your heart.

 Ephesians 6:5-7

⁵ Slaves, obey your earthly masters with deep respect and fear. Serve them sincerely as you would serve Christ. ⁶ Try to please them all the time, not just when they are watching you. As slaves of Christ, do the will of God with all your heart. ⁷ Work with enthusiasm, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. ⁸ Remember that the Lord will reward each one of us for the good we do, whether we are slaves or free.

I had to throw in one last boss picture.

Me husband, You wife

Okay here is the verse everyone has been waiting for. I have not touched on this verse or subject in any other blog it is Ephesians 5:22  

For wives, this means submit to your husbands as to the Lord.

There I said it. Well I didn’t really say it, it is in God’s word. This is one of those verses that many women will dismiss and some men will never touch because if you read it out of context just like this very divisive and controversial. Then there are the guys that will quote this verse in a heartbeat thinking this makes them superior to women. However once you get past this verse and go on to the next things begin to change. Verse 23 goes, “For a husband is the head of his wife”  still sounds good to those who want to drag their wives by their hair. But from here on is where it changes. “as Christ is the head of the church. He is the Savior of his body, the church.”  Oh! That changes things. Now read verses 25-30.  

²⁵ For husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ loved the church. He gave up his life for her ²⁶ to make her holy and clean, washed by the cleansing of God’s word.^{[b] 27} He did this to present her to himself as a glorious church without a spot or wrinkle or any other blemish. Instead, she will be holy and without fault. ²⁸ In the same way, husbands ought to love their wives as they love their own bodies. For a man who loves his wife actually shows love for himself. ²⁹ No one hates his own body but feeds and cares for it, just as Christ cares for the church. ³⁰ And we are members of his body.

Love your wife as Christ loved the church, He gave his life up for her, to make her holy and clean, present her without spot or wrinkle, love your wife as you love yourself. For all of the wives who get worked up over verse 22 when I read the rest of this I think I want to be a wife. The husband is given so much responsibility,  and so many commands to be a good husband it's really a challenge. If a husband would do all of the things that Christ commands, a wife would gladly submit to him. Remember submission is not being dragged on the ground.  Husbands need to step up and be like Christ.

Take a shot at evil

I don’t care who you are, what race, nationality, religion  you are or what political views you have, there is one thing I’m sure that we can all agree on and that is that these are evil days. The things that are in the news just make you shake your head. The decisions people make are jaw dropping. The stuff that happens in kindergarten these days would make a Marine in the 50’s blush. We are at a time where people even complain about getting a raise and that they are making too much money for fear that they are going to lose their government aid. The moral and ethical health of this country is on life support. The scary part is that it could be a whole lot worse. Jesus has the plug of the life support in His hands, He knows the condition we are in, and if He chose to pull the plug it could be a  whole lot worse, He keeps it from getting that way. Even evil can be given limits by Jesus and it will obey. As much as evil makes us cringe, as upsetting it can be, and the fact that we want to steer clear of it you know what evil is? It’s nothing but an opportunity to point to the one holding the plug, and that’s Jesus. Jesus is able to use evil things to bring Him glory, He’s that good. The cool thing is He wants to use you in the process so you can experience the joy of making an opportunity out of evil for good. There are plenty of opportunities out there, why not take a shot? Every shot you don’t take is a guaranteed miss.

Ephesians 5:16
¹⁶ Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days.

Exposed

Ephesians 5:12-14a

 ¹² It is shameful even to talk about the things that ungodly people do in secret. ¹³ But their evil intentions will be exposed when the light shines on them, ¹⁴ for the light makes everything visible.

 When you think about the things ungodly people do in secret doesn’t your mind go straight to things like stealing, murder, rape, or other things that well you’d just as soon not talk about. But I think this verse also is talking about things that we would call good. Things like giving to the needy, helping others, going to church as well as many other things we think of as good. If you give with the wrong intentions, that’s evil. If you help others so that others can see you helping, that’s evil. It’s all about the intentions. When Jesus said that he was the truth and the light, he is the light that reveals your intentions. You know how businesses keep lights on all night long even when they are closed? It’s you can see it someone is in there. There is a light on in your heart all of the time, it's exposed so that Jesus can see what’s going on in there. The question is what does he see?

Silence is golden, to Satan

Ephesians 5:10-11

¹⁰ Carefully determine what pleases the Lord. ¹¹ Take no part in the worthless deeds of evil and darkness; instead, expose them

 There are three commands in these two verses and of you read them to quickly you will only see two. The first is pretty strait forward carefully determine what pleases the Lord. I think carefully is the key word there and perhaps where the phrase what would Jesus do came from. The next is taking no part in the worthless deeds of evil and darkness. Okay I get that one again pretty easy. However the one a person could tend to miss and perhaps the most difficult is the last one, instead expose them. Now this one is tough, at least for me anyway, exposing the worthless deeds of evil and darkness. This is where the world will throw the judgmental word in your face just to shut you up. Satan loves a quite Christian. As a Christian it is okay to say that sin is wrong, and that Jesus is the cure for sin, that is not being judgmental. In fact it is the exact opposite. Not warning someone of impending destruction is cold and callous if you ask me. The key as always is to be able to tell the truth in love. Again not to do evil is one thing, but to expose evil that is another. That takes faith and we are to live by faith and faith alone.

Stop making excuses

I am not one who usually goes around posting quotes by other people of course unless it is from the Bible or about Jesus. However today I am going to start out with three quotes that have to do with excuses. Here they are:

 He that is good for making excuses is seldom good for anything else. ~Benjamin Franklin

 Excuses are the tools with which persons with no purpose in view build for themselves great monuments of nothing. ~Steven Grayhm

 Don't do what you'll have to find an excuse for. ~Proverb

 Keep these quotes in mind as you read Ephesians 5:3-7

 ³ Let there be no sexual immorality, impurity, or greed among you. Such sins have no place among God’s people. ⁴ Obscene stories, foolish talk, and coarse jokes—these are not for you. Instead, let there be thankfulness to God. ⁵ You can be sure that no immoral, impure, or greedy person will inherit the Kingdom of Christ and of God. For a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world. ⁶ Don’t be fooled by those who try to excuse these sins, for the anger of God will fall on all who disobey him. ⁷ Don’t participate in the things these people do.

Many, most, perhaps everyone will try to make excuses for their sins to get them excused by God. Don’t let them fool you the only way to get them excused is to trust in Jesus, and repent of those sins. For verses 6 says that they will try to excuse these sins however it goes on to say that the anger of God will still fall upon them.

When people are gathered in groups it is so easy to get sucked into what they are doing especially when they are telling obscene stories and course jokes.  These things may not seem as to you as sexual; immorality, impurity, or greed to you but it is exactly what they are. So stop making excuses. 

I want to leave you with just one more quote:

Excuses are nothing more than admitting to everyone, but yourself that you were wrong. ~ Mike Owens

To Knock Off or not to Knock off that is the quesiton

Knock off’s are a big problem in today’s society. If someone comes up with something successful it’s already been done and can never been done again so it is just natural for others to imitate it because it’s impossible to invent something that has already been invented. In this country there are laws prohibiting knock offs. However when it comes to everything that is good, everything that is right God has already invented all those things and they can never be improved upon. However in His wisdom, grace and love He does not hold a copyright or patent on these things He wants us to imitate Him. You know what they say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. So when it comes to knocking off God you don’t have to keep these things in the trunk of your car or in an alley somewhere. You can put everything that is good and right out on display for all to see for you may be imitating God but everything you are putting on display is the original. It’s okay to imitate God, after all you can never be God and the Bible does tell us to imitate Him.

Ephesians 5:1

¹ Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children.

You may want to change

You may want to consider throwing your sinful nature and your current way of life out because it is not very becoming. There is a whole new nature, a whole new way of life out there just for the asking. If you ask Jesus into your life he will change you. There are many who think that they cannot even go to church let alone become a Christian unless they clean themselves up first. Sinners are incapable of cleaning themselves. Sinners can only be cleaned up by the grace of God. There are many who say I’m fine just the way that I am. Or I am who I am and there is no changing it. A person who does not trust in Jesus is not fine and are headed for destruction and God can change a person. If he can change me he can change anyone. Just ask him to change you and then let Him.

 Ephesians 4:20-24

²⁰ But that isn’t what you learned about Christ. ²¹ Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from him, ²² throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. ²³ Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. ²⁴ Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy.

Can you feel it?

Back in the day, (that just means you’re getting old) but back in the day I used to get callous on my hands a lot. I got to the point where I would stick needles in them and through them just to freak people out. When your skin is calloused it’s dead and there is no feeling in it so sticking a needle in your hand was no big deal. Here in Ephesians 4: 18-19 the same thing is being said. When your heart is hard it is dead and calloused and you can not feel the things you should be feeling. A person then does all kinds of things that they should not be doing the list here is endless. It’s not until you receive a new heart from God that these things will change and that you will at least know what you should be doing. You may not do it all of the time but you will know. If you die with a dead heart you end up in Hell. If you die with a new heart a softened one you will spend eternity with Jesus.

[18] They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. [19] They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity.  (Ephesians 4:18-19 ESV)

To tell the truth

You know if you’re like me you probably heard your mother say if you can’t say anything nice don’t say anything at all. Good words to live by I’m sure we can all agree on that. The question becomes is not saying anything nice? Verse 15 says “instead we will speak the truth in love.” I don’t know about you but for me there are many times when I refrain from telling the truth for fear of making someone mad or offending them. The real reason is in fact that I don’t want to cause conflict or have them not like me. I make it all about me instead of being all about Jesus like it should be. I do this to people that I love or at least should love even more than strangers. The truth is by not telling them the truth about Jesus I am actually harming them yet I keep quite anyway.

We should tell people the truth, the question then becomes how. If we run up to someone and tell them if you don’t go to church you will go to Hell does that do them any good, of course not.  Approaching them that way is not telling them the truth in love. To tell the truth in love is more than likely an acquired trait that takes practice, and one that I have more questions than answers. So my advice to you and myself would be to ask God for guidance and go out and try.  You know what they say practice makes perfect.

 Ephesians 4:11-16

 Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. ¹² Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. ¹³ This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ. ¹⁴ Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth. ¹⁵ Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. ¹⁶ He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.

Are they playing your song?

It is very important have a good teacher so that you can mature in your faith so that you don’t fall for false teaching. False teachers are very good at tricking people in to believing things that are not true. The funny thing is that they do it by using things that sound like the truth and people will be believe anything they want to hear. Sometimes a person is their own false teacher and they make themselves believe things they want to be true that aren’t true. When I think of people falling for false teaching I think of the Pied Piper. They will follow whoever is playing the song they want to hear. So be careful who you follow. To know the truth you have to know the truth the truth being Jesus and the way to know Him is to trust in Him, pray to Him, and read the Bible.   

Ephesians 4:11-16
 Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. ¹² Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. ¹³ This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ.¹⁴ Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth. ¹⁵ Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. ¹⁶ He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.

2, 4, 6, 8 Who should you appreciate

A little different approach for the next two or three days, instead of one or two verses each day I think I will do a set of verses over two or three days. I just could not break Ephesians 4:11-16 up and do it justice. They all needed to stay in context.
Today let’s look at the beginning of these verses. The gifts Christ gave to the church, the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. When it comes to the evangelists, pastors, and teachers, the real ones, the good ones, realize what a tremendous responsibility they have and they take it prayerfully and seriously. If you don’t have a good pastor or teacher, find one. If you do have a good pastor or teacher make sure you thank them. They do need encouragement, Satan works against them too telling them no one cares, no one listens, so don’t care so much, so try so hard. Your encouragement will mean the world to them.  I myself have a couple of folks I need to thank, perhaps you do to.
Ephesians 4:11-16

 Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. ¹² Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. ¹³ This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ. ¹⁴ Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth. ¹⁵ Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. ¹⁶ He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.

Don't miss the train

The town I live in Mount Pleasant Iowa has a busy rail road that goes though the middle of town and Amtrak has a train station here. However there is only one station in town. If you wanted to get on the train and went to Wal-Mart to wait guess what you’re going to miss the train. If you waited at the Rec Center the train is not stopping there. Even if you sat under a nice shade tree looking at the fountain up on the city square still no train. The point is there is only one train station in town and only one place the train is going to stop. Keep this all in mind when you read Ephesians 4:5-6

⁵ There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, ⁶ and one God and Father, who is over all and in all and living through all.

There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father. There is only one! If you are waiting for or counting on anything else no matter how nice it is, no matter how good it is, or any other excuses you can come up with you are going to miss the train because the train to Heaven only has one station and that is Jesus. Don’t miss the train by being in the wrong place.

Don't miss the train

The town I live in Mount Pleasant Iowa has a busy rail road that goes though the middle of town and Amtrak has a station here. However there is only one station in town. If you wanted to get on the train and went to Wal-Mart to wait guess what you’re going to miss the train. If you waited at the Rec Center the train is not stopping there. Even if you sat under a nice shade tree looking at the fountain up on the city square still no train. The point is there is only one train station in town and only one place the train is going to stop. Keep this all in mind when you read Ephesians 4:5-6

 ⁵ There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, ⁶ and one God and Father, who is over all and in all and living through all.

 There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father. There is only one! If you are waiting for or counting on anything else no matter how nice it is, no matter how good it is, or any other excuses you can come up with you are going to miss the train because the train to Heaven only has one station and that is Jesus. You need to know this so you don't miss the train.

Not going to fit

I know you have probably heard the term “putting God in a box” kind of funny if you really stop and think about it, trying to put God in a box because he won’t fit. However we all do it to one extent or another and sometimes we do it with good intentions.  For instance when you pray for a loved one to be healed of a physical aliment and they die. If they trusted in Christ for them and not you how much better off are they now? Not only is their condition cured they are in Heaven with Jesus. If you struggle with people in your life and you pray that God will give you the strength and the patience to deal with them, take God out of the box and pray for their salvation. He has the power to do that and how much better off would you be not to mention those people. We all marvel at out imaginative the human mind is but God can do a bazillion times more than would could ever ask Him for or even dream of. The ironic thing is He chooses to do a lot of those things through us. We just have to be willing and obedient to do those things and then give the glory to Him and not ourselves.  

Ephesians 3:20

²⁰ Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.

Can you feel the love tonight?

Can you feel the love tonight? Good thing you could not hear me singing it. I know you hear it all of the time but no matter what you are going through God does love you. The problem comes in the ability to understand that love. How can you understand something that is immeasurable, you never can fully at least on this earth. Being able to understand how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is, is beyond our capabilities. We just have to know it’s there and have the faith that He does love us more than we can imagine. We just have to acknowledge that His ways are much greater than our ways. When I think of God’s love two words come to mind infinite and perfect. Not a bad combination when it comes to love. So no matter what you are going through if you are one of God’s children he will be there for you, He will protect you and love you infinitely and perfectly through Jesus Christ. All you have to do is trust Him. You will eventually trust in something or someone. Make sure you trust someone or something that will protect you and love you perfectly without fail. Otherwise at some point if it's not the King (Jesus) it will fail.

Ephesians 3:18-19

¹⁸ And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. ¹⁹ May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.

29th Anniversary update

You know it has been 29 years when celebrating your anniversary:

 Go out on the town the night before to each of your favorite places, then go out to supper at a place you both have had a craving for. You close the night out with some wine and cheese. The day of your anniversary you get to sleep in, spend time with some of your favorite people, have another great meal and do the right thing.

 Now let me translate.

We returned some things to Lowes and the mall, and then browsed at the Christian book store. On the way home we stopped in New London for a tenderloin and splurged, instead of splitting one we each got our own. The nightcap entailed stopping at Wal-Mart to do some grocery shopping, which included a new wine cooler and a block of Colby cheese. The day of our anniversary we both slept in for me it was 5am. We went to church, came home and grilled out, then after lunch went to a visitation, went for a walk and had a visit from some good friends. 

Here is the 29 years part, we both were completely happy.

Brace roots, Get some

Today’s topic is roots and not the miniseries from 1977. Roots in plants provide two main functions to sustain life and provide stability. I’m going to go back to what I remember about corn roots. Now it’s been over 25 years since I have been on the farm but here is what I remember. My grandpa always used to say it takes a dry June to make a corn crop. At first that made no sense to me, I knew it took rain. However when he explained it to me it then made sense. If in June it is a little dry it forces the roots to go down and look for moisture and nutrients. Then later on in July when things really get dry or when the winds come against the corn there is a well established root system to sustain life and provide stability. As corn matures it develops what is called brace roots, these are the roots shown in the picture. These are the roots that provide the real stability when the wind blows. The interesting thing about these roots are that they are visible and that they completely encircle the plant. Now as you know this is not an agronomy blog so time to switch gears.

In life there will come dry times and in those times you will need roots to sustain life and to provide stability just like in corn. Jesus is what sustains life and provides stability for the species know as humans. So when trails come and things are not easy let your roots go down to Him. Then as you mature you will be better suited to survive even tougher times. You also need to develop brace roots to provide the real protection from the storms of life and what did we say about brace roots? They are visible and encircle the entire plant. So this tells me to have that ultimate protection your faith in Jesus needs to be visible and it too needs to encircle your whole life. Can you survive without brace roots, the answer is yes; if there are no storms in your future. However the chance of bad weather in your life is more than likely at 100%. So do yourself a favor and develop your brace roots (the visible ones) now so that they will be in place before the next severe thunderstorm warning.

Ephesians 3:17

¹⁷ Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong.

Remembering 911 is not enough

The reason for the attacks of 9-11 is clear in this picture. Can you see it.

This entire weekend no matter where you turn is about remembering September 11^th.  This moment of history should be more than just remembered it should cause us to do something and I don’t mean a day of service like some are calling for. Last night as I was once again glued to the TV watching those terrible images I got mad. When I think about all of those people who lost loved ones because what happened and that  that still to this day many people don't know the real reason for those attacks on that beautiful fall day and couple that with the fact that not many are doing anything about it makes me furious. Some think the reason for the attacks is because America was in Iraq, others because we are a military super power, some have even went as far to say that the United States government staged it.

The reason for the attacks can be traced  all the way back to when Eve took the fruit in the garden and sin entered the world. Then after the flood  from the line of one of Noah's sons came the people who have vowed to rid the world of Christians. The was reason for the attacks of September 11^th it was the fact that we are a Christian nation. As a country today many are trying to fix that. Even our President says we are no longer a Christian nation. I have provided the link in case you don't believe me or want it in context.

http://www.youtube.com/embed/QIVd7YT0oWA" 

This country was founded as a Christian nation  and it has been blessed beyond measure by God because of it. This country has been protected by the hand of God since its inception because it has been a Christian country. If you were to study military history and just look at the role weather has played in America winning battles you can see the hand of God. My real fear is that at the rate this country is going that God could very well remove His hand of protection from this great land and if He does there is nothing our government can do about it. If God so chose Cuba could invade and take over this country, we may have the greatest military in the world but it would be no match for God. So instead of just remembering the events of 911 do something about it. Spread the Gospel, so that we can regain the fear of God and the love of Christ that we once had. If all of the resources that have been spent this weekend to remember 911 just think what could be accomplished if those same resources were spent spreading the Gospel.

When voting for people to represent you in government. Don’t go by what they look like, what they say they will do, or even what party they belong to. Vote for someone who has the proper view of Christ. To regain Christian nation status we need Christ running the government. You can say what you want about separating Church and State but at least in this country there should be no separation of Christ and State.

 I love Christ and I love this country  so for me just remembering is not enough.

We always want answers and the answer for 911 is in today's picture among the destruction and the rubble , the cross of Christ.

Approach with confidence

If you really stop and think about the glory, the majesty, the power of God there is just no way anyone should ever be able to approach Him. God by rights should be unapproachable, we are not worthy.  But as Ephesians 3:12 says it’s not what you know it’s who you know. By knowing Christ and putting your faith in Him not only can you approach God but you can do it boldly and confidently. Not to mention by knowing Christ is the only way.

Ephesians 3:12

¹² Because of Christ and our faith in him, we can now come boldly and confidently into God’s presence.

Where's your stone?

[19] So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, [20] built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone.

(Ephesians 2:18-22 ESV)

In reading today’s verses of course my mind went straight to the part about Jesus being the cornerstone. However I thought to myself do I really know what a cornerstone is so I went to Wikipedia which I seldom do and something was made quite clear to me.

The cornerstone (or foundation stone) concept is derived from the first stone set in the construction of a masonry foundation, important since all other stones will be set in reference to this stone, thus determining the position of the entire structure.
Okay this all makes sense to me in thinking about today’s verse and Jesus himself. The first stone set, yes I know that. All other stones will be set in reference to the first, I get it. Determining the position of the entire structure, Oh how true. But Wikipedia went on to say something else that I did not expect. Something that we all need to think about, here is what it said.  
Over time a cornerstone became a ceremonial masonry stone, or replica, set in a prominent location on the outside of a building, with an inscription on the stone indicating the construction dates of the building and the names of architect, builder and other significant individuals.

It’s funny how overtime that words or the way we perceive things become much different. Compare this picture and the first one to both definitions.

 
This picture is today what a lot of us think of when we think cornerstone. But that’s not what it is. So now we are going to talk solely about Jesus. Overtime has Jesus become just ceremonial to you? Is He just a replica? Is he just set in a prominent location so others can see it? Or is He your foundation, first in your life, does He determine the position of your entire being? Ask yourself that today?

What's in your fridge?

The light bulb was created to make light. The refrigerator was created to keep things cold. The Christian was created to do good works. In contrast there was no glass bulb that just showed up and created light then somebody dubbed it a light bulb. There was no box that appeared that was cold inside and then it was aptly called a refrigerator. That just does not make sense these things were created to do something. So a person cannot do good things or good works and then be declared a Christian. It’s no different than the light bulb or the refrigerator. The Christian was created to do good things, good things that our creator planned for us long ago. A person does not do good works to become a Christian they do good works because that’s what they were made to do. You know a light bulb when it lights up. You know a refrigerator when things inside are cold. You know a Christian because of their good works. If a person were to open you up and look inside what would they see? Because the world stands there with the door open and looks inside for something good just like a refrigerator. Be the light that illuminates Christ when they look inside you.  

 Ephesians 2:10

¹⁰ For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.

Life Preservers, You can't grab'em if your already dead

Salvation is a funny thing. It is something many want, so they try to go out and get it. You just can’t go to Salvation-Mart and pick up some salvation. Satan uses the lie of salvation by works to keep you from it. It would be like yea it’s in Salvation-Mart somewhere just go on in and look for it, trust me it’s there. So many believe the lie, go in and die while looking for it. I know that’s a little extreme but in reality many do think that by doing good things, by being a good person that is what’s required to get into Heaven, again a lie. Still others who think they are smarter yet, think that just by saying a prayer, walking forward at a church service that by doing, that they are now Christian, yet another lie. All of these things are no more correct than going to your local Salvation-Mart. As was mentioned yesterday sin kills us and we are dead in our sins. The best way I have heard to explain this goes something like this.

There are those who think that salvation is like we are drowning in the ocean, Christ throws us a life preserver and all we have to do is reach out and grab it and Christ will save us, yet another lie. We like to think we have a part in our salvation but we do not. The truth is more like this. In sin we are dead, D.E.A.D. dead we have drowned and are nothing but a decaying corpse. If Christ were to throw us a life preserver there is no way we could reach out and grab it because we are dead. We are so dead that He has to reach down pull us out of the water and not just bring us back to life but give us new life. This is grace and there is no I in grace. That’s what makes it grace. If you are a Christian you are an example of His incredible grace. So be that example God intended you to be.

 Ephesians 2: 4-9

⁴ But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, ⁵ that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!) ⁶ For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus. ⁷ So God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of his grace and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us who are united with Christ Jesus.n⁸ God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. ⁹ Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.

What was your cause of death?

You either are or were dead, there is no getting around it. The Bible makes this all quite clear. The question becomes what was the cause of your death? The cause of death is the same for everyone and its sin. You were killed by sin, and it brought sure death to you. Now of course I’m not talking about a physical death, I’m talking about something even worse and that’s spiritual death which makes you subject to God’s anger, which is far worse than your heart stopping. Once a person realizes how dead they were its only then will they give Christ the glory He deserves. Once you give Christ the glory you will sin from time to time but you will hate sin and will not be controlled by it. If you’re still dead admit it, and ask Jesus into your life so that you too can be brought back to life. In the end you don’t just die and go away you either spend eternity in Heaven with Christ or in Hell separated from Him. The only way to life is to determine that cause of death. The cause of death is sin and the ONLY cure for sin is Jesus.

Ephesians 2:1-3

¹ Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins. ² You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil—the commander of the powers in the unseen world. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God. ³ All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature we were subject to God’s anger, just like everyone else.

Can you spot the differences?

There are many religions out there today who make no bones about it that they are not Christian. Then there are those religions who do claim to be Christian that are not. There are even dominations within what we would call Christian that are not. The question become how do you tell them apart? How do you tell right from wrong? Good from bad? What’s the difference? The first step is to acknowledge that fact that there is a difference and then go looking for it.  Like in the picture above if you just look at it quickly there you don’t even notice that there are nine differences in the two pictures. When it comes to following a religion, a denomination, a church or a way of thinking the main difference you have to consider how they view Jesus. The proper view of Jesus is what separates Christianity from everything else.   Jesus is more than a man He is God. Jesus is more than a good teacher He is the second member of the trinity. Jesus is more than a prophet He created the world. Jesus is more than miracle worker, He is Lord. I thought for a long time today about Jesus and the best I could come up with is Jesus is Jesus. He is who He says he is. So to be able to spot the differences the answers can be found only through reading the Bible and through prayer. If you want to see the differences in today’s pictures scroll down to the bottom of the page.

Ephesians 1:19-23

 ¹⁹ I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power ²⁰ that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms. ²¹ Now he is far above any ruler or authority or power or leader or anything else—not only in this world but also in the world to come. ²² God has put all things under the authority of Christ and has made him head over all things for the benefit of the church. ²³ And the church is his body; it is made full and complete by Christ, who fills all things everywhere with himself.

Don't just whack at it

Prayer is one of those funny things. Some people never do it; they see no need for it. Others treat it like piñata and only take a whack at it for the sole of getting something out of Jesus. Then there are those who do it infrequently or get stuck in ruts. I’m afraid that most prayers are like sitting on Santa’s lap giving him a list of things you want.  Then again there are others who do pray faithfully everyday or multiple times a day and they are selfless in prayer asking God to heal and fix everyone’s long lost cousin’s ,  great aunt’s neighbor’s every disease or physical aliment. Now it’s not wrong to ask for these things in fact it is good to ask for these things but how often do you pray for others to be saved? Or like todays verse for spiritual wisdom and insight, for growth in the knowledge of God? Believe it or not saving faith is more important than a cure for any heath condition. Spiritual growth will help anyone deal with whatever it is they are facing and will in turn bring glory to God.

 Ephesians 1: 16-17

¹⁶ I have not stopped thanking God for you. I pray for you constantly, ¹⁷ asking God, the glorious Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to give you spiritual wisdom and insight so that you might grow in your knowledge of God.

What's the reason?

Ephesians 1:11

¹¹ Furthermore, because we are united with Christ, we have received an inheritance from God, for he chose us in advance, and he makes everything work out according to his plan.

Again this is another great verse and somewhat similar to yesterday’s blog but when things are repeated in the Bible there is a definite point trying to be made. Here is what I think is trying to be driven home in the first 11 verses of Ephesians 1.

1.       Christ is essential, crucial, and required.

2.       God has unimaginable things in store for those who trust in Christ.

3.       He chose us, we did not choose Him and he did so before we ever did anything good or bad.

4.       God is in complete control.

 It is the last part of this verse that strikes me today. He makes everything work out. Everything means everything, the good stuff and the bad stuff. God as the uncanny ability to take what we think is the absolute worst thing that we could possibly think of and turn it into good. To turn it into something to that was part of His plan to begin with. I spoke to a person just yesterday that had been in prison. They never told me why but whatever it was I’m sure that it was bad for that person, their family, not to mention if they did something to or hurt someone else. But what they did tell me was that they had been born again in prison and had accepted Christ. Did God put them in prison, no it was the result of their sinful nature, however God is god enough to use that situation to bring that person to Christ because before time it was in His plan for that person to be a follower of Christ.

 When we say or hear that everything happens for a reason, the hard part for some is to figure out what the reason is. When you know the reason is God it makes it easier to take but we still don’t know why or how He does it.

How does He do it? I do not know, but I'm sure glad that He does.

As a Christian the sovereignty of God is the easiest and yet the hardest thing to understand.

My favortie TV shows of all time

Thought it would be fun to list my favorite TV shows of all time. Here they are in alphabetical order.

Hope you enjoyed the Alf clip.

Alf

Burn Notice

E Ring

Hogan’s Heroes

MacGyver

Night Court

The A Team

The Mentalist

Walker Texas Ranger

White Collar

I love it when a plan comes togather

At one time the A Team was my very favorite TV show. Still may be on my list as one of my all time favorites. Whenever things looked grim when it looked like there was no hope they would always find a way out, and usually a blow torch was involved. But in the end Hannibal Smith would always say I love it when a plan comes together. Hannibal Smith was good but nothing compared to God. God has a plan that didn’t involve a torch but did include Jesus. So no matter how bleak things look in the world today or even in your own life for that matter. At the right time God will bring everything together under the authority of Christ to fulfill His own good pleasure. I can just imagine Jesus with a big old grin on His face Himself saying I love it when a plan comes together.  

 Ephesians 1:9-10

⁹ God has now revealed to us his mysterious plan regarding Christ, a plan to fulfill his own good pleasure. ¹⁰ And this is the plan: At the right time he will bring everything together under the authority of Christ—everything in heaven and on earth.