Tag: Be the light

Plenty of Blame

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Plenty of Blame

I recently saw a report where New York Gov. Cuomo attempted to place blame of Covid-19 deaths on former President Trump. It occurred to me that this is nothing new, but rampant right now. IF we spent less time pointing fingers, and instead acknowledge that first we all share blame, down to the individual household, and also less time pointing fingers, and more time sitting at the table to work on the problem, we would be able to find reasonable solutions. Problems such as these are often much bigger, far larger, than one person. Every single human is currently responsible for the outcome we face. From not wearing masks, to not staying home, to hosting parties, to unnecessary travel, etc. We all place blame, but largely, if you want to be more specific, how much can we really do to fight a pandemic? While this isn’t the first time, it is the first time that a virus could travel so easily around the world, so quickly. I would say, preparedness is largely problematic. Were we ready? No, of course not. This problem goes back a long way. Pointing out all the failures could easily be an entire blog on its own, but right now I don’t feel that’s what we need. Suffice to say, we are ALL responsible for the current conditions we find ourselves in. 

God has allowed this virus to take hold of the earth. We may not know if this was caused, or allowed to happy, but either way, God is still in control of all things. God’s love is sufficient, and in these troubled times, we need to remember where we can go with our broken and lost hearts. 

Hebrews 4:16 ESV “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

WE must remember that no matter what we are facing we are accepted into the arms of the Abba Father. We must take this time and turn to the Lord. We must trust in the Lord that He is sovereign over all, and we must trust in His will. 

2 Corinthians 12:9 ESV “But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”

WE have all lost something in this pandemic. We voted and a new President took office. We may not like, we may love it, but regardless, for the next four years, we are here. We are one nation under God, and unless we want to see this great nation face judgment, we must turn from our ways and find it in our hearts to repent. God has been more than gracious with giving us time to do so, but now’s the time to stand firm on our beliefs. Are we to allow our country to go down a dark path? Perhaps, we will. We must all face ourselves and check our hearts. We must start with the man/woman, in the mirror. We must turn to the Father and ask for the forgiveness, and the courage to stand where we must. We cannot continue to pass blame and point fingers. 

Start Right Here By: Casting Crowns

We want our coffee in the lobby

We watch our worship on a screen

We got a Rockstar preacher

Who won’t wake us from our dreams

We want out blessings in our pocket

We keep our missions overseas

But for the hurting in our cities

Would we even cross the street?

Huh but we wanna see the heart set free and the tyrants kneel

The walls fall down and our land be healed

But church if we want to see a change in the world out there

It’s got to start right here

We cannot continue to expect the light to shine if we ourselves are hypocrites. Do we stand against abortion? Sure, if you’re a Christian you should, but at the same time, are you supporting low income families? Are you helping that single mother hurting? Are you supporting foster parents, and adoptions? It’s not an easy ask, but if Christians would truly support those ventures and not just in prayer, but in time, money, and support, those supporting abortions wouldn’t have a solid argument. Make no mistake, abortion is a sin, but no more of a sin than the over consumption of alcohol, the adultery, the lying, the gossiping going on all around us. IF we want a change we have to start right here, right now, in each of our hearts. 

Christians, I call to you, I implore you to seek a Biblical worldview, instead of following along the secular one. I beg you to see the light of Christ. WE must come together, and we must stop the infighting, stop the complaining, stop the hate. We must not judge others by their skin, their clothes, their social status, or the country they hail from. We must find balance. We must find love in our hearts, and find a way to uphold the law of the land, uphold the law of scripture, and love our neighbors. Are we really taking care of the church as we were asked to do so? Are we managing the talents we were given, or burring it in the sand letting it go to waist? Church, let us do better. Let us live in love. Let us shine the light of Christ in the tumultuous times. Go in peace, go in prayer, and go in love. 

It’s All Part Of The Plan

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It’s All Part Of The Plan:

I want you to stop where you are and look around. Right where you stand, right where you sit, is this moment in time where you thought you’d be? I’ve been taking a moment to think about my life and reflecting the path I’ve taken to lead me to this moment. While I would like to say it’s been smooth, I’d be lying. I think we can all agree there is no such thing as a smooth life. While I myself do not prescribe to complete pre-destination, I believe that God will continue to move pieces around the chess bored to maneuver us to where He wants us. For the vast majority of my life I’ve run from a calling, and it wasn’t till recently I have felt as if God smacked me in the back of my head and said ‘Okay, it’s time.’ As I have spent years in the same career when that came to an abrupt end a few weeks ago, I had to accept that my time as a security officer had ended.

I watched my career implode when I ruptured a disc in my back. 9 months later I found myself back to work in what seemed to be a perfect type of position for me. 3 weeks later due to government oversight that posting was dissolved. Just like that the laid plans that took months to bare any fruit, where whisked away in a short but powerful hurricane. Left standing in the destruction I looked to the sky and asked, “Okay God, what next?” I never expected to get an answer so fast, but I can’t say I didn’t ask for it, and I can’t say I’m overly surprised. I think what shocks me most is my willingness to acquiesce to God’s plan over my own.

Who are we without Christ? We wake up at whatever time, we get ready for work, and we go to a job every day, or most days for most people, and we are either good at what we do, bad at what we do, or just don’t care to put forth the effort in what we do. For some people their careers are everything to them, and for others, it’s just an annoyance they put up with day in and day out to make money to pay the bills. While work is not everyone’s cup of tea, we all have something we enjoy doing. Whatever that is, and I’ll allow you to fill in the blank, we all, no matter how big or small, have at least that one thing that brings us great joy. For some people it’s a hobby, others it’s their pets, some it’s work, and others it’s being on fire for God in ministry and missions. While I don’t often get to talk to full time missionaries, I do get to talk to those who go on mission trips on a regular basis, i.e. once a year or so. The reports to the church on how the other half of the world lives are usually similar in nature, they have next to nothing, and yet they are happy. We have an abundance of wealth in our society and yet we are some of the most pitifully miserable people on the planet. Those who say money buys happiness obviously hasn’t taken a good hard look at the United States mental health reports. So when we look at the abundance of wealth we have, and the lavish lifestyle we live (even our poverty) lives better then many countries I’ve been too. We see disparity within our country when it comes to joy with most other countries around the world. We are truly missing one main ingredient, and that’s Jesus Christ.

When we are following Christ we find that we move from one thing to the next with more ease and less worry then those who are unbelievers. (Not a black and white statement) I am reminded of the statement by Paul, and I’ll paraphrase, In all situations I find myself, content. This is a man who if any had reason to complain, it was him. Few people go through so many hardships as Paul, except maybe Job, but he kept moving forward no matter how hard the road, no matter the obstacles in front of him, he moved forward with grace and dignity. Remind you, Paul was a sinner just like the rest of us. Paul would have faced the same draws from the sins of the flesh, the pull of a fallen world, and the human faults that plague each and every one of us, but he knew he was a sinner. Paul on more then one occasion responded to attacks by saying he was no one. He would tell people he is nothing without God, and Jesus Christ is truth and Jesus Christ alone is truth. Where Paul went he was met with hostility, anger, hatred, and even physical violence, but everywhere he went was ‘All Part Of The Plan’.

When we follow scripture and we allow ourselves to give in to it, we will be moved and used by God in ways we never thought possible. When we are seeking the Lord and we try to have that relationship with our Abba (father) we will be amazed how drastically different our life will be, how bright it is, when we finally open ourselves to God, and force our selfish need to be in control away. We will go through life trying to do things our way, but often in our feeble attempts to do things right, we usually find ourselves in dire situations often because of our own sinful decisions. When I was watching The Dark Knight a few years back I was amazed at how well written Heath Ledgers Joker was. Each scene he was in was a small masterpiece in the grand scheme of the movie. The Joker in the movie falls in the category of an Anarchist. What’s an anarchist, “a political theory holding all forms of governmental authority to be unnecessary and undesirable and advocating a society based on voluntary cooperation and free association of individuals and groups” The Joker tells Dent he isn’t a man with a plan. He tells him he’s a dog chasing a car, and he wouldn’t know what to do with it if he ever caught one. “Upset the established order and everything becomes chaos.”(Dark Knight Rises)The Devil means to upset order, and as seen in the Garden, he’s been doing it for some time now.

How do we ensure we continue to follow God’s plan? First and foremost you must have a relationship with God. You must study scripture to the point where you have it in your heart and in your head every day. You must understand the word of God to prepare for the day when you will be attacked on the battlefield. We must study scripture day and night. We must get to the point where our actions are instinct and we no longer have to put hours of study into what to do in different situations. We must have a relationship with God that gives us a level of intimacy with scripture, and not just a passing understanding of it. We must focus on that relationship with Jesus Christ, and while we are doing that, our path will be made clear as seen in scripture. Psalm 25:4-5 “Make me know Your ways, O LORD; Teach me Your paths. Lead me in Your truth and teach me, For You are the God of my salvation; For You I wait all the day.” Start with learning scripture and God’s ways. Learn behavior which is acceptable and that which is not. Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.” We must allow ourselves to subside so we may submit in every way to the Lord. To do this requires us to trust in God for every last bit of our lives. Not only trusting in the Lord with the big stuff which most people turn to God for prayer, but also the smallest details in our life, and to be thankful and appreciative of our vast number of blessings which come from our Heavenly Father. Psalm 32:8“I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you.” God will never put you on a path alone. God will never give you the keys to the car without first teaching you how to drive it. God will always give you what you need, when you need it. We are to be the hands and feet, and we are to work hard for everything we do, but God always rewards hard work and self sacrifice.

While the Joker is an agent of chaos and we often feel like our lives are chaos, I submit to you, that we are actually following the path laid in front of us by either our own sinful selves, or we’ve taken the bait and followed the path of the first agent of chaos, Lucifer. If we glance at the instruction manual and have an in passing familiarization of the design, when we get done building, will we have pieces left over? The instructions are there for a reason and just like my Lego sets I often build, if I miss even the smallest step on page 4, it could have vast problems by page 34. We must be careful to read every word, study and understand it so when the day comes for temptation to creep in on page 36, you will be ready for it. You’ll know that’s not apart of the plan, and you’ll know how to manage that day. “Yea you know, you really should have stolen the whole book because the warnings, the warnings come after the spells.”(Dr. Strange) The warnings about sin don’t just come at the end of the Bible, but throughout the whole thing. We have no excuse to expect Hell, when we live our lives according to our own plans and desires. Much like Kaecilius failed to realize the depth of what he was reading and getting into. “Eternal life as part of the one, you’re not going to like it.” (Dr. Strange) Instead of thinking of it as the one, God, instead think of it as eternal life with the one agent of chaos and destruction, the Devil. I believe so many people follow such a path that they feel works, or being good enough, or even whatever other faith they may follow, I hope in the end it’ll be worth it. I feel a bit like Dr. Strange, “you got what you wanted, but you’re not going to like it.”

We may not know what the plan is for us, but if we are patient and faithful to the Lord it will be made clear when all the pieces on the board are in the right place. We will always have a choice which way we want to go, we can be agents of chaos, or we can be agents of order. Jesus Christ is the only order you will ever need to be apart of. No matter what path God has you on based on the gifts He gave you, be patient, be trusting, and be willing to allow yourself to be the hands and feet of God. God will never ‘need’ you, but if he chooses to use you, believe me, it’s better to give in, then to fight. You can fight tooth and nail but if you want to find your happiness and contentment, go with God’s plan sooner rather then later. It’ll save you years of headaches. So get out there and make a difference.

 

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Are You Crazy?

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Are You Crazy?

Acts 14:19-20“19 But Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, and having persuaded the crowds, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing that he was dead. 20 But when the disciples gathered about him, he rose up and entered the city, and on the next day he went on with Barnabas to Derbe.” Paul has been going from city to city proclaiming the word of Jesus Christ. He has been teaching and preaching in the synagogues but as usual the Pharisees didn’t take to kindly to being shown the error of their ways, so they decided to turn the crowd and attempt to commit murder. Can you imagine yourself in Paul’s shoes? Poor guy has been beaten, stoned, ship wrecked, tortured, imprisoned, and all the while probably had more aches and pains and illnesses then we could ever imagine. Even with all this he carried on, pushed through, and not only continued to preach the word of Jesus Christ, but returned to cities in which recently tried to kill him. The ability to stand up to your enemies in the face of tremendous dangers, and yet to have that kind of faith to overcome fear with glorious courage is the embodiment of a true hero.

Acts 14:22“strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.” There is always a price to be paid and sometimes that price is higher then others. Look at all your favorite super heroes and see what they’ve had to give up to go out into the public and save lives, stop crime, and sometimes save the very world itself. It takes a special kind of person to run towards danger, and we see this in our emergency services personnel and in our military every day. How passionate are you about the Lord? How passionate are you about your eternal salvation? It’s so easy to say you know the Lord, and say you’re saved, and that you know you’re going to Heaven, but to not share the excitement is simply a travesty. A man bought and paid our salvation with His own blood and here we sit idly by as sin plagues our friends and families. We allow evil to rise up all around us and we do nothing.

When I was hearing the scripture here in Acts 14 I couldn’t help but imagine the image of Superman. The S on his chest meaning hope, and that Superman stands for Truth, Justice and The American Way. If Paul were to have a suit his would undoubtedly hold the cross. The cross is true light, the true symbol of hope. The cross that encompasses the trinity, the heart, and the blood spilt to earth so we might be free. What are you willing to do for your freedom? What would you be willing to give so you might embrace your destiny to walk with Christ in Heaven? Would you Risk your life for what you believed in? As a spiritual leader, persecution, revile, and hatred will come to you from every direction.

As a Christian it’s up to you to wear that cross proudly and visibly for the world to see. Do not hide behind the cross, and do not show offence to it. The cross is liberation, not enslavement. Do not hide behind fear. A hero will step into the light to shine brightly for all the people to see. I am reminded of an episode of the Flash (Spoilers Ahead)where Barry Allen goes to Oliver Queen the Arrow for advice on being a hero. To be a hero you’d have to be a little crazy to put yourself in harms way all the time for strangers. Knowing any minute you might not go home to your loved ones in the service of others. Knowing you can sacrifice everything you are in this world for a cause you believe for so deeply is a little nuts. I submit to you though, if you love Christ as much as I do, then you’d probably do some pretty crazy things too. I think we should all be crazy in love for Jesus. When we love Christ that much we take the command for the Great Commission seriously. Get out there and be a little crazy for Christ. If Paul would be willing to get stoned and in less then a year return to that very city to preach again, we should be willing to at the very least stand up and proclaim who our true hero is, Jesus Christ.

Barry Allen:“I’m just not sure I’m like you, Oliver. I don’t know if I can be some… vigilante.”

Oliver Queen:“You can be better, because you can inspire people in a way that I never could, watching over your city like a guardian angel… making a difference… saving people… in a flash. Take your own advice: Wear a mask.” (The Flash Pilot Episode)

See, Oliver Queen was doing what he felt his city needed to be saved. Sometimes Oliver’s methods were a little rough around the edges, and weren’t exactly the gold standard for being a hero, but the Flash, could be different. The Flash, much like Paul would stand out as more then the average hero. Even in the midst of tremendous adversity and danger, both would stand on the morals that guided them and would never relent. Both would stand tall and show the world a better way. When we look to our neighbors, our brothers and sisters, do we see anyone in our life that shows that level of integrity? We can’t even make our own right decisions, and yet we call ourselves Christians. We spit on the cross and we turn our backs on it regularly. We deny the cross when it’s convenient to save ourselves from standing apart in the crowd. We are no heroes, we are the villains. We are the mob that turned on Christ just days after greeting the savior with palms and cheers, and love and praises. We are the ones who love the free hand outs, and then when it’s time to listen we turn our backs. When it’s time to hear the truth we would prefer living in our world of free stuff, and never being held accountable for our actions.

Who are we going to be from this day going forward? Are we going to be the mob that caused the nails to go into our saviors hands, or are we going to be the man who took being stoned and beaten over and over again standing up for the name of Christ? We should stand up for Truth, Justice and Godly Light.

 

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Be The Light

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Be The Light

Matthew 5:14-16 14 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that[a] they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” On that night so many years ago a baby was born and broke the silence of hundreds of years. God sent a baby boy to bridge the gap between God and Sin. A perfect lamb, an innocent sacrifice with blood shed to may the price for all mankind. In return we are to live according to the commandments laid forth and in turn be the light lit to live in Christ’s image. We will never be Christ, but in our everyday life, in our actions, in our love for one another we should stand out in the crowd as something different, something special.

In this Christmas season shine brightly in the darkness of winter. Be so different from others that people will know you are walking with Christ. John 8:12 “Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” In this time of Christmas we have time to rejoice and celebrate the birth of the only reason we have to rejoice. Rejoice by being happy and offer adulation for the prince of peace because He deserves more then we can ever offer.

Hark The Herald Angel Sing

Hark the herald angels sing
“Glory to the newborn King!
Peace on earth and mercy mild
God and sinners reconciled”
Joyful, all ye nations rise
Join the triumph of the skies
With the angelic host proclaim:
“Christ is born in Bethlehem”
Hark! The herald angels sing
“Glory to the newborn King!”

 There are so many beautiful songs that we sing during this time of year, but most are just seen in passing. When we look deeper, feel more closely to the words we would find so much truth and joy in it. On the day the child of the King was born the Angels broke heaven and sang praises and joy. Luke 2:13-14 “13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, 14 “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” We to must rejoice for the greatest birthday of all eternity.

No matter the dark, dismal, whole you may find yourself, the light will always shine brightly. The Devil will try and try to darken your days. The Devil will pull people away from you. The Devil will hurt you, curse you, and destroy everything you have, all in the attempt to pull you away from Jesus. When we are in our darkest hour we shall fear no evil for the Lord on high is always with us. We must have and keep the faith that in all things, good and bad, big and small, God is in control and his plans for us are beautiful, not ugly. So Merry Christmas and above all Happy Birthday to the savior of our lives.