Ministering reconciliation...

Philippians 4:19 And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. God has been reminding me a lot the last few weeks about how He supplies. In the words of my mother-in-law, "Where God guides, He provides." This has all been coming about over the last few weeks with a bit of a nasty situation in my finances. If you have been following my blog for awhile you may realize that the last year for me has been a bit crazy. I won't rehash here, so go back and read the post titled "Stirring the Pot." My life has been a hotbed of blindsides and unexpected stuff. It would be one thing if I was going around in my life and saying "when's the other shoe gonna drop?" I don't, and no Christian should, that is a reaction out of fear rather than faith. God called us to be people of faith. In my journey, God has been reminding me of simple truths that have been taught to me since the time I was a little baby. Bu

John 12:23-25 23 Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24 Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. 25 Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. So I had a conversation with a new friend, Pastor Nick Lembo, and he was telling me about how he as been increasingly aware of the cycle of death. Now, before you go off thinking he is really old, he's in his prime! (that's for you pastor Nick, hope it edifies you.) Well I was thinking and pondering what he shared with me and it kind of got "Stuck in my craw." I went back to a verse God reminded me of in John (see above) where Jesus says, "Its time," then says "unless the wheat falls to to the ground and DIES, it remains only a single seed" then he finishes by saying "whoever hates

In reading, and studying Acts with my friend Travis, I began realizing that when you stir the pot, all hell breaks loose. After saying that, I didn't realize what i was dealing with. God began stirring my pot last year. A lot. I went through leaving a church, the loss of a child, the one area that I had left was finances. I chose to no longer send my money to the Assemblies of God, as required by their by-laws. In so-doing, I sent a clear message to GOD that I was His man, all the way through. I stirred the pot by getting closer to God. Now I find out, after telling myself and Satan that my money is Gods, that I can't really afford school anymore, I owe $800 AFTER financial aid was paid, and now I am looking at an additional $4200 for the next year and a half to keep going. Where am I going with this... Acts 9:1 1 Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest Saul in this part of the story is doing w

Acts 5:12-16 12 The apostles performed many signs and wonders among the people. And all the believers used to meet together in Solomon’s Colonnade. 13 No one else dared join them, even though they were highly regarded by the people. 14 Nevertheless, more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number. 15 As a result, people brought the sick into the streets and laid them on beds and mats so that at least Peter’s shadow might fall on some of them as he passed by. 16 Crowds gathered also from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those tormented by impure spirits, and all of them were healed. Let me set the stage for you. The early church is expanding with explosive force. Peter and the other apostles had gone from followers to leaders of the most quickly growing movement to-date. They were gaining believers 3,000 at a time. Peter now tempered with boldness from the Holy Spirit becomes the focal point of this new grassroots movement. In a

I actually wrote this awhile ago, but felt it appropriate to share going into the Christmas season. No Room at the inn-R(e)volutionary part 5 Isaiah 9:1-3;6,7 The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death [a] a light has dawned. 3 You have enlarged the nation and increased their joy; they rejoice before you as people rejoice at the harvest, as men rejoice when dividing the plunder. 6For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, [b] Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7 Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that ti

You ever have those weeks where you just read your bible and you get so caught up that you forget to blog about it? The last couple weeks have been crazy! I have been doing homework left and right, hanging out with family and friends and starting a twice monthly study with a friend. The study we are doing is on the Holy Spirit. One thing that God showed me is that we often have a hard time wrapping our heads around the mystery that is our God. He is SO transparent and clear about WHO He is, that we can get confused and overwhelmed. When I say who, I guess i would more closely interpret that to be HOW He is. God shows us His love, mercy, favor, forgiveness all day long. God is slow to get angry with us, quick to show kindness, and even when we purposely do things that hurt Him, He is there, waiting, watching, hoping we will make the choice to move back to him... As a part of the study I mentioned, we are looking at the Holy Spirit. We read through Acts 1 and 2 and the outpouring o

John 3: 17-20 17For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son.[c] 19This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. I find it interesting that so often when we do something wrong, our instinct is to bury it. Look at Moses.. He killed an Egyptian and tried to bury him in the sand... Surprisingly, we do this almost instinctively. We get thoughts that come, almost unbidden, to us saying "no one will ever accept/love/look up to you now, you are such a failure." We think that maybe, just maybe, if we hide what we have done, then we don't have to deal with the consequen

So reading through Acts 5 there's a cool scripture. Acts 5:12-16 the msg 12-16Through the work of the apostles, many God-signs were set up among the people, many wonderful things done. They all met regularly and in remarkable harmony on the Temple porch named after Solomon. But even though people admired them a lot, outsiders were wary about joining them. On the other hand, those who put their trust in the Master were added right and left, men and women both. They even carried the sick out into the streets and laid them on stretchers and bedrolls, hoping they would be touched by Peter's shadow when he walked by. They came from the villages surrounding Jerusalem, throngs of them, bringing the sick and bedeviled. And they all were healed. So this scripture talks about the apostles and how they were performing many miracles, meeting regularly and the interesting part to me was that they met at what the NIV calls "Solomon's colonnade." The Message calls it "

Luke 5:1-11 1One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret,[a]with the people crowding around him and listening to the word of God, 2he saw at the water's edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. 3He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat. 4When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, "Put out into deep water, and let down[b] the nets for a catch." 5Simon answered, "Master, we've worked hard all night and haven't caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets." 6When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. 7So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink. 8When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus' knees and said, &q

Philippians 2:12-18 12Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, 13for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose. 14Do everything without complaining or arguing, 15so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe 16as you hold out[a] the word of life—in order that I may boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor for nothing. 17But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service coming from your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you. 18So you too should be glad and rejoice with me. Something that I have been chewing over the last few days is the thought that people have, especially Christians, that we have to DO something to earn God's love, grace, suppor

Wow, the last few months have been challenging. I will not go into detail, except that God has been so faithful in all of it. To add to what I talked about with Glowing, spending time in God's presence, I started to do a walk and talk... I walk around my block (.9 miles) and talk to God. This is yet another attempt to start something that I have started and stopped for months, working out. I have been going back and forth for months now about reading more in my bible. I would read, and not be inspired by anything, then I would read and it was like God slapped me in the head and said "der!" (For some of you, I am interested in starting a support group...) Anyway, God just did it again! As I sit here massaging the spot that got "hurted" I notice this portion of scripture: Philippians 2:12-18 12Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling

Exodus 34:29-35 29-30 When Moses came down from Mount Sinai carrying the two Tablets of The Testimony, he didn't know that the skin of his face glowed because he had been speaking with God. Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, saw his radiant face, and held back, afraid to get close to him. 31-32 Moses called out to them. Aaron and the leaders in the community came back and Moses talked with them. Later all the Israelites came up to him and he passed on the commands, everything that God had told him on Mount Sinai. 33-35 When Moses finished speaking with them, he put a veil over his face, but when he went into the presence of God to speak with him, he removed the veil until he came out. When he came out and told the Israelites what he had been commanded, they would see Moses' face, its skin glowing, and then he would again put the veil on his face until he went back in to speak with God. This is our target scripture today... You ever notice how when a woman is pr

I went through my old bible today.. Man that poor thing is beat up. As I was perusing it, I saw a portion of scripture that was interesting to me. This scripture is interesting because I am read it before, but at the time, I think I just glossed over it. With recent developments in my life, it is so applicable, that it begs me to read and explore it here too... 2 Kings 2:19-22 19 Then the men of the city said to Elisha, “Please notice, the situation of this city is pleasant, as my lord sees; but the water is bad, and the ground barren.” 20 And he said, “Bring me a new bowl, and put salt in it.” So they brought it to him. 21 Then he went out to the source of the water, and cast in the salt there, and said, “Thus says the LORD: ‘I have healed this water; from it there shall be no more death or barrenness.’” 22 So the water remains healed to this day, according to the word of Elisha which he spoke. These 4 verses are power packed and amazing to re-read. First thing to notice is that t

Ephesians 5:8-20 8For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light 9(for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) 10and find out what pleases the Lord. 11Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. 12For it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. 13But everything exposed by the light becomes visible, 14for it is light that makes everything visible. This is why it is said: "Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you." 15Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, 16making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. 17Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is. 18Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit. 19Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your he

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery is a common saying. What does that mean? Why is it flattery if someone is acting like you? When I was a kid, I wanted to be cool. I wanted the Nike Shoes. Those to me were more cool than cool. Oh sure, I wanted Legos, or GI Joes, or whatever new Nerf Item there was. But I wanted to be that kid who had Nike brand emblazoned on his feet. After all, who didn't want to strap on a pair of Air Jordans and jump from the half court line to make a perfect dunk? In America right now, there is a dangerous problem rising. Political correctness. Most often, we are so worried about what you will say to us if we call you out on something, that we are silently sending you to hell. We pastors are so concerned with not offending someone because they may "leave" the church or the group we lead. We silently endorse sin so that we don't have to deal with it. GOD doesn't want your political correctness, he wants Holiness. How can we get

Last night, at worship Practice we were reading through Psalm 21-25 and Proverbs 5. Let me back up... Our worship pastor, Adam Walker, was given a Sabbatical of 4 weeks. At the time we found out, he asked my wife, Amber, to lead worship in his stead. With hesitancy, she said she would. Adam, then enlisted the aid of two other people to help with leading songs that are out of Amber's range. We chose songs, and who would sing them, and were very excited for Adam. Little did we know that he was such a huge influence on that area and had such huge shoes to fill. Part of that was further broken down into someone overseeing the musical side of things and supporting Amber from a musicianship stand point. Selah. I was asked 2 days before the first practice to help with that portion. Now, I have grown up in the church and had some incredible experiences in worship. My goal as a musician is to allow my worship to be an extension of my love for God. In that, learning to play beyond my n

Thistles and Thorns: As I read through my bible reading for the day, I prayed and asked God to reveal something new and fresh in this scripture. Matthew 13 is what i read through today. To many, this is a common and very ordinary scripture that we hear a lot. But as I began to read, God was talking to me about who I am in this picture. For those of you that don't know it, Matthew 13 starts out with Jesus getting into a boat and talking in stories. The first story he talks about is a farmer who is sowing seeds. He said the kingdom of heaven is like the man who sows seeds and some fell on the road and was promptly eaten by birds. Some fell in rocky soil, and quickly grew, but because the soil of their character was too rocky, the seed was scorched by the sun and died. Then he said there was a bunch that fell among thistles and thorns. They too grew, but the thistles and thorns chocked them out. Finally, there was some seed that fell on what the bible describes as "Good soil.&qu

Over the last few months, I have found the need to keep pressing my life into Christ. My problem is stagnation. I let that stagnation begin to take root in my life and it began to corrode my relationships. Now, I had no clue that it was happening; all I knew was that things seemed to be getting harder for ME. I would hear myself saying things like, 'I didn't like that at all," or "I don't feel like this person is getting what they are supposed to do." My attitude was quickly becoming one of get out of my way, I can do it better. I didn't realize that this was a bad thing until just recently. The veil was shattered when I caught myself thinking, "How is it that I can be smarter than this person." The fact that the person was an authority figure in my life, the fact that these thoughts COULD HAVE BEEN true is not the problem. The problem for me is that I forgot one of the most basic things in Christianity. Romans tells us that all authority is p

Psalms 14:2-7 2 The LORD looks down from heaven on the sons of men to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God. 3 All have turned aside, they have together become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one. 4 Will evildoers never learn— those who devour my people as men eat bread and who do not call on the LORD ? 5 There they are, overwhelmed with dread, for God is present in the company of the righteous. 6 You evildoers frustrate the plans of the poor, but the LORD is their refuge. 7 Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion! When the LORD restores the fortunes of his people, let Jacob rejoice and Israel be glad! This makes me think. This verse is very clear when it says that God "looks down" for nay who can understand. In David's defense, it would be pretty depressing to look out and see that NO ONE is seeking God. I have

I was listening to Ed Young yesterday and he said, "How often do you share your vision? Do you say it, spray it, teach it, preach it? Have you said it a squillion times?" I feel its time to re-share the vision God gave me. If you are reading this and you feel like God is telling you the same, gimme a call :). This is the best way to share it, so bear with me: "It's dark now, cold, still, and dark. Although the air is cold and still, there is an electric buzz that seems to permeate the darkness. As I move, I can see my breath coming out in anxious gasps. This is the moment I have been waiting for since I was a teenager. I look out and see thousands. I know every one of them. I have served everyone of them, and now, standing in front of them I know I am about to fulfill the plan of God. I walk into the crowd, randomly checking armor. Then, hearing God's voice clearly, I walk to the front and I say, 'Son's of the king, the time has come.' They unde

Over the course of the last month, my pastor has been asking us to pray a prayer. Interrupt and disturb me, Lord. My heart has been torn for far too long between complacent and the epic call God has placed on my life. In one hand, I desire to run through the valley's and to the mountain tops and shout! "God is real, anyone can be reconciled, it doesn't matter what you did. Just take a step!" But then all too suddenly, thought sink in of insufficiency. Thoughts of "why do this, it won't be effective," began to hit me like one of Iron Mike's left hooks. These thought stay with me about as long as the stars one would see after said hook. The problem with this thought is that its all wrong. Not just from God's perspective, but from God's too. Enter a song that totally shifted my perspective. "All that I am," from the Fellowship Church (Grapevine, TX) worship team to remind me of the truth. Verse two's blazing off-beat tempo and lyr

In Matthew 24:10-14 Jesus tells of the ending times. He says that during this time there are going to be problems, but then he goes into this interesting dissertation: 10At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, 11and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. 12Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, 13but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. 14And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. The thought he shares is interesting to me because he says the Gospel will be preached. He doesn't command us to go and preach it, he says it will be a by product. I think many pastors and well-meaning people tell Christians to go and make disciples. In the process, many of them get this thought that THEY have to go and MAKE people believe. That they somehow have to win these friends with the sole intention of gettin

I see a generation motivated to live the gospel, compelled by courage to engage their God at a higher level each day. I see a generation that worships God with reckless abandon in Spirit and truth. I see a generation that is not interested in doing life alone, but committed to relationships as God intended. I see a generation that is living their lives of integrity, full of grace and hope. I see a generation that is willing to give up pornography and lust for love and committed, man and woman marriage. I see a generation that redefines their relationship with God instead of re-inventing it.

So a few weeks ago, I was preaching at (e)pic, our young adults group, and talking about Jonah. I spoke about reconciliation. What does this term mean? A lot of people skip over it conveniently because it is an uncomfortable subject. It means restoring balance or harmony. That was John the Baptists chief message "REPENT for the kingdom of heaven is near" (Matthew 3:2). I think a lot of people look at this message and think that by saying "I am sorry" it fixes everything. No, not exactly. It means that you say I am sorry and try your best to restore harmony in your relationship with God. The only way to do that is Jesus Christ. You know it is interesting that many people use the story of Jesus condemning the woman caught in adultery as a sign that Jesus was gracious. But they forget the second part of that, after the pharisees had gone. Jesus looks at her and says "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?" "No one, sir," she said.