Ministering reconciliation...

Matthew 1:20-21 But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” I was using this verse for my verse of the day on twitter (click link on the right to subscribe -------> ), when God dropped a little more into my spirit about than I thought. Did you know that God sometimes uses the ideas and creativity we already have to carry out his will? No really! I have gone on so long in my life asking God to speak to me without fully realizing that he has been speaking to me. He has chosen to use the circumstances of life to show me how to live for him... I have gone through so long asking for a new word, a new vision for my family, a new hope, a new this a new that. Sometimes God wants to give you s

Genesis 9:7 And as for you, be fruitful and multiply; Bring forth abundantly in the earth And multiply in it.” This portion of scripture is tricky. The promise of Noah, well it seems as though it happens for everyone. Now, as a Christian, I grew up hearing about and singing, and believing "Every promise in the book is mine." So I get a bit defensive when I see a promise like this and it isn't happening in my life. "God why am I not multiplying?" that exact prayer, and variations of it have been on my heart a lot lately. The interesting thing about that is that this promise seems to be applicable even to non-believers of God. However, if you think about it, it's not exactly the same. See man's inherent nature, after the fall of man in Genesis 3, was degrading. The idea that man was once perfect, but the original sin injected degradation and pollution at what I believe to be a genetic level. That said, any promises towards mankind come with a twist.

Proverbs 14:20-21 The poor are shunned even by their neighbors, but the rich have many friends. 21 It is a sin to despise one’s neighbor, but blessed is the one who is kind to the needy. What is amazing to me is how poverty grips and chokes out life. If you go to a "third world" country, or even to the poorest part of your community and see poverty first hand, you can see this play out. However, you don't have to go to that distance to find out if it is truth. Poverty is more than just a financial or socio-economic status. It is a pervasive spirit, an attitude. If we let it, it will sneak into our hearts and allow us to do things that separate us from the kind of generosity that God wants us to have. I personally believe that if you look at the extremely rich, yet extremely stingy people... You know the one's who amass wealth, but hoard it instead of giving it, those people have a spirit of poverty. Please understand, though, when I say spirit, I am not

Proverbs 2:1-11 My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, 2 turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding— 3 indeed, if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, 4 and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, 5 then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. 6 For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding. 7 He holds success in store for the upright, he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless, 8 for he guards the course of the just and protects the way of his faithful ones. 9 Then you will understand what is right and just and fair—every good path. 10 For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul. 11 Discretion will protect you, and understanding will guard you. So there's a scene in this movie "Office Space" where the protagonist is

Job 13 “My eyes have seen all this, my ears have heard and understood it. 2 What you know, I also know; I am not inferior to you. 3 But I desire to speak to the Almighty and to argue my case with God. 4 You, however, smear me with lies; you are worthless physicians, all of you! 5 If only you would be altogether silent! For you, that would be wisdom. 6 Hear now my argument; listen to the pleas of my lips. 7 Will you speak wickedly on God’s behalf? Will you speak deceitfully for him? 8 Will you show him partiality? Will you argue the case for God? 9 Would it turn out well if he examined you? Could you deceive him as you might deceive a mortal? 10 He would surely call you to account if you secretly showed partiality. 11 Would not his splendor terrify you? Would not the dread of him fall on you? 12 Your maxims are proverbs of ashes; your defenses are defenses of clay. 13 “Keep silent and let me speak; then let come to me what may. 14 W

Proverbs 25:2-5 It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; to search out a matter is the glory of kings. 3 As the heavens are high and the earth is deep, so the hearts of kings are unsearchable. 4 Remove the dross from the silver, and a silversmith can produce a vessel; 5 remove wicked officials from the king’s presence, and his throne will be established through righteousness. One of the amazing things about fasting is that it puts you into the frame of mind that teaches you to seek after God. Simply put, it keeps you humble. While you are sitting there, doing something out of the ordinary, your body, or perhaps your mind if you are not fasting food, reminds you that you are "doing it wrong." What it doesn't seem to get, though, is that it is God's glory, His grandeur, His very nature to conceal a matter for us so that we can dig deeper into Him. The great thing about that is that we can simply humble ourselves, repent, turn from sin, and we can

It has been far too long, in more than one way, it has indeed been far to long. I have not blogged in quite some time. In fact, my last blog was in February and was very negative. During that time in my life, I was very burned out with a great many things. Burned out with Christianity, all the forms, rules, regulations, and expectations that are placed on people while NOT embracing real, lasting relationships. My wife and I have been drawn so tightly into a net of reclusivity, that we scarcely make it to church anymore. There's no excitement, no zest for life with Christ, no fun to be had going to church. No vigor from spending hours ministering and seeing a small change in someone's life; that little spark of cognition that the Spirit of Christ brings to man. It has been a dry spell to end all dry spells, and worst of all my friends, it is borderline heresy. That's right, I said it, heresy ... no not burn me at the steak for telling people that loving bacon is not

Have you ever felt like you were a part of something, but not apart? Why is it that there are always people who are willing to let you be "a part" of something, but they don't want you to be apart. They don't really want you to work with them to accomplish anything, they don't want to lower their armor for even a little bit of relationship building. I have been fortunate enough to have 1 real man of God (you know who you are) be my friend. Who constantly checks in on me and sees how I have been. I crave more, but never get it. I crave more involvement at church, but get nothing. I worked long and hard to try become a part of the ministry work behind the scenes at my church. But have either constantly told "no" by family, "don't call us, we'll call you" from leadership. After years of this, it wears on me. I feel like what I was once so sure of is gone and I am instead left with a downgraded level of service, a cheap imitation of fulfi