The Crisis

 Most of us have experienced something from the crisis of the local tornado that brutally slapped us around last week. Some of you directly, others as a crisis responder, some as a shoulder for someone to lean on, or as a prayer warrior for those who are hurting.
  I am sure there are some people who haven't really done something for the crisis but many people have sore muscles, ripped clothes, wind burn, dirty tools, you know all the things that come with throwing in for a good cause.
In the book of John, Jesus said, "I have loved you even as the Father has loved me.  Remain in my love.  When you obey me, you remain in my love, just as I obey my father and remain in his love. I have told you this so that you will be filled with my joy.  Yes, your joy will overflow!"
Notice that Jesus expects us to do only what He did with his Dad.  His relationship with His Father is the model for our friendship with Him.  Jesus did whatever the Father asked Him to do; it brought Jesus joy doing those things.  You want joy? This is one way of getting it.
Often we will be challenged to do "great things'  for God. There have been some very great heroic men and women who have been called out of regular life to accomplish great things.  But these great heroes really aren't the norm.  Actually, God is pleased when people do great things but he is also pleased when we do small things for him out of loving obedience.  They may be unnoticed by others, but God notices them and considers them acts of worship.
Great opportunities may come once in a lifetime, but small opportunities surround us every day. Just simple things like telling the truth, looking away when your eyes shouldn't see something, being kind,  cutting someones fallen tree or checking in on someone sick. This is the stuff that God smiles at.  God treasures simple acts of obedience. Those of you who helped at Storehouse of God, that is smile stuff; Crisis Response Work, that is smile stuff, visiting the sick, yea, more smile stuff. Helping here at the church, someone sick, someone in need, someone you don't like, someone at work, doing something extra for someone, you got it, more smile stuff. 
All of you at the 'T SUB' look at this verse.  When God calls your number to do something for him it is probably going to be an anonymous act of kindness....if you obey and do it, look at what this verse says in....John 15:14 "Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you," (KJV).  Let's all keep the friendship going and for some of you, isn't it time to make Jesus your friend?




John 15:14
14 Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.  (KJV)

March Madness

I've been watching two frequent news makers the past month.  One is the NCAA and the other is the famed and highly idolatrized NFL lockout.  If you are watching any of the news channels, both share the limelight of this month’s sporting headlines. From basketball “bracketology” and school bragging rights to collective-bargaining and contract negotiations to millionaire moguls to controversial cover ups to student-scholar amateurs to pre-madonna professional athletes... 

At first glance, both organizations and their respective players are seemingly at polar opposites of the sporting spectrum and their associated missions. Yet, given further scrutiny, in reality, their worlds are much closer in nature than originally led to believe. Both are big, big, big business with billion-dollar dividends distributed annually.

In short, both are fashioned by finances, molded by money, and corrupted by cash. Whether it’s the revenue-seeking recruits feeling entitled to “$100 dollar handshakes” or egocentric athletes seeking greater affluence in an ever-adoring sports society, the financial chasm between collegiate athletics and professional sports is quickly closing, and is in fact connected.

The argument isn’t whether players should be paid for their services—regardless of level—the point I’m trying to make is that all of the corruption and chaos witnessed time and again in sports is in large part fueled by the LOVE of money. 
The Bible clearly states that money, in and of itself, isn’t a bad thing—as it is indeed a necessity of life. But what is really the truth of the matter is that society is mimicking sports—openly coveting, embracing, and idolizing money—making it an end-all—and it's that that is the root of all evil. Jesus was not silient concerning the powerful and misguided place money can have in a persons' life.
It is my prayer that we each take to heart a lesson from the book of Philippians 4:11-12, it says:
Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need…regardless of money. Remember, you're to keep focused on the LORD, not on your cash flow.

Mt climbing

Matt 5:1
1 And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him:  (KJV)
 There was a multitude.  The key word here is, 'was'.  Look clearly at the verse. It says there was a multitude. Then it explains that Jesus went up away from them into the mountain.  He left them.  But He didn't just leave them, He didn't just take off.... He climbed up a mountain to get away from them. Crowds always collect around events, individuals or gatherings of people that cause a stir or arouse someones' attention and curiosity.  Jesus would surely qualify as that. He could really draw a crowd. But Jesus knew that crowds could be unpredictable and capricous.  On this day, He was preaching and a large crowd gathered, so He climbed a hillside.
What happened next is what the Lord was working His way to all along.  Those who were sincere disciples, those who truly were seeking the depth, the transformation, the meaning of His messages; those listeners climbed the mountain with Him.  The mulitudes didn't climb the mountain. The scriptrue says, 'his disciples came unto him.'  I wonder, 'where did the crowd go'?  They just seemed to fade away. It was too difficult to climb the mountain so they left Him.
James Ryle in his teaching guide for men's groups, says "It is not about crowds.  It's about climbing partners.  It's about men who are committed to Christ, and to one another".
The scripture tells us that we are "partakers of a heavenly calling" (Heb.3:1). It is "the upward call of God in Christ Jesus" (Phil.3:14). It is the call of God upon our lives that makes mediocrity unacceptable.  The word mediocrity literally means "halfway up a mountain."
Are you going to settle for only following Christ halfway? I didn't think so

What is Lent

“WHAT IS LENT?” Luke 18:9-14

“There’s nothing wrong with me,” the man says.
“But sir, you’ve just been in a terrible car accident. You’re bleeding and have some deep bruises. There may be internal damage!”
“There’s nothing wrong with me!”
“At least have a doctor check you out, sir. We have an ambulance right here – it wouldn’t take very long..”
“I told you, there’s nothing wrong with me!”
“But sir.”
Then the man walks away from the car accident. His wife picks him up and drives him home. Later he dies from internal bleeding.

“There’s nothing wrong with me” can be a dangerous thing to say. Spiritually, it is probably the worst thing a person could say. For a person to stand before God and say, “There’s nothing wrong with me” – is incompatible with Christianity and unacceptable to God. What is the opposite of “there’s nothing wrong with me”? Wouldn’t it be “there’s everything wrong with me”?

A Christian is someone who saw that he has a nature that is sinful; and that when he does things wrong it is because of that nature.  The sin is evidence that something in him is wrong.  When he heard the mesage of Jesus Christ - that through Jesus' death on the cross at Calvary that nature could be removed, destroyed and the sin washed away - He was willing to accept that grace and to overcome that old "sin nature".

What is Lent? Lent is being that man who stood in the back of the temple, and looked down at the ground, and prayed to God, “Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner.” Lent is a time for us to be like that man. A time to give up our sinful habits and attitudes, and to stand before God and thank Him for forgiveness, for washing our sins away, and giving us the grace, through the empowering Holy Spirit, to be able to turn away from our sinful past and to live new lives that are dedicated to God.