Wandering in your own life.

Ever have trouble figuring out exactly what your suppose to be doing?  Sure at any given moment counts, but I'm referring to life in general.  For some reason I am finding that for a few brief moments each week I think I have it figured out....then the rest of the week sets in.  Sure I know what I want but is that what God wants for me?  A lot of people say they want to be doing God's will in their life but what does that really look like?   I mean yeah I know when God is talking to me or rather guiding me in a certain direction but he has yet to hand me a 5-year-plan.

I want to live not just exist and I would like someone to share those experiences with.  Mind you I'm not talking about a wife per say just some to share the experience with an be able to have intelligent conversation with along the way.  Is that really too much to ask for?  I guess if that is not what God wants for me then the answer would be yes.  There is so much more to life then sitting at home watching another stupid reality tv show or wasting away in front of the computer.  Why is it that so many people are comfortable in going to work, coming home, eating in front of the tv, playing on the Facebook and then going to bed.

Maybe because I find so much closeness to God in life the idea of "staying in" petrifies me.  Sunsets on the ocean, Birds of Paradise in the jungle, even the architectural achievements of man were guided by the One who created the laws of physics and science that make such wonders possible.  Gods splendor resonates in all of creation and yet I have very little time to bear witness to those while confined to my mortal coil.  What will it be like after death I'm not sure but I don't think I will feel same rush of life hanging over a 50ft waterfall that I would now.  The limitations placed on our mortal selves are only for a short time.  We will have all of eternity to be in the presence of God in our spiritual form made new.  Enjoy the opportunity to witness creation in a way that the Angels never will.  Oh and God can you please fax over that 5-year-plan you have for me so I can stop wandering around inside my own life.

One Body Divided

I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought.
1 Corinthians 1:9-11

What is it about the modern day church (church as in the collective organization of like minded individuals under one doctrinal umbrella) that weights the carrying out of the great commission? Under what doctrinal pretense do they feel justified in saying my ministry is greater then yours? and when did it become MY ministry instead of HIS ministry?

It pains me to see and hear these types of conversations happening within the modern day body of Christ.  Years ago it caused me to doubt the validity of a belief system based on the division I saw within its own believers.  I have since realized that is a flawed belief in itself as one can not judge the purity of the water based on the rusty container in which it is held, but that is the subject of a whole nother posting.

I would really like to know the thought process that goes into a member or leader in a church saying they can not support another ministry if albeit only verbally because they are doing the same type of outreach.  God has given servants hearts for various aspects of his ministry and we are not all called to the same approach.  I do not personally feel compelled to minister to those who are in hospitals yet Jesus has called his disciples to do that among various other aspects of ministry.  So because I feel called to teach other believers who lack direction or to inspire Christ followers to actively take up their cross, does that mean I should feel that someone who minister to children or the sick and elderly as being less or more then myself?

Part of the argument that I heard was that the reason behind those who were participating in a ministry was less then noble.   That seems to hold little weight to me considering that my own pastor has confessed to initially coming to church for the first time because there were hot girls.  First off am I so above reproach to judge the heart of my neighbor and secondly the transformation of our heart is not normally an instantaneous effect but God working on the broken vessels we come to him in.

As I heard Dr Whitcomb preach on this weekend, "man can come to Jesus through the TRUTH without Love but he can not come to him through Love without TRUTH.  To the soul who has been saved from an eternity in the absence of God it does not matter why you chose to share the Truth with them, only that you did.

Entitled to our Detriment

What is it about society today that gives us such an overwhelming sense of entitlement?  Why do we feel that God, the world, and our friends owe us so much that we abuse what has been given freely?  Society seems to feed this warped mentality and it grows with each generation.  God chooses to bless us at different parts of our life and for many different reasons and yet we come to to expect this from him.  If the welfare or unemployment check is a few days late we go hysterical as though we actually did something over the last week to earn that money.  Some of us expect our parents to bail us out of jams with very little sense of gratitude for doing so.  Entitlement lends itself to ungratefulness real quick and it is rampant in today's society.

It is very hard in America to not have a roof over your head and food on the table.  Unlike many other countries the percent of homeless or starving in America is VERY low.  Though there are not masses living on the street or going hungry there are plenty of people who have their needs met who do nothing to achieve that.  You want that great job that will lead to paying your bills on time and putting food on the table......then WORK for it.  It is one thing to be trying to improve on your life and getting help along the way (be grateful for the help you receive don't expect it or accept it while wallowing in self pity), it something else all together to spend your life expecting others to do the work for you.  How many of us know or are someone who receives their government check each week or month and do not even make an attempt to move off of our butt to change our circumstances.  Self-pity and depression are the leading causes of homelessness in America, it certainly isn't through the lack of opportunity.

Now granted its not always easy to achieve but then that is what separates those who succeed and those who don't.  How much do you really want it.  There are 24hrs in a day what are you doing with the time God has graciously allowed you draw breath?  Are you spending 10hrs sleeping, playing video games, or generally being unproductive?  If so then on what grounds do you expect to achieve?  We are called to be good stewards with what we have been given the greatest of which is our life.  If we are spending so much energy expecting our rent to be paid or food to be provided to us yet we are not doing Everything in our power to do so ourselves then are we truly being good stewards.  If we are treat others as we want to be treated then you shouldn't be surprised when the system you continue to abuse or the spouse you neglect or the friends you walk over, wake up one day and say we are done with you because you are not owed anything.  Rather then being owed we have a debt that took the blood of an innocent to pay and our belief in entitlement leads to our ungratefulness for his provisions through others to us and ultimately a ungratefulness for his sacrifice.

Pridefully Humble

Wow haven't really touched this in almost a year.  Been really busy with a thousand other things but through the prodding of one of my friends I have decided to make another attempt at keeping up my blog.  Over the past few day I have come to a conclusion that has actually helped me see the world in new light, actually it was more then one conclusion but for the sake of time I will only take about the first one in the post and the save the other for later this week (hopefully),  I realized that every single man on the face of the planet struggles with Pride.  If any man ever tells you he doesn't then he also struggles with telling the truth.  Pride itself comes in many forms though we as a society like to pigeon hole it into one or two of the big acts of being prideful.

One of the most common forms of Pride among men of coarse is in their physical prowess.  This is very akin to vanity but again that will be touched on later.  But being Proud in the fact that you can beat the snot out of the guy next to you in line at Publix is not the only form of Pride.  Many of us men are Proud in intellect, how much smarter we may be then the people we are around.  We are Proud of station; where we live, work, and play.  We are proud of our talents, whether this is in music or how talented we are leading or even how talented we are at metal or woodcrafting.  I just finished a book called The Language of God by Francis Collins who was the lead scientist on The Human Genome Project and a follower of Jesus Christ.  In his book he made the argument that genetics has shown the link in hereditary traits that go far beyond just our eye color.  Our cognitive ability or how well we can assimilate and retain new information, our skills and above average or below average athletic skill can all be linked to genes we inherited from our parents.  As he points out having a specific gene in most cases only predisposes you to a certain condition like having an increase risked to develop breast cancer and in the same way it predisposes you to having the ability to excel in academics.  However if you do nothing with that gift you could have the right 'gene' and still end up on the couch in your mom's basement at 30 with a box of Captain Crunch and bong in your lap.

These things that we all (men more so then women) take so much Pride in were gifts from God even before we had our first thought.  It is one thing to have pride in your work and being Proud.  Doing the best you can because you have pride in your work and desire to use the skills that God has blessed you with is completely different then belittling those around you for not measuring up to your standard.  None of us measure up to the standard set by Jesus yet he looks on us with love and devotion not contempt for our shortcomings.  If you find yourself looking on others with contempt and disdain for not being able to do something or achieve something as well as you can then you have just gotten an inside look at an area of your life that struggles with Pride.

Giving the small things to God.

So I haven't posted in a month now I have been really busy lately. A lot of my blogging activity has gone to trying to get the new Take It To The Streets blog up and running. However after the last few weeks of having something weigh on me I find the necessity to get it out in the open.

Most Christians have no problem praying for larger things in their lives. We pray for health concerns, death in the family, financial struggles, world events, and local tragedies. But why do we have such a hard time asking God for his help in dealing with people we find difficult in our lives. Personally I have a hard time with a few people trying to convey my thoughts and ideas in tangible terms. I may feel moved by God but getting his divine inspiration in my life across to select people seems a daunting task.

I think that we as humans are very worried constantly about how people will receive our words. If we try to address something that is causing us grief in our life with a friend or fellow brother or sister in Christ the level of difficulty in the task seems to multiply. Will I be doing harm to this person? Will I bring this person grief? Am I justified in my opinion or is there something wrong with me? These are just a few of the questions we ask ourselves as we try and figure out how to approach people.

My answer is, take it to God. If he can heal the body of cancer he can certainly open the heart of someone you are trying to address a concern with as well as open you heart to their perspective. If we take the time to pray about the issue then any spirit of offense or wrongdoing will have fled from us and given us a sound body and soul to speak from. You do not want to go at the situation while evil spirits are still in the situation. Looking back I can see why so many of my conversations with people have gone awry when I try and broach sensitive subjects while those spirits are still alive and kicking.

After you take it to God you have to be prepared to do as he ask. Often times he will prompt us to speak with the person who we are having a difficulty with, when the time is right. We have to be ready to obey that command and know that God is with us and he will work things out according to his plans. It may not work out the way we would like it to but "all things according to his will". If we do nothing or try it without the assistance of God then we are giving those spirits free reign over that aspect of our lives and will never truly have peace. As surely as we can plant a seed of hope in those around us, a seed of discord can be planted with unattended offense. On the flip side how prideful are we who hear our brothers and sisters attempts at reconciliation and choose not to examine our own perspective and seek God for a sincere response.

Who gossips with you will gossip against you

The Hebrew word translated “gossip” in the Old Testament is defined as “one who reveals secrets, one who goes about as a talebearer or scandal-monger.” A gossiper is a person who has privileged information about people and proceeds to reveal that information to those who have no business knowing it. Gossip is distinguished from sharing information by its intent. Gossipers have the goal of building themselves up by making others look bad and exalting themselves as some kind of repositories of knowledge. In the process of doing a little research for this posting I came across an interesting fact; almost every known religion has derogatory things to say about gossip and those who spread it. Judaism, Christianity, Hinduism, Taosim and on and on have numerous religious text that speak plainly about the wrong of bearing false witness against another. Gossip is a way of us judging others which really is not our job.

"Judge not, that ye be not judged". Matt 7:1

There is a fine line on what knowledge you choose to impart on another for good or for gossip. This line is really a matter of intent and only God can know the intent of a mans heart. If you hear that someone has a eating disorder or know it first hand you have a few choices. You could do nothing.

‘The only thing necessary for the triumph [of evil] is for good men to do nothing.’ - Edmund Burke. (yeah hes not in the bible but i've always loved this quote)

You can tell others for the sake of making this person look bad and by comparison you yourself look better.

“Do not go about spreading slander among your people. Do not do anything that endangers your neighbor’s life. I am the Lord.” Lev 19:16

Or you can impart this knowledge to someone who may be able to help and give council. Personally I believe that through prayer God will give you the discernment to know who to impart knowledge of this type that can bring someone into the situation to help begin the healing process. If you saw someone with a gun to their head most of us would not just sit and watch them shoot themselves or someone else without trying to intervene. In the same way if you knew someone was suicidal would you not try and find someone qualified to help them out. Again the act of gossip is in the intent and that is between you and God, however I know even in my own life I need to look at times I speak and really evaluate why it is I'm saying what I'm saying.

These are extreme examples but they make a point. When the situation is not life and death and you hear rumor of the "he said, she said" style....Go To The Source. Gossip is meant to alter the perception of a person or their character to the one you are sharing the gossip with. If you go to someone and say I heard this about you and would like to hear the truth from you, you stop the fire from spreading. I welcome feedback from others on this topic it is something coming up frequently for me and always consider the input of others. My personal accountability in this area will certainly be spoken of this week on here, as I ask to be called to the mat.

Work to the betterment of "Not Yourself"

So I'm noticing something in the workplace that I see in lives of Christians more often then I should. For some reason people in the workplace are so worried about making their way the right way that they lose sight of the good of the company. Our purpose at work should be to use our skills and ability's for the betterment of the company. As the company does better then we will prosper with them. I know that I am not always right or that someone else may have a better idea then I do. I guess I am not so ingrained in my ways yet that I only see one possible outcome for any given event. Everyday I encounter resistance at work to anything that might actually make things run smoother or that is to the benefit of all because "That is just not how things are done". People are so worried about holding on to the little bit of real estate that they have, that they fail to see the bigger picture. Granted I understand that this happens less in the public sector then it does in the government but it still happens.

I find that the same thing happens in reference to the heavenly kingdom as well. We develop a ministry from the ground up, start a new church, create our own small group, or put together a missions trip and then things don't quite work out the way we had them planned. The defining purpose of our acts should be for the betterment of God's kingdom. When God sees fit that we move on to something else or what we have started is not benefiting his kingdom as much as something else might, we should not fight to hold on to it. As people and Christians we need to learn that our actions should be for the furthering of Gods kingdom in whatever way we can. It may not be the way that we would like, but it is not about us, that is the sin of Pride creeping into our lives. I see people everyday that have are so proud of their work that they refuse to adapt or see that in some cases there may be a better way to further the collective goals of the company. They have to be willing to compromise. Some days we must realize that God has a better way to further his goals then the path we are currently on and we must be willing to change course with him.

It is not an easy thing letting go of works we have started or founded, that we believe are righteous and worthy. However, if we are truly seeking God, what are our works but tools to further his kingdom. When he calls us to lay down that tool and move to till another field we should not question our Creator just simply obey. You may find that as you constantly strive to work towards the betterment of Gods kingdom you, yourself become a better person. Funny how God works that way.

"In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls". 1 Peter 1:6-9 NIV