US today

As I was reading a Lenten reader today, the following text from Jeremiah 5:20-31 was the text. Today is of course the first day after Ash Wednesday. We had a great service last night at church and we learned about our human existence and the fact the we are all doomed to death and will return to ashes one day. However, our everlasting life rest in our own decision to follow Jesus Christ and to be born again. The old will become new again.

Read the following Scripture and think about what it means to you. The text is from The Message

20-25"Tell the house of Jacob this, put out this bulletin in Judah:Listen to this, you scatterbrains, airheads,With eyes that see but don't really look, and ears that hear but don't really listen.Why don't you honor me? Why aren't you in awe before me?Yes, me, who made the shorelines to contain the ocean waters. I drew a line in the sand that cannot be crossed.Waves roll in but cannot get through; breakers crash but that's the end of them.But this people—what a people! Uncontrollable, untameable runaways.It never occurs to them to say, 'How can we honor our God with our lives,The God who gives rain in both spring and autumn and maintains the rhythm of the seasons,Who sets aside time each year for harvest and keeps everything running smoothly for us?'Of course you don't! Your bad behavior blinds you to all this. Your sins keep my blessings at a distance.

To Stand for Nothing and Stand Up for No One

26-29"My people are infiltrated by wicked men, unscrupulous men on the hunt.They set traps for the unsuspecting. Their victims are innocent men and women.Their houses are stuffed with ill-gotten gain, like a hunter's bag full of birds.Pretentious and powerful and rich, hugely obese, oily with rolls of fat.Worse, they have no conscience. Right and wrong mean nothing to them.They stand for nothing, stand up for no one, throw orphans to the wolves, exploit the poor. Do you think I'll stand by and do nothing about this?" God's Decree."Don't you think I'll take serious measures against a people like this? 30-31"Unspeakable! Sickening! What's happened in this country?Prophets preach lies and priests hire on as their assistants.And my people love it. They eat it up! But what will you do when it's time to pick up the pieces?"

What can you learn from the above scripture? Does any of this sound familiar?

Key points which provoke questions for me.

Am I honoring God with my life?

Is my sin keeping me from fully knowing God and pleasing him? I am greedy and do I live as most Americans do or do I stand out in some aspect to be peculiar as God would have me to be. I am living my life as a radical disciple of Christ?

Our people, our country need to hear the Gospel. Jesus Christ was born of a virgin, he lived a sinless life, was crucified, died and rose from the grave and now sits at the right hand of God so that all who believe in him may have everlasting life. Praise God!

During Lent I will be more conscience of my life and how I live it. I want to be the radical disciple of Christ God calls me to be.

Do you Judge?

I guess my short answer is yes. Should I? Absolutely not according to Matthew 7:1-5 which reads:

1"Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
3"Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 4How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? 5You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.

Trying to not judge others or turning from judgement is hard. I too struggle with this. It came to fruition this past Saturday at an event at my church. The UMM (United Methodist Men) were serving breakfast. This young guy walks into the kitchen, he is wearing tight skinny jeans, a black t shirt, not sure what was on it, but I could not get past the lip ring, the black large earring cut into the actual lob of his ear and the all encompassing tattoos on both arms.

My first thought was who is this guy. My mind went and focused immediately on the tattoos and I couldn't help myself but thinking why would anybody do that to themselves? I thought about Scripture and that is says you should not tattoo yourself. See Leviticus 19:28 "You shall not make any cuts on your body for the dead or tattoo yourselves: I am the LORD,"My second thought was Lord, I am not supposed to do that, that is judge! I find out that this guy was a member of the contemporary Christian rock band playing the event at church. Wow what kind of Christian am I? I am sure my plank is greater than his speck.

I guess my old school, rural church upbringing and my flesh got in my way of loving and accepting all no matter what. I guess one could say a little legalism came out of me. Have you ever had that happen to you? Do you Judge? As much as I hate to admit it, I do. I have to ask God to forgive me and open my heart to be accepting of all people no matter what. Jesus was!

Let's say this prayer:

Father, I come to you today, knowing that I am a sinner who is prideful and often judge others. I know that one day, I will stand before you and you will judge me as I have judged others.

Lord forgive me for my judging heart and help me to turn from my judgment of others. Open me to embrace the diversity of your people for Jesus loved all and I seek to be more like him!

In his name I pray!

Amen!

Matthew 16:24-26

24 Then Jesus told his disciples, ‘If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 25For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it. 26For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life? Or what will they give in return for their life?

This verse for me carries a lot of weight and makes me think about my life and what I am I willing to do to follow Jesus Christ! What does it mean to deny myself and take up my cross? For those who want to save their life they must loose it! Wow how powerful a statement is that! But, the last verse really hits you in the heart, especially today in this modern day era of prosperity preaching!

The treasures and possesions we gain here on earth are nice. Don't get me wrong, I have stuff and like most people desire more stuff, but why and does it make us happy or do we still long for something else! If you still answered yes then you are a normal human being. However, possessions do not make use happy. Though I have heard by grandfather say it might make is easier.

I am like you and struggle between needs and wants. God will provide our needs such as food, clothing and shelter, all else is gravy or icing on the cake! We, as a people, have lost our focus as a country and have gone over the top with materialism. Again, God does provide us with gifts and talents so that we may support ourselves and our familes. My point is materila items cannot be at the forefront of who we are or what we focus on. Materialism can in and of itself become an idol and do you remember the commandments?

I could continue to write on this topic, but will cease for now. Place your trust in Jesus and make him a priority in your life not the stuff on the shelves in the store or on the car lot, for when the roll is called up yonder, it will be just you standing before God for an account of your life and he won't care how much you owned, how big your house was or what kind of car you had! Did you deny yourself and take up your cross and follow Jesus?

Seek to here these words! Well done good and faithful servant!

The Apostle's Creed

I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth.
And in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate,was crucified, died, and was buried;
the third day he rose from the dead; he ascended into heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of the Father Almighty. from thence he shall come again to judge the quick and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.
Amen.

My first blog

I was raised in the Church of God from the time of an infant however; my personal relationship with Christ began at the age of nine years old when I was saved at church camp, in the summer of 1981. I grew in faith and learning through my family and church after receiving Christ. As I developed my relationship with Christ, I also had a very special relationship with the pastor at that church and he greatly influenced me in terms of my expectations of a pastor and demonstrated through his words and deeds the life of a Christian man as it should be lived. He was a true example of a man of God and I only pray that I could be the man that he was as a Christian minister.

At the age of thirteen, I was baptized in that same church. The pastor who had meant so much to me had retired prior to my baptism, so I was baptized by our new minister. After a short while, my family left the Church of God and we began going to a non denominational church. This began the reign of my back slidden days through high school and college. I was the king of sinners!

During my high school and college days, I went to church, but it was not the same as my childhood church and I felt out of place and disconnected. The pressures of high school, college and my peers lead me down a path of my own choosing rather then that of God’s. Instead of turning to the Lord Almighty, I tuned inward to myself and that was my down fall.

Fast forward to 2005, I was married and my wife had just given birth to our second child. We had gone to church in the past, but not on a regular basis and only to the actual service and not Sunday school. I knew I was raised in the church and wanted my children to have that same experience. We began attending a United Methodist Church and quickly became involved in numerous actives, including Wednesday night supper and Sunday school. Individually, I began to participate in the United Methodist Men’s Group. All of that was important, however; the most moving experience for me was when I read the “Purpose Driven Life.” That book along with my church family changed my life. I recommitted my life to the Lord and asked that the Lord to enter into my heart and to forgive me for my sins and help me live a life as a Disciple of Christ and a faith filled person.

From that point, I entered into a new chapter of my life and my walk with Christ. In April of this year, I began hearing the call into ministry. At first, my first thought was that I was imagining this and that God could not be calling me into a leadership role within the Church. As I thoughtfully prayed about this, the thought of ministry continued to fill me.

I wanted to be sure of my call and did not discuss it with anyone. On Sundays during worship, I felt the call, when I was driving in my car and listing to Spirit on Sirius satellite radio, I felt the call. At one point on a trip home to see family in Virginia, I broke down crying because of my own personal struggle with my call, as I could not believe it. I kept praying and asking God for a sign as if the pull at my heart was not enough.

Then in September of last year I felt the call again. I was attending my cousins wedding, (he is a Baptist minister) during the ceremony, when I heard two different ministers read scripture during a very moving sprit filled wedding. I felt the call from the Lord and the fact that I am to be in a servant leadership position as those ministers which were speaking to me. After returning home from the wedding, I finally told my wife and later that week sat down with my pastor as well and started my exploratory process to becoming a United Methodist Minister.

My motivation for entering the ministry is to fulfill my call and to do that which God has called me to do. I feel I have gifts and talents to offer and want to impact the lives of others and to be a Disciple of Jesus Christ by saving the lost and serving the needs of the community wherever that may be as God leads my life in a new direction. I know that my life as a minister will be challenging both financially and personally, but why have the world and give up your soul. When I am before the Lord one day, I want to hear, well done good and faithful servant.

My understanding of the ministry is analogous to that of a Sheppard caring for their flock. A minister is the principle servant leader within the church whom people look to for support of various events in their life both positive and negative. He is the spiritual leader within the church and is the primary teacher of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and guides and mentors the lives of his congregation. A local minister serves essentially as the CEO for the church in which he serves, but more than the bottom line he is a primary soul saver for Christ and equips his congregation to make Disciples of Jesus Christ.

To Christ be the Glory,