You can do it

Note to Self by Joe Thorn is a book that I now use as a daily devotional. Each day I will share the scripture passage and an expert from the book and a few of my own thoughts as part of my blog.

Scripture passage Hebrews 3: 12-13

Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.

Section from the book

At times you feel as if you have little to say, or that your words are too simple and not deep enough. But when you doubt that you have anything to offer, you question God’s ability to use you beyond your own weakness. Your usefulness in the lives of others is not dependent on your intellectual or creative abilities, though God will use your talents whatever they are. Your usefulness to God and his people is connected with your dependence on God and his Word and your love for his people.

The people around you need to hear from you. Share God’s Word with those who need to hear it.

Simple thoughts

A line that Rob Schneider as weaved into many Adam Sandler films is you can do it. That is exactly what is being said here. If you think you have nothing to offer someone as far as what to say, you are doubting what God can do. In fact sometimes the simplest words are the best words and simple words are much better than no words at all.  You can do it!

Storm Shelter

Note to Self by Joe Thorn is a book that I now use as a daily devotional. Each day I will share the scripture passage and an expert from the book and a few of my own thoughts as part of my blog.

Scripture passage Hebrews 3: 12-13

Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.

Section from the book

So the local church must be more than a weekly event. It needs to be your covenant community and extended family who have the right and privilege to exhort you—to speak into your life when you need it most. From words of encouragement to gentle but needed rebuke, the words of wisdom and insight are all around you. Are you listening?

 Simple thoughts

You don’t need church to become a Christian, God takes care of that. But I do believe that you do need church to survive as a Christian. Christianity is no easy life in fact it is a very hard life and a person needs a family of believers to help get them through it. But there is another but, but when you belong to a church you have to be willing to encourage one another and yes even tell someone that they are wrong. You can’t just sit in the building and take up space. When you are part of a church you need to participate. For some participating in the church life is easy for others it is harder but it is something everyone needs to work at. There is one other thing that may be much harder than encouraging someone or telling them they are wrong if you can believe that. It is actually listening if you are the one being encourage or rebuked. That goes with being part of a church as well. It’s not the church building that is a shelter in the storm it’s the church family. Once you become a Christian storm warnings are in effect and remember storms don't just come on Sunday's you need your church family the other six days of the week as well.

Don't just sit there, Go!

 

Note to Self by Joe Thorn is a book that I now use as a daily devotional. Each day I will share the scripture passage and an expert from the book and a few of my own thoughts as part of my blog.

Scripture passage Matthew 28:19-20

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.

Section from the book

If you want to be useful to God, you will need to be the person who moves first. You have to take the initiative to move toward the people God has put into your life and the people God has sent you to. Most will not come to your church’s worship gathering, most will not seek out your advice, and most will not strike up a conversation with you. You will have to go to them.

The opportunities are always there, but they are difficult to see if you are too focused on yourself. You must take the time to be truly present where God has put you

 Simple thoughts

Imagine yourself being the second car at a stop light, the light turns green and the car in front of you does not move. How long is it before you do something? Before throwing your arms up in disgust, or honking your horn? Probably not very long, you say to yourself why do they not just go! It’s not that hard! More than likely God says the same thing about you. In Matthew 28 Jesus says go, ask yourself are you just sitting there, not moving? In sharing your Christian faith you can’t stay put and wait for people to come to you, you have to go. Your reasons for not going could be many but the root of the problem is you’re too focused on yourself just like the person sitting at the green light in front of you is focused on something other than going.  So please take your foot off the brake, hit the gas and just go.

When it come to forgiveness, look in the mirror

Note to Self by Joe Thorn is a book that I now use as a daily devotional. Each day I will share the scripture passage and an expert from the book and a few of my own thoughts as part of my blog.

Scripture passage Colossian 3:12-13

Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.

Section from the book
Your refusal to forgive one who has sinned against you is a manifestation of hypocrisy—a telltale sign that either you have not experienced God’s forgiving grace, or that you take such grace for granted. Why do you withhold what has been given so freely to you? Have your offenders done worse than you? Are their crimes against you more severe than your crimes against God and others? When you refuse to forgive, it can only mean that you have not yet come to understand forgiveness, or you have been taking it for granted and have not yet sufficiently learned from it.

 Simple thoughts

When Christians gather forgiveness is a topic that generates a lot of conversation. People have a hard time forgiving and if you’re honest with yourself the person you have trouble forgiving has probably done what, one or two things to you? Even if it was ten or twenty that is just a drop in the bucket for the sins you have committed against God yet he forgave you. So when you have trouble forgiving someone look in the mirror and ask yourself, do I even know what forgiveness or grace is or do I take it completely for granted? Scripture says you must forgive.

Resturant review: 801 Chophouse

801 Chophouse

 

Recently I got to experience 801 Chophouse in Des Moines. I’ll admit I am nervous going in to any place that is out of my league. But thanks to Stacy and Jared our family got enjoy a dining experience that we may never get again. Upon entering 801 I was immediately taken back by the aroma that filled the place. I was originally going to say smell, but that would not do it justice. I remember saying that this was the best smelling restaurant I had ever been to hands down. The aroma of grilled steaks filled the place. I could have just sat there for hours and been happy just taking in the fragrance of grilled prime beef. As for the place it’s self it was very nice lots of beautiful woodwork, adequate lighting and the like. Not as stuffy as I anticipated. ( if you see me ask me about the men’s restroom.) Besides being with my family the highlight of the evening after thinking about it was the level of the service. So refreshing to have someone wait on you who know what they are talking about. Our waitress explained everything very well and brought out and explained the cuts of steak. We had the porter house, the Delmonico and a New York strip all very good. For the sides we had some of the best scalloped potatoes I’ve ever had, the garlic mashed potatoes were exceptional, the steam broccoli was cooked well, and the gnocchi was good. The overall winner of the sides at the table was the fresh Iowa creamed corn.   We finished the evening with some cheese cake and a soufflé served with chocolate, raspberry, and a vanilla bean sauces that were amazing. The soufflé you have to order at the beginning of the meal because it takes almost an hour to create and is rumored to contain 16 eggs. The soufflé itself was worth the trip. The value score is the only thing for me that held 801 back. Overall a great experience.     

 Price range: (everyday, a night out, a special occasion only) Special occasion

Overall rankings all based 1 to 5

Atmosphere:  5

Service:         5

Food:            5

Value:           3

Overall          4.5

 

801 Grand Ave # 200 Des Moines, IA 50309
(515) 288-6000

Stop pretending

 

Note to Self by Joe Thorn is a book that I now use as a daily devotional. Each day I will share the scripture passage and an expert from the book and a few of my own thoughts as part of my blog.

Scripture passage Romans 1:12

¹² When we get together, I want to encourage you in your faith, but I also want to be encouraged by yours

Section from the book

When you pretend, you lose gospel influence in two ways—inwardly and outwardly. You lose the inward influence of the gospel in that you are not honest with others and deny them the opportunity to speak into your life.
You lose outward influence of the gospel in the lives of others because you can’t offer them anything that is real. Your best resource for speaking into others’ lives is from what God is doing in you, the fruit that God is producing in you. But the fruit you want others to see is plastic. It is believable from a distance, but it nourishes no one. It is not real.

 Simple thoughts

A lot of people pretend that everything is okay even when it’s not. I think it becomes a pride thing that you don’t want anyone to know that there is something wrong in your life. Did you ever stop to think that by always being okay when someone asks may lead to three different outcomes? One may be a missed opportunity for you to share the Gospel by how God is working in your life. Another may be the missed opportunity that the person you are talking to could have possibly helped you. Or last and most likely that you come off as plastic fruit, just plain fake and when you do this you do no one any good. So don’t pretend when you interact with people especially God’s people be real.  

Tipping for poor service

Note to Self by Joe Thorn is a book that I now use as a daily devotional. Each day I will share the scripture passage and an expert from the book and a few of my own thoughts as part of my blog.

Scripture passage Matthew 7:1-2

Do not judge others, and you will not be judged. ² For you will be treated as you treat others. The standard you use in judging is the standard by which you will be judged

Section from the book

Are you merciful, compassionate, and forgiving, or do you gravitate toward giving people what you believe they deserve? How do you receive people who are hostile to the gospel? How do you speak to or of people who are your social/political opposite? Here’s a good test for yourself—how do you tip servers at a restaurant? Not just the good servers but even the bad ones. Have you considered that tipping generously, even if the service is bad, is a demonstration of grace that is not likely to be lost on the server? Stop judging. Let the gospel compel you to live by grace and demonstrate it to those around you.

 Simple thoughts

This one hurt, I’ll be honest I never thought about tipping poor service as grace, but that is exactly what it is. I think of the poor service I gave Christ before becoming a Christian, and yet after; yet he chose and chooses to love me anyway, it humbles me. I still to this day struggle with wanting to give people what they deserve especially when it’s not good, like less of a tip for poor service. I even become self-righteous when people do something wrong or do not live up to my standards. Sometimes it makes me feel good or even superior to them. But yet again when I look at the example of Jesus and how he was perfect and sinless and how I am a sinner and don’t even come close to His standards and He still loves me anyway. That is what grace is and how I should think about it. Does a poor waitress deserver a bad tip, you bet! Do I deserve Hell, I do! Thankfully God is a great tipper. I’ll never look at tipping the same again.  

What do you want?

Note to Self by Joe Thorn is a book that I now use as a daily devotional. Each day I will share the scripture passage and an expert from the book and a few of my own thoughts as part of my blog.

Scripture passage 1 Peter 1:13
⁵Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

Section from the book

What is your greatest hope? Your deepest longing? Is it for Christ to return? Be honest. That’s not always at the top of your list. The reason you are not eagerly waiting for Jesus is because you either misunderstand his second coming and/or love the world more than your King and his kingdom.

 Simple thoughts

Truthfully, there is nothing I can say about the section of the book today, truly sobering if you stop and think about it. Something to ponder today.

 

Who found who?

Note to Self by Joe Thorn is a book that I now use as a daily devotional. Each day I will share the scripture passage and an expert from the book and a few of my own thoughts as part of my blog.

Scripture passage Psalm 73: 1-3, 17

⁵ In the same way, you younger men must accept the authority of the elders. And all of you, serve each other in humility, for “God opposes the proud but favors the humble.”

Section from the book

The more robust, the more detailed your theology, the more humble you should become. Why? Because you did not figure God out; he revealed himself to you.

The proud theologian has somehow convinced himself, or at least acts as if, he discovered God. But you understand that you did not uncover the truth of God like some kind of rock star archeologist. He sought you, caught you, and gave you sight, knowledge, and life.

 Simple thoughts

What is the one thing that is everywhere and that no one has ever found? The answer God. I get a kick out of it when someone says they have found God. My gut reaction is to say I didn’t know he was lost.  The truth is the person who really has God in their life will be the first to acknowledge the fact that they had absolutely nothing to do with it. The person who has God knows they were not looking for Him but in fact they were running from Him. They know that it was God who sought and caught them. For those who tend to think they had something to do with it or even those who think by their own intellect have figured God out they are the ones who run the risk of becoming prideful and arrogant.  I have actually seen some who really, really knew the Bible and theology crash and burn because of their pride and it wasn’t pretty. The more a person knows God the more humble they should be because they realize His glory and their sinfulness. When it come to God just remember who found who.

Stop your complaining

Note to Self by Joe Thorn is a book that I now use as a daily devotional. Each day I will share the scripture passage and an expert from the book and a few of my own thoughts as part of my blog.

Scripture passage Psalm 73: 1-3, 17

Truly God is good to Israel, to those whose hearts are pure.² But as for me, I almost lost my footing. My feet were slipping, and I was almost gone.
³ For I envied the proud Then I went into your sanctuary, O God, and I finally understood the destiny of the wicked.

Section from the book

You know that God is sovereign and good, and that should be enough to comfort and direct you. It should calm and quiet you. It should stop your complaining and start your worship even in the midst of the most painful experiences of life.
  Simple thoughts

If you realize that God is truly sovereign and good why in the world would you ever complain? Perhaps you don’t realize how sovereign and good He really is. The sooner you do the quicker you will get out of the complaint line and into the gratitude line. Just remember everything works for the good of those who love Jesus. You may not like it but whatever it is you are going through God as a purpose for it. Thank Him for it.

Not satisfied?

Note to Self by Joe Thorn is a book that I now use as a daily devotional. Each day I will share the scripture passage and an expert from the book and a few of my own thoughts as part of my blog.

Scripture passage Philippians 4:11-13

¹¹ Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. ¹² I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. ¹³ For I can do everything through Christ,^[c] who gives me strength. ¹⁴ Even so, you have done well to share with me in my present difficulty.

Section from the book

Are you satisfied? It is pretty obvious that the answer is often no. I am not saying it is wrong to want things in this life, but why do you find yourself so frustrated with the absence of those things? The problem is not that you want evil things. The things you want are generally good, or at least harmless in themselves. But more than wanting, you become frustrated by not having. You become jealous, envious, and discontented with your life. It is true; you need what you lack, but what you lack is satisfaction in Jesus.

 Simple thoughts

I could not help but use this now infamous picture of Mckayla Maroney that has went viral. I will be the first to admit I am not sure the reason behind this now famous face. I can only assume that she was not satisfied with the silver medal. The fact that she worked her whole life (like 17 years) for Olympic gold and came up short left her disappointed and frustrated. Who could blame her? Before you answer, remember what you just read in today’s scripture and the excerpt from the book. It’s really okay to want things but the problem comes when you become dissatisfied without them. When this happens you slowly become jealous, envious, and discontent. When this happens the good things you want become bad things. The reason, because you have elevated them above Jesus. My kids used to get frustrated with me when I’d to explain the differences between the wants and needs in their life. We need air, food, water, and shelter but after that most things are wants. To me the most noticeable change in my life since becoming a Christian is that my wants have dramatically decreased. As Philippians 4:11 say I have learned to be content with what I have. Now I would be lying if I said at now I never wanted anything, but hopefully when my wants start leading me to not being satisfied or discontent I will remember what I am truly lacking in is my satisfaction in Jesus. When you have Jesus silver is more than enough and gold still does not compare to the value of knowing Christ.

Do you have Him in focus?

Time to fire up the blog again, I have found a book that I think is very good, a book that besides the Bible I can use as a daily devotional. The book is Note to Self by Joe Thorn, so each day I will share the scripture passage a expert from the book and a few of my own thoughts.

Scripture passage Philippians 2: 8-11

When he appeared in human form,
⁸ he humbled himself in obedience to God
and died a criminal’s death on a cross.
⁹ Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor
and gave him the name above all other names,
¹⁰ that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
¹¹ and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.

Section from the book

Take note—your view of Jesus tends to shrink over time. It is not that your theology itself drifts, but sometimes you so focus on one aspect of Jesus that you tend to forget the rest. The result is a shrinking Jesus (in your faith). And as your shrinking Jesus becomes small Jesus, he is easily eclipsed by your idols and ego.

 Simple thoughts
Stay focused on who Jesus is. Some people focus so much on the aspects of Jesus that they like or need that their overall view of Jesus becomes smaller, unfocused and distorted. Jesus has so many characteristics but for the sake of time let’s just look at two of them. Jesus is love we all know that but Jesus is also judge. So for the person who elevates His characteristic of love far above the fact that Jesus is judge can tend  not to feel the weight of their sin then never repent of it. That person may think that Jesus will let their sin slide because after all He is love. When in fact He is also the one who will judge everyone and the Bible is clear that not everyone goes to Heaven. But even for the believer we too can start to let Jesus get out of focus in our lives, let Him shrink in importance to us. When this happens Satan gains an advantage. Life for the Christian is hard enough so why give Satan more of a foot hold? We all must everyday stay focused on who Jesus is through study, prayer, meditation, and worship. Don’t forget that someday God Himself said that every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord.  So for you today focus on this Jesus is who he is not who you want Him to be.  

Feeling bad is not enough

Time to fire up the blog again, I have found a book that I think is very good, a book that besides the Bible I can use as a daily devotional. The book is Note to Self by Joe Thorn, so each day I will share the scripture passage a expert from the book and a few of my own thoughts.

Scripture passage Psalm 100: 4-5

⁵ Finally, I confessed all my sins to you
and stopped trying to hide my guilt.
I said to myself, “I will confess my rebellion to the Lord.”
And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone.

Section from the book

As you consider your sins and feel their weight, you decide to embrace the guilt and even heap it on. Then, only after you have felt sufficiently bad about all that you have been and done do you begin to feel better about it all. It’s as if amassing feelings of guilt becomes a perverted kind of penance in which you pay for your transgression by making yourself feel bad—as if your guilt is a means of getting clean

Simple thoughts

Many think that feeling bad about something they did wrong is good. While you should feel bad for the wrong you’ve done sometimes feeling bad is not enough. Often people get feeling bad and repentance confused. They think that if they feel bad enough about what they did, that will make it better. Feeling bad for what you did is like trying to take a bath in mud. You may get wet but you won’t get clean. The only way to get clean is to trust in Jesus and repent of your sins. Repentance is not feeling bad, it is truly hating what you’ve done and turning around and walking away from it and back towards Jesus. So don’t just feel bad about the sins you commit, repent of them, hate them, and turn back to Jesus then experience what it feels like to be clean.   Kind of reminds me of 2 Peter 2:22
They prove the truth of this proverb: “A dog returns to its vomit.” And another says, “A washed pig returns to the mud.”

Don't be a turkey?

Time to fire up the blog again, I have found a book that I think is very good, a book that besides the Bible I can use as a daily devotional. The book is Note to Self by Joe Thorn, so each day I will share the scripture passage a expert from the book and a few of my own thoughts.

Scripture passage Psalm 100: 4-5

Enter his gates with thanksgiving;
go into his courts with praise.
Give thanks to him and praise his name.
⁵ For the Lord is good.
His unfailing love continues forever,
and his faithfulness continues to each generation.

Section from the book

Does gratitude characterize your thoughts of God? Thankfulness is a good test of your faith. Its absence demonstrates that your faith is more lip service than experiential knowledge. Your days, whether easy or difficult, should be filled with thanksgiving because while life changes drastically, your God remains the same forever. He is constant—constantly good, loving, and faithful.

Simple thoughts

Is the only time you give thanks at the beginning of a meal or on a Thursday in November in front of a turkey? If so you are a turkey. Thankfulness should be automatic for the believer, and for those who are ungrateful or downright unhappy all of the time where is their faith? Do they stop and think about what God has done for them? You have to wonder? No matter what you are going through give thanks to the fact that God never changes and is never wrong and that EVERYTHING works together for the good of those who love him. Don’t be a turkey thank God early and often throughout every day.

What are you afraid of?

Time to fire up the blog again, I have found a book that I think is very good, a book that besides the Bible I can use as a daily devotional. The book is Note to Self by Joe Thorn, so each day I will share the scripture passage a expert from the book and a few of my own thoughts.

Scripture passage Matthew 10:28

²⁸ “Don’t be afraid of those who want to kill your body; they cannot touch your soul. Fear only God, who can destroy both soul and body in hell

Section from the book

The problem with this kind of worldly fear is that it will lead you to toe party lines instead of correcting and challenging the people you are close to. It will compel you to try to live a safe life, free from risk or danger instead of being willing to make the hard and “risky” choice of following Jesus in a culture that rejects him. It will lead you to so prize the good gifts of God that they mutate into idols that you are unwilling to let go of.

Simple thoughts

I have never been to a movie that I would call scary. What horror movies I have been too I usually end up laughing at the so called scary parts.  The reason is I know nothing in the movie can harm me. But I do not do so well when it comes to life. I am afraid of what people might think of me, I am afraid of being challenged for what I believe, I am afraid of conflict. The sad thing is these things are not even close to killing me like Matthew 10:28 says. However if I’m not careful these things could dominate my life. The idol I fight against everyday is comfort. I too often try to live safe from the risk or danger of speaking up for what I believe in. I need to ask myself if I won’t stand up for it do I really believe in it. Following Jesus is risky as far as the world is concerned, but consider the danger of not following Him, that is where the fear of God has to overcome the fear of man. 

Happiness, not all what it’s cracked up to be

Time to fire up the blog again, I have found a book that I think is very good, a book that besides the Bible I can use as a daily devotional. The book is Note to Self by Joe Thorn, so each day I will share the scripture passage a expert from the book and a few of my own thoughts.

Scripture passage Pslam 100

Shout with joy to the Lord, all the earth!
² Worship the Lord with gladness.
Come before him, singing with joy.
³ Acknowledge that the Lord is God!
He made us, and we are his.^[a]
We are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
⁴ Enter his gates with thanksgiving;
go into his courts with praise.
Give thanks to him and praise his name.
⁵ For the Lord is good.
His unfailing love continues forever,
and his faithfulness continues to each generation

Section from the book

But let’s be honest, the reason you do not experience the joy you read about in Scripture is because your heart is divided, and your interests are spread thin.

Simple thoughts

I have said it before but it is worth repeating that there is a huge difference between happiness and joy, happiness is so very temporary. Happiness is much like a drug once we get it, the more we want and it usually takes more to get the same high that you experienced before. Therefore it’s hard to stay happy. One the other hand joy is much more lasting and maybe even in a sense permanent. If the truth were to be known everyone would be searching for joy and not happiness. It is joy and not happiness that we read about in the Bible. When we are searching for happiness we miss out on joy. In most cases the happiness we seek does not contain the LORD and joy is found in the LORD. A divided heart is a vulnerable heart and a heart focused on the LORD is a joyful one.  Ask yourself is it happiness you seek or is it joy? In the face of trouble happiness runs like a coward but joy will stick with you still the very end, happiness is not all what it’s cracked up to be. If you do want to experience joy just remember you will find it in Jesus.

How to love the unlovable

 

Time to fire up the blog again for a while. I have found a book that I think is very good, a book that besides the Bible I can use as a daily devotional. I have been looking for a daily devotional for 10 years now and none of them worked. The book is Note to Self by Joe Thorn, so each day I will share the scripture passage a expert from the book and a few of my own thoughts.

Scripture passage 1 John 3: 11-18

¹¹ This is the message you have heard from the beginning: We should love one another. ¹² We must not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and killed his brother. And why did he kill him? Because Cain had been doing what was evil, and his brother had been doing what was righteous. ¹³ So don’t be surprised, dear brothers and sisters,^[c] if the world hates you.

¹⁴ If we love our Christian brothers and sisters,^[d] it proves that we have passed from death to life. But a person who has no love is still dead. ¹⁵ Anyone who hates another brother or sister^[e] is really a murderer at heart. And you know that murderers don’t have eternal life within them.

¹⁶ We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us. So we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters. ¹⁷ If someone has enough money to live well and sees a brother or sister^[f] in need but shows no compassion—how can God’s love be in that person?

¹⁸ Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions.

 Section from the book

But for love to continue and grow, and for you to love the unlovable, it is important that you meditate on the gospel. Get this—you only know what love really is by looking to your Savior. And we learn it from him continually, not just once. You must daily go to the cross and see your Savior’s love for the unlovable (that means you).

Simple thoughts

Before becoming a Christian I had no idea what love was. I truly thought that love was something that was reserved solely for those living under your roof. There is so much truth in the statement that you only really know what love is by looking at Jesus and thinking continually about the Gospel message. Because not only are we commanded to love God we are also commanded to love the unlovable and trust me for a guy who at one time could only love those under his own roof it took being able to love God first not only to love the unlovable, but anyone outside of my house. Being able to truly love is something that is impossible in our own power and something we have to look to the cross everyday to be reminded that we too were unlovable but Jesus overcame that and with His help we can too. Who do you  need to love today? The answer is everyone.

Book Review: Note to Self by Joe Thorn

In the last 25 books I’ve read on Christianity this is one of the best. I am the type of reader that likes to highlight the good parts of a book. After about 10 chapters of Note to Self I decided highlighting was pointless because of how much I was marking. When I started this book my thoughts were this would be good for anyone, because it was so simple and the chapters were so short. But as I got into it the deeper and deeper and more convicting it became. I have never been able to find a daily devotional that I liked in the 10 years I’ve been looking, with Note to Self I think I just found it.  When reading “Christian” things we need to do read for more than just information, we need to read for transformation and this book does that for me.  

Be Prepared

The more and more I read the headlines of the day the more I see the persecution of Christians rising in the United States of America. It is a scary thing and is only going to get worse. We have seen how Tim Tebow has been vilified, I see so called sports experts run him down continually on TV. Some cities are banning home Bible studies. And now with the ongoing controversy with Chick-fila, and a lesser known ordeal in Colorado where protests are being organized against a bakery who refused to do a wedding cake for a gay couple. I have been in discussions where we say at least there is not really any serious persecution in this country but that is changing for the worse. More and more serious things are beginning to happen in this country to those who profess to be Christians. But we should not be surprised because Jesus told us it would happen, and that it will get worse before it gets better. In fact the die has been cast and it’s all downhill until Jesus returns. We have to know this and be prepared for this because Jesus said in Luke 21:12 “before the end of the world there will be a time of great persecution.” But he also said in verse 13 “but this will be your opportunity to tell them about me.”  Now is the time to make sure that you understand this and you tell your children and grandchildren because it is coming and we all need to be prepared. When it happens to you in whatever form just remember Jesus’ words “ But this will be your opportunity to tell them about me.”

Luke 21: 10-18

¹⁰ Then he added, “Nation will go to war against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. ¹¹ There will be great earthquakes, and there will be famines and plagues in many lands, and there will be terrifying things and great miraculous signs from heaven. ¹² “But before all this occurs, there will be a time of great persecution. You will be dragged into synagogues and prisons, and you will stand trial before kings and governors because you are my followers. ¹³ But this will be your opportunity to tell them about me.^{[c] 14} So don’t worry in advance about how to answer the charges against you, ¹⁵ for I will give you the right words and such wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to reply or refute you! ¹⁶ Even those closest to you—your parents, brothers, relatives, and friends—will betray you. They will even kill some of you. ¹⁷ And everyone will hate you because you are my followers.^{[d] 18} But not a hair of your head will perish! ¹⁹ By standing firm, you will win your souls.