I am shocked, yet not surprised. I guess I know it to be true, yet I am just struggling to understand where people are coming from.  Pastors, Reverends, and Leaders of all walks of denominational views and ideas seem to all be heading in the same direction… the other way.  Always asking "what can I do for you?"

The purpose of the church, the body of Christ, was and is to seek and save the lost, right? Jesus came to serve, not to be served – but so many attend church with the attitude of, “What’s it gonna do for me?”  I read an article this morning about how in most of the ‘mega-churches’, (over 1000 members) 89% of people polled said that the purpose of church was to meet their needs and the needs of their family. Only a very few people polled stated that the purpose of the church is to reach out to and save the lost.  And so we have a generation of people who take, and take, and take. 

I heard a statement this morning that I LOVE! “Consumers or Communers?” Oh please Lord, let us be a church of Communers and not consumers!!! 

It is my prayer AND my mission to try to help believers and seekers see that church is about worshiping God, loving God, learning about God.  In so doing the results will be better relationships with each other – but we have got to START with God.  Jesus said, “Seek first the kingdom of heaven and all this other stuff will be given to you.”  If we are seeking God our Father with every ounce of energy – then the other stuff all falls into place. When we try to do what we want and then ask God to bless it – we’re only hurting ourselves. We have to understand to seek God FIRST - before our jobs, before our girlfriends and boyfriends, before our churches even! THEN God will be able to bless us.

"I can't explain
Can't move my lips
Am I breathing?
Heart in my throat
Can't feel my pulse
Am I breathing?
Can't feel my heart next to yours
Scream if you want
Rage if you need / There are no more tears to cry / What is your name? / Stay with me please / It's lonely talking to these stones / I can't explain / the life lost here / I hear the young ones calling / Where are you child? I can't reach you / What use am I if I can't find you? / Nothing moves in the ashes / Where is life under these stones? / Someone tell me where to begin / lifting these stones. / Scream if you want / rage if you need / There are no more tears to cry / What is your name? / Stay with me please / It's lonely talking to these stones"


My dear friend Kristi Holler wrote and sings this song.  It just haunts me.  I love her music so much, I love her so much, she was so kind to me when no one else knew I existed.  Thank you for showing me AGAPE' (love) Kristi.  I will forever be thankful for the kindness and compassion you showed me when I was a wayward kid that just didn't understand!  God bless you!

The Timing of Our God

About two weeks ago I came down with a lung infection so bad it turned into pneumonia, due to this I had nothing to do for the last week and a half except sit around and read.  So I decided to read through the Bible again. I started in Genesis and began reading.  I read through it and then right into Exodus, Levitcus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1st and 2nd Samuel, 1st and 2nd Kings, 1st and 2nd Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, and then Esther.  Here is where God's timing just blew me away. Yesterday I sent out an invitation to several of my friends to come to my annual "Purim Party" on Friday night this week.  I know it might not seem like much but to run into the book of Esther the next morning just really made me smile. (That's where the story of Purim takes place).  Sometimes people will say that others just see what they want to see.  Well, they might be right.  I WANT to see the Lord in everything.  God, you are SO good, SO amazing, SO wonderful!!!

Christmas is Coming

Christmas is coming, children are getting excited, moms and dads try to get to the stores to buy the latest toys, trinkets, and gizmos.  Grandmas and grandpas everywhere spoil their grandchildren with toys and treats.  People like to listen to ‘Christmas’ music and eat too much food.  The lights are beautiful and the decorations are so ornate that most of them are gaudy… but we love to see them anyway!  Merchants at the stores are working extra hours and wishing everyone a “Merry Christmas” as they leave… wait… not anymore. 

Now it’s “Happy Holidays”.  Does this bother you?  It doesn’t bother me in the slightest.  I read a blog this morning where the pastor said that it was Bill O’Reilly that started this whole “War on Christmas” idea.  I don’t know if that is true or not – and again, I don’t really care.  I will say Merry Christmas to some people and Happy Holidays to others.  Still others I say Happy Chanukah to.  I worship Jesus Christ of Nazareth as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.  I believe He is God in the flesh – Emmanuel (God with us).  I have very dear friends who do not share my worship of Him – that does not affect my relationship with Him or with them.  My faith is not dependent upon whether other people agree with me.

I am bothered by how upset some people get when they hear about nativity scenes in public squares or courthouses being removed.  I have one question for those who get so worked up about this: Do you have a nativity scene in your front yard?  If you don’t, then quit worrying about it as it’s apparently not even important to you.  If you do have one, then be THANKFUL that we are still allowed to exercise our beliefs in this country.  Ultimately it doesn’t matter what the government thinks or does as long as YOU never violate YOUR faith.  I will worship Jesus as the Messiah in a “free” country or illegally if I am placed in that position.  I know this sounds harsh but a lot of people say they’d die for their faith… try living for it!

Words are Powerful

“Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me.”  I’ve heard this chant at least hundreds of times if I’ve heard it once.  It’s not a totally bad thing to teach children I suppose.  I, for one, was relentlessly teased as a kid and really; as an adult even more.  It doesn’t bother me all that much when people laugh at me, and yet, does that make it okay?  I wonder though, are we inadvertently teaching children that it’s okay to make fun of people as long as we don’t injure them physically?  After all, “Words can’t hurt other people so go ahead and say anything you want, its okay.”

What about adults?  Do we get to say anything we want about people?  Does this apply to gossip as well?  Let me remind us all of something - gossip is a sin.  That’s all there is to it.  Slander, gossip, back biting, they’re all sin.  So is joking around at other people’s expense.  Paul teaches us in Ephesians 4:29 “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.”  Later in Ephesians 5:4 Paul tells us we should not ever be part of obscene stories or course joking.  In verse 10 Paul says that we are to “carefully determine what pleases the Lord.” 

I can think of a couple of people in my life who exemplify how we should all be living when it comes to our speech and daily talk.  Jesus said that by our words we will be acquitted or by our words we will be condemned.  (Matthew 12:37)  Let us choose our words carefully and with prayerful thought from this day forward so as to please the One in whom we claim to follow.  We, as Christians, should have the most beautiful and loveliest speech coming from our mouths.  Jesus said that it is from the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks.  So if we are speaking nothing but filth and garbage, what does that say about our heart?  If we are snapping at our children for every little thing they do, laughing at others, and just plain being disrespectful with or without words, we need to reexamine our hearts to see if we really are followers of Christ, or just playing games with salvation. 

Growing Pains

Ever wonder why we have the phrase ‘growing pains’?  No? Well that’s probably because we all know what they are.  Even if you haven’t experienced them yourself I’m sure you know of someone who has.  I had them really bad in my legs as I went from a little kid to a very young man at fifteen and shot up to 6’2” rather quickly.  My son comes in my bedroom every once in a while at night crying saying that his legs hurt.

I say all this to make a point.  Do you think we can grow in Christ and mature as believers without pain?  I’m not so sure we do.  We can learn a lot by reading our Bibles and spending time with other believers, but ultimately it is through trials, pain, and hurt that we grow.  Job, Samson, Abraham, Jacob, Peter, James and John, all learned lessons that they needed to know to grow by… sorry… pain.  And so it’s no different with us.  The writer of Hebrews tells us in chapter 12:6, “For the LORD disciplines those he loves, and he punishes each one he accepts as his child.” And he continues to teach us skipping down to verse 11 that, “No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening—it's painful! But afterward there will be a peaceful harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way.”  So don’t get too discouraged when things seem to be going wrong – keep you head up (looking to Jesus) and know that, “He is working all things together for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8:28)

If you’re going through a tough time, whether it’s your own fault or not, I can promise you something… If you look to Jesus Christ as your ONLY answer, things will work out for the best.  It may take awhile, but if Jesus is what you're seeking, then it will!  He is your creator, and He created you for a specific purpose that He wants you to fulfill.  When you discover what that is, you will see Him working in your life in the most awesome ways, yes, even in the painful times.

Is Jesus Lord?

          C.S. Lewis said that Jesus was either a liar, a lunatic, or Lord.  What he was saying was that no man could make the claims that Jesus made, “I AM” being GOD, unless he was a liar – unless He really was.  Jesus claimed to be the eternal God of the universe.  He was either delusional (which does not make him a good teacher) or, worse yet, he knew he was lying. Or, the third choice - He is the LORD.  It is a historical fact that a man named Jesus of Nazareth was executed by crucifixion under the hand of the Governor of Judea at the time, Pontius Pilate.  It was also observed by 500 people that He rose from the dead and was with them for 40 days before He ascended into the heavens.  Guess what guys; this holds up in a court of law - it actually happened.  Many people believe this.  Many people don't believe this.  I do.  But the Bible, when speaking about belief, doesn’t mean do you know it.  The Bible speaks of believe in terms of ‘do you trust  this?  I can believe that a boat in the middle of the ocean can save my life.  My life is not saved however until I climb into the boat.  We need to actually DO something with our faith.  If we say we believe (trust) in Jesus to save us but this faith has not changed our life – we need to look very closely at our ‘belief’ to be sure we are trusting Him.  If my faith has not changed my life, what good has my faith been to me?  Jesus wants to change our life, to give us a purpose for living.  Changed lives prove ministry! 

          “What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don't show it by your actions?  Can that kind of faith save anyone?  Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, and you say, "Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well" — but then you don't give that person any food or clothing.  What good does that do? So you see, faith by itself isn't enough.  Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless.”   James 2:14 – 17  (NLT)