The Handshake

Where have the sports figures gone who recognize and understand that much of male America, and some female, idolize them and look up to them as role models?  Is that just history? 

Fortunately, it is not.  There are still men and women who play professional sports who know that their behavior and speech on and off the field is followed by millions of people, and it is their deepest desire to affect those millions positively.  Tim Tebow, the Denver Broncos quarterback is one such man.  If you have just a few minutes, take a look at who this guy is, and the values that guide his life.  http://www.cbn.com/media/player/index.aspx?s=/mp4/SB101v2a_web_WS 

A Healthy Mind

There’s a story in the Bible in Proverbs 7:6-23 about a young man who met a married woman who was on the prowl for a man to spend the night with, since her husband was out of town on business, and she wanted to have some fun.  This young man is described as “lacking judgment.”  Why?  In the story, the woman enticed him with seducing words, telling him of how she had looked for him and had now found him, how she had covered her bed with fine imported linens and had perfumed it, making it just right for a night of hot sex, and best of all “my husband is not at home; he has gone on a long journey.”  In other words, we can do it all night long, and we won’t get caught!  But look at this:  verse 21 says “with persuasive words she led him astray; she seduced him with her smooth talk.” 

This young man lacked judgment in that he hung around to listen to her.  He made a choice to listen to those titillating words that tickled his ego, and as “a deer stepping into a noose,” he made the mistake that so many men make, and he allowed himself to be taken by the amours of a strange woman.

This is a story that is so familiar to many of us, including me.  So many of us have listened to the wrong voice.  We have done it as a choice.  You and I choose what we are going to listen to, as well as what we are going to look at with our eyes.

Paul the Apostle wrote “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of the world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”  This means a decision must be made on your part regarding which voice you are going to listen to.  You can continue to listen to that voice that drives you to sin with your body and your mind, taking you deeper and deeper into depression and anxiety, or you can choose today, right now, to listen to the voice of your conscience, which is God-given, and walk away from that voice, and give place to the Voice that gives life.  Choose today who you will serve.

Simply put, in order to walk away from that voice that brings death, you must give yourself to the Word of Life, otherwise known as the Bible.  That means to read it, study it, memorize it, and think about it.  (Romans 12:1-2)

Abortion

I double-dog dare you to watch this video.  How open minded are you?  REALLY?  Watch this and find out.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7y2KsU_dhwI&noredirect=1

Why Go To Church?

This isn't an origional from me....I found it...but it's really good.  Help yourself.

Why go to Church?

If you're spiritually alive, you're going to love this!
If you're spiritually dead, you won't want to read it.
If you're spiritually curious, there is still hope!


Why Go To Church?


A Church goer wrote a letter to the editor of a newspaper and complained that it made no sense to go to church every Sunday. "I've gone for 30 years now," he wrote, "and in that time I have heard something like 3,000 sermons. But for the life of me, I can't remember a single one of them. So, I think I'm wasting my time and the pastors are wasting theirs by giving sermons at all."


This started a real controversy in the "Letters to the Editor" column,

much to the delight of the editor. It went on for weeks until someone wrote this clincher:


"I've been married for 30 years now. In that time my wife has cooked some 32,000 meals. But, for the life of me, I cannot recall the entire menu for a single one of those meals. But I do know this.. They all nourished me and gave me the strength I needed to do my work. If my wife had not given me these meals, I would be physically dead today. Likewise, if I had not gone to church for nourishment, I would be spiritually dead today!" When you are DOWN to nothing...God is UP to something! Faith sees the invisible, believes the incredible and receives the impossible! Thank God for our physical AND our spiritual nourishment!

The Behavior of a Christian

Lots of us Christians struggle in our lives, finding it difficult to conform our behavior to what we read a Christian is to be as detailed in the Bible.  I think the struggle is particularly fierce in the teen and young adult years.

But think about this.  The way you live through your personal struggle, whatever it may be, either shows those around you the glory of God, or it shows hypocrisy….therefore reinforcing the non-believer’s arsenal of reasons not to trust Jesus.  Ouch.

I, personally, failed miserably for years in my lifestyle testimony and I shudder to think of how many I may have turned away from the narrow path that leads to eternal life.  I just have to trust that God is much bigger than my personal failures in people’s lives, and that the goodness of God will eventually work and draw them to repentance, for those He is calling, and for those who have tender hearts and minds.

How can we live a life of faith and exhibit behavior that is Christ-like?  I know of only one way.  There are many “Christian” books and teachers out there who give encouraging methods to help you walk the walk, and I think most of them boil down to positive thinking.  But they all fail.  You can stay up nights working to re-program your mind so that you live the way you know you should live.  But if you are attempting to work your way to a holy life, my friend, you are doomed to failure.  I love what Jesus told us, that His burden is easy, it is light.  Man’s methods are cumbersome and heavy, but the Lord’s way is tender and merciful….it is not a struggle.

So follow the way of the Lord, and simply ask the Holy Spirit to give you the strength to live as Jesus lived when He was on the Earth.  This is not a one-time asking.  It is a daily cycle of seeking, repentance, forgiveness, and infilling.  It is the path to a life of purity, power, and passion.  (Romans 8:12-14; 12:9-21)

Favor With God and Man

So we’re moving.  Uhuh.  Don’t worry, we’re staying nearby, but we’re getting a place that’s not so expensive to pay for and keep up. 

But that’s not the point of this post.  Because we’re downsizing, we have given truck loads of stuff away.  Today I filled up a U-Haul truck with bookcases, a king water bed, a twin water bed, a huge entertainment center, and lots of other furniture items.  I took them to a charitable organization (that I won’t name here), because when I called them I was told that they DO accept furniture.

When I backed into their donation area, a guy who works there told me they only take furniture upon “inspection.”  When he saw what I had, he went and got his supervisor.  While he was gone, the thought came to me to pray for favor with these guys.  So that’s what I did.  I just had a moment with Jesus right there at the donation center lot, and asked Him to give me favor with these two dudes.  They came out, and the supervisor asked me what I had to give them.  When I got to the king waterbed, he said they couldn’t take it….it was too big for them.  After a minute or so of conversation on this topic, the supervisor suddenly told me he would take the waterbed.  Why he changed his mind, I have no idea.  Except that I had asked God for favor with him.

And then another worker showed up, and he saw a “Fireproof” sticker I had placed on a cabinet and he commented about what a great movie that was.  So now I was talking with a brother.  And he jumped in the U-Haul and helped me unload, after the other two had disappeared.

God is for us.  Be willing to ask for what you need.  (Psalm 56:9; John 16:23,24)

Erasing Hell

Whether or not you agree with his book  Love Wins, Rob Bell has done us a service by re-starting a most important discussion on a topic that affects everyone….Hell.  Rob has turned a corner in the world of faith towards a belief that a good God would not send someone to Hell for eternal punishment….that we are all going to get a second chance even after we die.

I just finished reading Francis Chan’s response to Rob Bell’s book titled Erasing Hell.  Now, let’s face it.  Hell is a very unpopular subject.  You rarely even hear the word in church on Sunday mornings, and us Christians act like we don’t believe it’s a reality.  Come on.  Don’t we?

I mean, if you really believed that those without Jesus go to Hell, what sort of behavioral change might there be in your life?  Would your conversations change?  Or would things just stay status quo?

Francis Chan’s book is nothing less than a gift to the body of Christ, and should be read by everybody.  There are probably less than five books that I have ever said that about.  His book is well researched, well thought out….and thoroughly Scriptural.  That doesn’t mean that I agree with every statement he makes, but I see the basic premise of the book as essential to be understood by every living and breathing person.

When you have ten minutes, go to www.erasinghell.com and watch Francis talk about this new book.  It may be the most important online video you have ever watched.