Peace Has Come!

I received my church newspaper the other day. The newspaper includes a portion by conference. This week's conference section had a layout designed from the United Methodist Reporter. One page of this layout had scripture from Romans 15:13, May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peaceas you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit, reminding us of the peace that is granted to us by God from trusting in God. However, the other page had the lyrics from John Lennon's song Imagine. The lyrics at face value seemed appropriate, "Imagine all the people living life in peace. You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one. I hope someday you'll join us, and the world will be as one."




However, when one knows that these words come from the song Imagine, they take on an entirely new meaning.

When looking at the lyrics to the song Imagine, it is hard to believe that this song would be chosen to be used in a United Methodist publication. The verses which describe the people "living life in peace" read:

Imagine there's no heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today...

Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace...


I can not believe that the United Methodist church would support such statements.

John Lennon has described this song as "anti-religious, anti-nationalistic, anti-conventional, anti-capitalistic, but because it is sugarcoated it is accepted." He called the song "virtually the Communist Manifesto." Why would the Northwest Texas Conference wish to spread these messages at the Christmas season, the time when we celebrate the coming of our Savior? The United Methodist Church believes that our peace comes not from giving up material goods, dissolving nations, or removing religion, but as Paul wrote in Romans 15:13, from our belief in God and allowing the Holy Spirit to overfill us with God's joy and peace. We spread God's peace through out the world by sharing God's love, not erasing God and religion. The oneness described by Lennon does not seem to be the oneness we have in the Body of Christ.

John Lennon said that he learned from writing Imagine, "Now I understand what you have to do: Put your political message across with a little honey." Apparently a little honey was all the United Methodist church needed to accept such political rhetoric.

Christmas Gift

This Christmas, I received presents like usual. However, one in particular stood out. It was a card from a friend of mine. Inside the card, she included a poem she had written for Christmas. It was the first time I have ever received poetry as a gift and really liked the poem. To top it off, when she wrote my name on the card, she wrote it the same way I wrote my name when I was a kid, capitalizing the first two letters of my fist name. The gift of the card and poem were the best gift I received. I would like to share the poem with you.

Special Glimpse

I made
A special request
For the night of
Christmas Eve.

So set the milk out
And the cookies
And don't
Be so naive!

Santa's coming
With his reindeer,
Eight in total
One can see,

To give
This poem
To my special
Friends and family!

If you're quick
And you tiptoe
You might just
Catch a glimpse

At the long white beart
And rosy face,
That never looks
Too tense!

Don't wait too long
You'll miss him
For he's fast
And he must leave,

But I gave
You this hint
For tonight is
Christmas Eve!


Now the poem does raise a question. How am I suppose to know to go look at Santa if I don't receive the poem until he delivers it?

I Wonder as I Wander

I first heard this song when I played it in my middle school band. I had no idea that it was a Christmas carol, I just thought it was a really cool song. In fact, I didn't know it was a Christmas carol until Christmas this year. I was listening to the radio when this song came on. I finally heard the song. What a great song, both lyrics and tune it is!

Written in 1933 by John Jacob Niles, it is based on part of an Appalachian song he heard. The lyrics are as follows:

I wonder as I wander, out under the sky
How Jesus the savior, did come for die
For poor ornry people like you and like i
I wonder as I wander, out under the sky

When Mary birthed Jesus, twas in a cow stall
With wise men and farmers and shepherds and all
And high from gods heaven a starlight did fall
And the promise of ages, it then did recall

If Jesus had wanted for any wee thing
A star in the sky or a bird on the wing
Or all of gods angels in heaven to sing
He surely could've had it, cause he was the king

I like the melody of the tune. It has a haunted feel to it, as if this phenomenon being discussed it really weird. And weird it is! That God, would come to be born, in a barn, and die so that I, a person full of mistakes, could be with him. What a weird thing indeed!

Christmas Day Service

Why do so few churches offer services on Christmas Day?

A New Adventure Beings!

I have been accepted into the US Navy. I begin training in a few weeks. I am very excited!

A poem!

A walking contradiction.
A dreamer without reality.
A doer with nothing to do.
An Indian with out a tribe.
A 19th Century cowboy without a horse or cow.
A drifter who is tied down to nothing.
A romantic in philosophy,
lacking in life.
Stand up! Go out and live!
Bring your dreams to life!
The past is history,
so make it become the present.
Release yourself from nothing,
to be who you want to be.
To no longer be
a walking contradition.

He was knocking on the door, but I answered the phone

Samuel was born to Hannah. Hannah had tried to conceive before, but was barren. She prayed fervently before the Lord and she was granted her petition and she had a son. Because the Lord granted her request, she offered Samuel to the service of the Lord. She took him to the temple to be raised and serve the Lord.

One night, Samuel was lying down in the temple near the ark of God. The ark represented God's dwelling place on earth. While Samuel is laying there, he hears "Samuel!" Thinking it was Eli, the priest, he gets up and walks to Eli and says "here I am." Eli sends him away, saying he didn't call him. A little bit later, Samuel hears "Samuel!" and once again goes to Eli. Eli sends him away, saying that he didn't call him. A third time, Samuel hears "Samuel!" and gets up again and goes to Eli. Realizing that it is God who is calling Samuel, Eli sends him away and tells him that next time he hears the voice, to say "Speak, Lord, for your servant hears." God calls out to Samuel again and Samuel responds appropriately. God then speaks to Samuel, giving him a message of what is to come.

Samuel heard from God because he listened to God. Have we taken the time to listen to God? When we want to listen to someone, do we remain distracted and ignore them or do we turn off distractions and focus solely on that person and their message? Why should we do differently when God talks? Have we taken the time to listen to God?

On the Road with a Friend

This past weekend, I went on a trip with a friend of mine. The trip was a day trip, or perhaps I should say night trip. We left about noon and got back at 2AM.

The trip was a lot of fun. We first went to the McDonald Observatory in Fort Davis. There we toured the facilities and saw the telescopes. That evening, we participated in their Star Party. We learned how to use star charts, the constellations, the stories told about the constellations, and got to use telescopes to see objects in the sky such as planets, craters on the moon, and nebulas.

After we finished at the observatory, we went to Marfa and saw the Marfa Lights. We spent about an hour there and watched the lights as they came and went, changed colors, and moved.

The best part of the trip though was being with my friend.

Listening to John Mayer, Again

In 2006, John Mayer came out with the album Continuum. The first single off the album released was Waiting on the World to Change. When I first heard this song, I liked it. The music was good and the words seemed catchy. You can read all of the lyrics of the song here. You can hear the song here. But after a few times of listening to it, I realized that the song's message was about doing nothing when faced with adversity.

The opening verse says

Me and all my friends
We're all misunderstood
They say we stand for nothing and
There's no way we ever could

Now we see everything that's going wrong
With the world and those who lead it
We just feel like we don't have the means
To rise above and beat it

So he describes his generation, of which I am apart of, as seeing all that is going wrong in the world. This is certainly true, there is much wrong in the world. Wars, poverty, terrorism, abuse, starvation, disease, etc... We have corrupt leaders of both parties and in many countries. However, Mayer says that his generation feels powerless, that they cannot do better for themselves and not be a victim.

The first chorus says

So we keep waiting
Waiting on the world to change
We keep on waiting
Waiting on the world to change

It's hard to beat the system
When we're standing at a distance
So we keep waiting
Waiting on the world to change

Instead of taking action, Mayer and his friends choose to do nothing and wait for everything else to fix itself. They do not want to become involved and have to work for what is right, they prefer to let someone else do it.

The rest of the song continues with this theme or seeing corruption, but not having the power to fix it, so they choose to take no action and wait for the "world to change." One verse even says

And when you trust your television
What you get is what you got
Cause when they own the information, oh
They can bend it all they want

Perhaps Mayer has not heard of the internet which allows us to access media world wide instantaneously. We have access to more information now from more sources at a faster rate, than at any moment in history.

This is a horrible message.

When asked in The Advocate what the song meant, Mayer said "It’s saying, ‘Well, I’ll just watch American Idol because I know that if I were engaged in changing anything for the better, or the better as I see it, it would go unnoticed or be completely ineffective. A lot of people have that feeling." This is the message he is telling the world. Do not work to correct wrong doings. You might fail and you may not get attention brought to yourself.

Where would America be if this was the attitude of all Americans? Where would we be if our fore fathers had decided to just wait for the world to change and not great a new country of free people? Where would we be if Abraham Lincoln had decided to just wait for the world to change and not free the slaves? Where would we be if Susan B. Anthony and countless other women had just waited for the world to change and not fought for the right of women to vote? Where would we be in countless millions of men and women had chosen to just wait for the world to change and hadn't taken up arms against the enemies of our country? Where would we be if Martin Luther King Jr. and countless other men and women of all races had just waited for the world to change and hadn't fought for equality of all men and women, no matter their color?

These people fought not for recognition, not because they knew they would win, not for money, but because they knew what was right. They knew what was right and fought for it. Many gave all they had. Many people fought to change the world whose names are not remembered. They became involved. They got up off their couches and turned off the TV. They fought the fight, no matter how unfair. They fought to see that the American ideals of justice and liberty for all people were upheld.

America was founded by people who refused to wait for the world to change. They changed the world. The change they started has inspired people world wide to change their world and not wait for someone else to do it. Mayer's message is to just stay home and watch TV.

Which America do you want to live in? One that stands up and changes the world, no matter how hard the struggle because we know what is right, or one that just stays home and watches American Idol and wait for someone else to come and fix things?

I choose to stand up and change the world. What will you do? Will you stand up or will you wait?

What is Church?

Many of us learned the song as a youngster in Sunday school.

The Church is not a building, the Church is not a steeple
The Church is not a resting place, the Church is the people.
I am the Church, you are the Church, we are the Church together!
All who follow Jesus, all around the world, Yes We're the Church together!

That is probably a pretty good explanation of what The Church is, a community of believers who follow Jesus. Then why do we always think of church as a building or a worship service? Why do we leave the people out of it?

Think of a normal church service at your church. If it is like most I have attended, it consists of some songs, passing the offering plate, a reading from the scripture, a prayer lead by someone, and a sermon from the pastor. This is how we most often experience church, sitting in the pew, listening to someone else, barely participating. If you were not there one Sunday, would "church" still happen?

To me, most churches seem almost like you are just attending a play or listening to a lecture. Surely we can do better than this.

I feel that Church should be more communal. We often find this in either small groups or Sunday school. At the church I am currently attending, I am not finding community through these things. I attended Sunday school for a short while, but stopped because the group I was with wasn't communal. Members came irregularly, the teachings wasn't very strong, the group was made up mainly of married couples with children and the social activities reflected that, and I wasn't been spiritually fed. For about 9 months, we had a bible study made up of people in my "social" group, young single adults. We met and had fellowship and bible study. We struggled in finding more fellowship activities, but we never had a staff member to help us and we were disbanded for being "too small." The small group had great potential, even if we were small, but unfortunately we didn't receive the support we needed from the church. The only place I have found community in the church is in singing in the church choir. However, our purpose is to sing. This is a good thing, but it does not develop me in the same way that a bible study would. It isn't wrong, just different.

In Sunday worship, I do not find fellowship or community. I find myself sitting with people, but not knowing them. Hearing a message, but not having it delivered by someone who knows me and knows how it would apply to me. I want to be with people who are of a similar mind, growing together. I don't want to be passive! I want to be part of the Church, not just meeting in a church.

Putting it to the Test

A few posts ago, I wrote about wanting to yell really loud and see if it would cause everything to fix its self.

I tried this over the weekend. I was leaving a wedding and had had a bad day and had kind of ignored some friends. I wasn't mad at them, just in a bad mood. They probably didn't even notice. Anyway, I left the wedding and the entire time this was on my mind. I was frustrated with myself for ignoring my friends and for being in a bad mood and decided to try to yell to see if it would all be fixed. And yell I did. When I finished, nothing changed except the soreness of my throat. So I did the only thing to fix it, I turned around and spent some time with my friends.

Don't Stop at the Beginning of the Race!

This week, Donald Haynes has a column in the United Methodist Reporter. You can read the entire article here.

The article is titled, Reclaiming the experience of 'being saved.' It begins with a look at the growth of the early Methodist church. The growth was because Methodist focused on being saved! As Haynes writes, they learned that Christ was their savior from sins and were discipled in the ordering of their lives by following Jesus.

This pattern was important to John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist movement. Wesley believed that all people could come to know God. A Calvanistic view point would be that only the elect are able to be saved. On the other end of the spectrum is Arminianism which states that all people can be saved. All people sin and are in need of a savior. However, because of our state, we cannot come to God. However, as we were yet sinners, Christ died for us and God's grace is freely given to us. In Methodist theology, this is called prevenient grace, sometimes described as the hound of heaven, from a poem of the same name. John Wesley was big on all being able to come to God and began his ministry preaching to the lowest of the low, the miners in England.

Another element of Methodistism is what happens after you are "saved." Salvation is a process, not just a moment of conversion. The moment of conversion would be when we find we have faith. Paul called this being justified. Arminius and Wesley called it prevenient grace. But that isn't the end, just the beginning! We must persevere and not let our faith be in vain.

This is where a lot of debate in Christianity occurs, the relationship between faith and works. I do not think it should be. I think first and foremost, we must agree that it isn't humans who have to judge who gets into heaven and who doesn't. The Bible is quite clear that we are saved by faith. Reading Romans 4 or Hebrews 11 will show you this. However, we will also see that the story of salvation doesn't end there. We see in Romans 5 & 6 and Hebrews 11 that action follows. By faith, Abraham left his home. By faith, Abraham offered up his only son to God. By faith, Moses led the Israelites across the Red Sea. By faith, the walls of Jericho fell. By faith, the prostitute in Jericho protected the spies and was not killed. By faith, Peter walked on the water. By faith, Paul was able to see again. By faith, he was delivered from those who sought to kill him and lowered by basket. James tells us that works shows us our faith is genuine. God's gift to us is so great, it requires us to give it away.

There can be no set number of "works" that must be required in order to "earn" salvation. Salvation is not earned. It is a gift of God. But if we have received God's grace, we will respond and act. The adulterous woman is told by Jesus to go and sin no more. He tells another to sell his belongings and follow him. We will respond when we have received God's grace.

I have often told people that the bible talks about two things, how to become a Christian, and what to do once you become one. I think a better description would be: 1) God loves you. 2)How to love. We love because God loved us first.

Another portion of Arminianism and Methodism (though most pry don't know it) is that salvation can be lost. I do not believe this to be true. I think it is more an issue of just saying you believe and then not changing anything is a sign that your faith was not true.

Arminius and Wesley believed that if we do not act on our faith, we could lose it. An example of this would be found in a parable of Jesus.
Matthew 12: 43-45:

"When an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, 'I will return to the house I left.' When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that man is worse than the first.

If we purify ourselves of sin but do not fill it with anything, sin will fall right back in and we will be worse off than before.

In my life, I have been in dozens of United Methodist churches and heard dozens of United Methodist pastors preach. I have been actively involved in 3 UM churches, the others were just a Sunday service. Rarely have I seen both of these issues addressed by the church.

The first UM church I was actively involved in had these elements, but not in the Sunday service. I had these two elements in the youth group. It was there I learned about God, faith, how to study the bible, and how to live it out. Rarely in the Sunday service did I hear about these things.

The second UM church I was involved in had these elements. They were in the Sunday service and in small groups, bible studies, etc...

The third UM church I was involved in did not have these elements. I rarely heard them in the Sunday service and haven't found small group or bible study. I helped to start a small bible study group, but we were disbanded by the church because we were "too small."

In the majority of other UM churches that I have attended services in, I have rarely heard these elements. I rarely hear the gospel. I rarely hear the need of continuing in our faith. I often leave not really sure what I heard. When was the last time that I heard sin was bad? In the third UM church I was involved in, I heard it once. And the pastor even said he didn't like talking about sin. Those who are not sick are not in need of a physician!

God changes lives. God rescues of from the bottom of the pit we have thrown ourselves into and dusts of off and gives us a new chance. This new chance comes with his help and his guidance. How will we know we are even in the pit if noone tells us? As John wrote in chapter 1 of his gospel, the Light shined in the world but the dark did not recognize it. God has decided to allow us to play a roll in spreading the Gospel. When Phillip, as described in the 8th chapter of Acts, came across the eunuch reading from the prophets, the eunuch said that he couldn't understand unless someone helped him. We all play a roll in this, the church plays a huge roll as well.

When I leave church and have not heard the gospel, what did I attend it for? When I can sit in a church for years and never hear how to be saved or what I should do once I am saved, why am I in the church? Is it any wonder why the population of the United Methodist Church is shrinking?

We must return to our roots. We must return to talking about sin and that it is bad! We must return to talking about Jesus and his love for us! We must return to talking about salvation and accepting the free gift of God. We must return to to talking about how to live as a Christian, and not letting the evil spirits return and find an empty house.

Don't stop at the beginning. Having faith is just the beginning of living by faith.

Stranger in a Strange Land in the Midst of Strangers

This past Sunday, I attended church at Grace Bible Church in College Station at the Southwood Campus. The entire service was really good, I drew a lot out of all of it. However, here we will focus on one portion of the message.

Blake Jennings gave the message on being in the world, not of the world. The text was John 17:11-18.

11 I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name--the name you gave me--so that they may be one as we are one. 12 While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled. 13 "I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. 14 I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. 15 My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of it.
17 Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world.

This reminded me of one of my favorite songs, which I have shared before, Leon Russel's Stranger in a Strange Land. This looked like a good opportunity to once again share the song!


For one portion of the sermon, Blake focused on verse 16, saying that this world is not our home. We are strangers here.

This world, in the beginning, was created as our home. We see that in Genesis 1. However, because of human's choosing to sin, the devil was allowed to take control of this world. Jesus calls the devil the prince of this world in John 14:30.

For the time being, this world is not our home. We are made to be with God, which means that as long as the world is broken with sin, we are designed to be with God in his house. Jesus tells us this in John 14: 2,3: 

In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.

Jesus tells us two important things in these verses. One, we have a place in God's house prepared for us. Two, he is coming back.

Until the time of his return, we are strangers in a strange land. We are to follow His authority in how we live our life, not the authority of society. I will live my life differently than many. I will not look like everyone else. I will live for God in preparation for His return. I will be a stranger in this strange land.

Trials and Tribulations

Yesterday I attended church at Central Baptist in Bryan, TX. It was my first time to attend services there. A friend of mine had invited me to go.

The church is a huge church. Services meet in a large auditorium with theater seats. The praise portion of the service was led by a full choir and band, with songs sung by the congregation and a few solos, including one done on a harp.

The message was taken from 2nd Timothy, 1:3 "I thank God whom I serve, as did my ancestors with a clear conscience, as I remember you constantly in my prayers night and day." The message was about how knowing if a trial is because of sin we committed or something God is allowing me to go through for another reason. An example of each type would be, am I going through something because I deserved it like Ananias and his wife because of sin, or because God is allowing me to go through it like Job.

Ananias and his wife’s story is recorded in Acts 5.

Now a man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, also sold a piece of property. With his wife's full knowledge he kept back part of the money for himself, but brought the rest and put it at the apostles' feet. Then Peter said, "Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? Didn't it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn't the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied to men but to God." When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died. And great fear seized all who heard what had happened. Then the young men came forward, wrapped up his body, and carried him out and buried him. About three hours later his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. Peter asked her, "Tell me, is this the price you and Ananias got for the land?" "Yes," she said, "that is the price." Peter said to her, "How could you agree to test the Spirit of the Lord? Look! The feet of the men who buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out also." At that moment she fell down at his feet and died. Then the young men came in and, finding her dead, carried her out and buried her beside her husband.

This is certainly a strange story to us, but illustrates the point quite vividly that sin has consequences! It seems that Ananias may have been told by the Holy Spirit to give the money to the church, but decided with his wife to only give a portion. As a result of this, they both lost their lives.

Job’s story is recorded in the Old Testament book, Job. At the beginning of the story, God is telling the devil about how righteous Job is. The devil says that he can cause Job to curse God, so God allows the devil to tempt Job. All of Job’s possession are destroyed. His family is killed, and he is left alone. He sits in ash and sackcloth mourning, but does not accuse God of wrong doing. Job has three friends who come to visit him after these tragedies. Each friend takes a turn speaking to Job, trying to convince him that these tragedies had to occur because of something that he did. Job continues to say that he has lived how God has wanted him to live. At the end of the story, God speaks to Job and his friends, reminding them that He is God and they are not. He has sovereignty and rewards Job for his faithfulness by restoring his wealth two fold. Job’s friends are condemned and saved by the prayers and sacrifice of Job.

Both people went through trials, but both had different reasons for entering the trials.

The pastor started the message with a story of John the Baptist. John of course preached about Jesus, pointed him out when he was in the crowd as the lamb of God, called out the Pharisees, and baptized Christ. However, when he was in prison, he sent a message to Jesus asking if he was indeed the Christ. Christ responds to tell John what his followers have seen, and then continues to praise John before the crowd. The point was the show that when we go through trials, we need, and it is OK to ask, for assurance from God.

He said that the scripture verse showed 3 things we can look at to see what is the cause of our trial. Now at first glance, well, anytime I read the scripture until after the sermon, I didn't see these 3 points at all. But sure enough, they were there. Now 2nd Timothy is Paul's last letter. He is in prison in Rome for the 2nd time. As he writes in the letter, he is alone except for Luke. The pastor pointed out that Paul had a good relationship with the church in Rome, yet none of them seem to want, or are able, to come to him during his 2nd and final imprisonment. Shortly after the letter is sent, Paul is beheaded by the orders of Nero, emperor of Rome.

The first thing we can observe from the verse is from the portion that reads "I thank God whom I serve”. Paul uses the word charis for thanks, which means grace and that which affords joy. So Paul is saying he has grace in God, that he has joy in God, things are good between him and God. So the first thing we need to look at is our relationship with God. Is it OK? Are we having a good relationship with God? Are we spending time with Him? Is he a priority in our life?

2nd, "as did my ancestors." The pastor said we should ask if we are living a Christian life like those who have gone before us? Paul is saying that he is serving God the same way as Moses and Aaron, Abraham Isaac and Jacob, David and Solomon, served God. Now of course we are all unique and will serve in different ways, but will have similar characteristics. He mentioned as an example, when he was a young pastor, he looked at older pastors who had gone before and tried to model his walk after their walk. We can look to others that have gone before as an example of people who have successfully run the race. Paul tells us in 1st Corinthians 11:1 to “follow me as I follow the example of Christ.”

3rd, "with a clear conscience." Do we have a clear conscience? Is the Spirit telling us that there is something in our life that we need to change? The Holy Spirit is promised to all believers and serves to convict, teach, and encourage us. Often when we find ourselves in sin, even though we may try to rationalize it in our mind, the spirit will convict us.

If we can answer these things and say that our relationship with God is good, we are following in the footsteps of those who have gone before, and the Spirit is not convicting us of sin, then we can know that the trial is not caused by our sin. Job's friends told him that his trial was his fault. When he looked at his life, he knew he hadn't done anything to bring this upon himself and God responded that he hadn't and judgment was brought upon the friends for accusing Job of having brought the trial on his life.

And if we are right with God, we will overcome our trial. Either God will see us through the trial, or he will redeem us in the trial. Job was seen through his trial and his holdings were restored to twice as before. Stephen was redeemed through his trial. The pastor gave imagery of Stephen's death and Paul's death, saying they went from seeing the face of their oppressors in one instance, to the next seeing the face of Christ receiving them. Stephen was stoned because of his faith and testimony of God. In the audience, was a young man named Saul who gave his approval of the stoning. A man who would later see the risen Christ, who would later be known as Paul, and would himself be killed because of his faith and testimony of Christ.

Jesus promises that as we go through life, we will have trials because we follow him. We can know that these trials are not from our sin by looking at our life and listening to the Spirit. We can then take comfort in the knowledge that God will deliver.

Care of the Body

Recently, I have begun changing my diet and increasing my exercise. These changes were made mainly in preparation for the military, but has had added benefit. Since changing my diet, I have been able to handle foods that I haven't been able to eat in the past. I have increased the amount of fruits and vegetables and limited the amount of meat and fats in my diet. Since increasing my exercises, I have made my body stronger. I have felt better and been able to do more with my body.

Many people do not take care of their bodies. It is hard to define how one takes care of their body. Take for example me. I say that I do because I eat healthy, and exercise regularly. Someone else might say I do not, because I drink coffee and many consider caffeine to be a drug and bad for the body. However, we can look at some statistics to get an idea of how many people appear to be taking care of their body.

This statistics are from Obesity in America.

• Obesity is the second leading cause of preventable death in the U.S.
• Approximately 127 million adults in the U.S. are overweight, 60 million are obese and 9 million are extremely obese.
• Currently, an estimated 65.2 percent of U.S. adults, age 20 years and older, and 15 percent of children and adolescents are overweight and 30.5 percent are obese.
• Approximately 62 percent of female Americans are considered overweight.
• Approximately 67 percent of male Americans are considered overweight.
• An estimated 400,000 deaths per year may be attributable to poor diet and low physical activity.

These numbers do not look very promising.

So why take care of yourself? Well, the most obvious is the prevention of the health risks that come with obesity. By losing weight, a person can help keep off heart disease, type 2 diabetes, joint problems, and a host of other medical conditions.

But taking care of the body is more than just not wanting to having medical problems. There are benefits in being able to do more. Being healthier has allowed me run farther and ride my bike more. It allows me to hike more without being as tired. It allows me to be able to do more than I could have done before. This is a major benefit to me.

There are also psychological benefits to being healthy. A person who is healthy both in diet and exercise is better able to handle stress in their life. They are able to work better under certain conditions than those who are not in shape. They are often more relaxed in life. Endorphins and other chemicals are released by the body when exercising which increase the feeling of pleasure.

In Daniel chapter 1, Daniel becomes a member of the king's court. As a member of the king's court, he is to be given the choicest of food and wine. However, because of his commitment to God, Daniel and three other members chose to not defile their bodies with this food. They instead eat vegetables. After 10 days, the four of them are the healthiest and strongest of the court. This helped him to become more powerful in the court.

In 1 Corinthians, 6:19, 20, Paul writes "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body." Now when I was a youth growing up, people often pointed at this verse as why tattoos were bad. That isn't what Paul is talking about. Paul is talking about this in reference to sexual immorality. He is saying that since Christians are saved at the cost of Christ's death, they nolonger are the sole-owner of the body. Therefore, they should honor God by their actions. We know he is talking about actions because of his reference to sexual immorality in the previous verses. This is a poor verse to use for advocating against obesity and tattoos as it is taking it out of context.

Ultimately, it is a choice that the person must make. Noone can make someone stay in shape, exercise, or eat healthy. However, the benefits of it greatly outweigh the pleasure of that extra bite of brownie!

Lie for my benefit, tell the truth for His

I really like the music of Ross King. I first heard him in high school as his music was often played by others in my youth group. One of the albums of his I had was Sullivan's Flaw. I loved the entire album except song number 10, Up To Me. I tried finding the lyrics online but came up empty. The song talks about how he comes in contact with lost people everyday, people in need of Christ, but doesn't tell them. He instead tells God that He shouldn't leave that up to him because it isn't the best use of his gifts.

I didn't like this song because it seemed to call me out! To me it was saying, "Go tell others about me!" I certainly didn't like the tone of that.

But then I found the answer! The answer was in the words of St. Francis of Assisi. "Always preach the gospel, use words if necessary." That was the answer! I didn't HAVE to tell anyone! After all, I am preaching it without words! Yes! This will save the lost and free the pressure God was putting on me to go and actually tell others about him.

Now granted the words of Francis of Assis required that you were actually living a life of righteousness. I was doing that, after all I went to church every Sunday and often times went to Wednesday night bible study. Sometimes I even wore a Christian shirt to school! Surely this was living the gospel with life! You didn't have to do anything, just look the part, right?

The song finally made sense. It wasn't wrong for the guy to tell God to not leave the task of telling others about Jesus up to him. In fact, it was a prayer! God, you see, I am not good at this. Find someone else. I will just "live it." I am not good with "words."

Well that worked well until the next time I heard the song. So I started programming my CD player to play all the songs on the album except song #10. This worked well until song #9 ended. Unfortunately, I had heard the album in its entirety enough times that my mind would automatically go to song #10 after #9.

Well surely there has to be some Biblical support for my stance. Surely God understood when others said "Hey, I will do anything you want, but I won't do that." Oh here it is, Moses! In Exodus 4:10, Moses speaks to God after God calls him to go and tell Pharaoh to let the Israelites go and worship in the desert for 3 days. Moses says "O Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue." Yes! A great example for me to use before God. You see God, I am just not a good talked. Remember when I was a kid, I couldn't even say my R's! How am I suppose to talk about Christ when I use to say "Chwist" as a kid! Well, God responds to Moses' plea in verse 11 and 12. "The Lord said to him, "Who gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute? Who gives him sight or makes him blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say." Well, the only solace I could find was that at least he was talking to Moses and not me. But Moses doesn't give up. Moses begs God again in verse 13, "O Lord, please send someone else to do it." Surely God will understand Moses and my's plea! Then the Lord's anger burned against Moses and he said, "What about your brother, Aaron the Levite? I know he can speak well. He is already on his way to meet you, and his heart will be glad when he sees you. You shall speak to him and put words in his mouth; I will help both of you speak and will teach you what to do. He will speak to the people for you, and it will be as if he were your mouth." OK, so God got pretty upset with Moses, but at least he got out of having to talk, right? Well, no. As we read Exodus, we see that both Moses and Aaron have to do quite a bit of talking and a lot of work. That isn't important when I was 16 years old. I had the example I needed. I don't have to preach the Gospel, it's not my gift! Find someone else!

Then in Mexico, I talked. I had gone to Tuxpan, Mexico on a trip with my church to work on building a church and to operate a vacation bible school for the neighborhood. One night, after we had finished our work for the day, I was walking the streets around the hotel with a friend. Two Mexicans walked up asking if we were Americans. We said yes and one of them proceeded to tell us that he worked oil rigs out of Galveston and was back home on leave. He wanted to talk to us to practice his English. We visited with them on the street just outside our hotel for a few minutes before one of the adults on the trip came out to let us know it was time for evening devotion. She saw the men and told them we were Christians. They responded that they understood and oddly enough, I invited them to join us for evening devotion in the hotel. Afterwards, we invited the two men to have cokes in the hotel restaurant. I was visitng with one of the Mexicans while my friend visited with the other. I pulled out a bible track I had in my pocket (afterall, just carrying it is preaching the gospel without having to talk, right?) and shared it with the man. After we talked about, he said he wanted to take it with him so he could check a few words in the dictionary. The next day, while walking the streets, the Mexican and I crossed paths. He thanked me for sharing the gospel with him and that he really appriciated it.

So I did it! I spoke! I did it once I can do it again, right?

Well, that was that for the next 7 or 8 years. Silence returned to my mouth. I continued to skip over track #10. I have just recently begun openly speaking the gospel. I am not sure what caused me to finally start talking all the time. Perhaps God's spirit finally urged me enough to follow God. Perhaps I was tired of never hearing the gospel preached in public and in church that the Spirit used the opportunity to get me to begin talking. I am no longer afraid of opening my mouth and letting the gospel come out.

The words God told Moses still ring true. He will be our words. It is He who speaks. It is He that allows His word to go out to the masses like a sword. It is He who will teach us what we should say at that time. All we must do is trust and open our mouths.

Have you opened your mouth or is it not your gift?

Missing the Train

Walt Wilkins and the Mytiqueros have a song called Trains I Missed. Part of the song is:

It's a big old world but I've found my way
And the hell and the hurt lead me straight to it
Here's to the trains I missed

Here's to this place I've found
The love I've known
The earth and the sky
That I call home
Here's to the things I need
Bigger than me
And the moments I find myself right where I'm suppose to be

(You can click here to see the entire lyrics.)

The point of the song is that our lives our guided by our past. We have ended up where we are today because of the path of yesterday. Sometimes we see things in our lives that we desire or think is good for us, but in the end, we do not capture them. We miss them. In looking in our past, we see that missing those things was exactly what we needed and we ended up just where we were suppose to be.

Here's to the trains I've missed. The relationships that didn't work out. The opportunities that didn't occur. The times I didn't take a chance. The times I trusted my gut instead of my desire. The times things went completely wrong.

Here's to the place I've found. The relationships that did work out. The opportunities that did occur. The times I did take a chance. The times my mind was right. The times things went completely right.

I do not understand why somethings in my life do not work out. Perhaps in the future I will toast this moment. Perhaps I will not! One thing is for certain, the train is past and I am on another track.

Things are not as they appear

My grandma tells the true story of an east Texas pastor who is stopped at a check point on the highway while on his way to church. The pastor tells the trooper that he is running late to church. The trooper apologizes and says they will make the stop quick, but he would like to look in the trunk. When the pastor opens the trunk, the trooper notices that it is fully of empty glass beer bottles. The trooper closes the trunk and before sending the pastor on his way says “yall must have a lot of communion.”

Things do not always appear to be what they really are. What looks like an alcoholic pastor was really a pastor who picked up glass bottles for a disabled man who made art out of them. What appeared to be a crazy man in the desert turned out to be the one prophesized about, preparing the way of the Lord. What appeared to be a carpenter turned out to be the Son of God, the messiah.

I would say that I am not normal. Not that everyone else is the same, but that I am different than most people. I view certain things differently, live my life differently, and desire different things. However, because the difference is often not physical or tangible, things do not appear to be what they are. Words are misinterpreted, actions are not understood, intentions presumed incorrectly.

How does one accurately reflect what things really are? How does one explain to a trooper in a convincing way that all of the bottles are not yours? How do you convince someone of what your true intentions are? How do you tell the world what you mean when you do certain things?

I do not have the answer.

Grass is Growing

One of my favorite Tom Petty songs is Time to Move On. The chorus of the song goes:

Its time to move on, time to get going
What lies ahead I have no way of knowing
But under my feet, baby, grass is growing
Its time to move on, its time to get going

For me, it is time to move on. I have spent the past two years teaching in Midland and am ready for something new. I am still waiting on the new thing to happen, but I am at least picking up my feet from where they have been.

Diversity through design, Unity through God

Last night I attended church at Grace Bible Church in College Station. The head pastor, Brian Fisher, gave the message at the Saturday night service. I really enjoy the Saturday service because it is a smaller group in a smaller venue. It is easy to get lost in the hundreds of people there on a Sunday morning, so it is nice to meet with a small group to worship with.

Ross King led worship. Ross was very popular with the youth group I attended in high school, so I was very familiar with him, though I hadn't heard him in several years. He was leading praise music so I didn't hear the songs of his I knew, but still enjoyed his leadership and music.

The message of the sermon was about the Church being one body. This semester, Grace has focused a lot on this topic as they built a new campus this year and are focusing being on one church with two locations. The text was taken from 1st Corinthians chapter 12, and Ephesians chapter 4 along with a few other various verses. This post will be taken from Brian Fisher's sermon.

First, unity in the church is to reflect unity in God. God is made up of three unique individual parts, that are all equally God and all one. The church is to reflect that.

Unity isn't uniformaty. Just becuase we call ourselves Christians doesn't mean that we all dress alike and act alike. We are all different. In 1st Corinthians, Paull writes about the Spirit of God giving each believer receiving gifts from God as the spirit chooses. In the psalms, which Paul quotes from in a different letter on the same subject, God gives gifts to all people, even nonbelievers, as he sees fit. God gives all of us gifts. We are to use those gifts for His kingdom, though we often do not.

Though unity isn't uniformaty, we must have certain similarities. In Christianity, our similarities are what are commonly referred to as essentials. These are the most basic beliefs in Christianity. These are often found in various creeds and belief statements. They define who God is and how we come to a relationship with him. These must be the same for all Christians. God is One, he is not Many. If we have different core beliefs about God, we are making him Many, not the One he is. All of us are following One Way, though we are Different people. One God, One Spirit, One Jesus, One Way.

If we do not have the same shared truth, we will not be united. I think a good example is the USA. In the United States, we are united with the goal of Democracy. By having the same goal, we have been able to overcome huge obstacles, such as the British in the 1770's, slavery in the 1860's, Nazism in the 1940's, discrimination in the 1960's. However, today, our goal is often 'unity and diversity.' This is often met with staunch resistance. I believe that if we as a country maintain our goal of democracy, unity will occur dispite our diversity. When we make divisions our goal though, we will reap what we desire.

Though it is imperative that we have unity and uniformity in essentials, our relationship with God will look different for each person. Some may find certain types of music styles help them worship more than others. Some may prefer wearing specific clothing to church in order to convey a sense of humbleness before God. Some may find it better to stand or sit or kneel throughout worship. This is OK! In non-essentials, John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist faith, says that we have freedom. However, with our freedom comes tolerance. Tolerance means to put up with others. Though we may not like certain things about various Christians, we must still get along with them. We cannot let minor things (non essentials) cause division. This has happened and continues to happen, resulting in the hundreds, if not thousands, and denominations in the Christian church. Oh for the day when unity results in all worship the One together!

Why we must tolerate each other is because of the creativity and soverignty of God. God has made each of us unique, in His image, and the way we are to be. He has distributed gifts upon us as he wills. We must use our gifts to His glory. But none of us have all of the gifts necessary in the Body of Christ. Just as a body cannot survive with just a head or just a foot or just a heart, neither can the Body of Christ function with just certain gifts. It takes all of us combined to form the Body. We must respect each other because God made each of us.

This is something that I need to work on. It is easy for me to say, "that person is so annoying, I cannot stand them." This is certainly not respecting the person. Do I need to become best friends with them? Certainly not, there are some people I get along with some people I do not. However, I can at least respect the person for who God made them. I can still see the value that they bring to the Body.

This unity is the result of Love. John Wesley said that we must have unity in essentials, freedom in non-essentials, charity in all things. Paul mentions, after discussing the gifts that the spririt gives, that he will show us yet a greater way, Love. Paul also writes of fath, hope, and love, love will always remain. Our faith will become sight, our hope will become reality, but love will remain for eternity.

So with this knowledge, how is a Christian to respond? First, be content with how God made you. At the beginning of this blog, I wrote about contentment. Be OK with who God made you. However, do not become complacent. Continue to push farther! God made us how he wanted us, but rarely do we use his gifts and abilities to their fullest. Continue to strive for perfection in Christ and the person God made you to be. And most important, learn to live with one another by love.

Worship One, Love All, Together!

Listening to Ziggy Marley

Earlier today, I wrote about Psalm 90, a psalm written by Moses. This evening, we will look at a Ziggy Marley song.

I am quite a fan of reggae. I love music particularly by Bob Marley and his son Ziggy. It is great music to listen to. I like the sound of the music, the feeling of the music, and the relaxing of the music. However, the philosophy is certainly not always in agreement with me!

Reggae music is associated with the Rastafari movement. Therefore, a lot of the music is quite religious. The music was born out of Trenchtown in Jamaica, and deals with topics like spirituality, relationships, love, poverty, injustice, and other social issues. The Rastafari movement has some basic familiarities to Christianity, but is quite different, which explains the difference in philosophy. I am no expert on the Rastafari movement and would recommend that you look for other sources if you are interested in more information.

The song we will look at is Ziggy Marley's True to Myself.

The lyrics:

life has come a long way since yesterday I say
and its not the same old thing over again I say
just do what you feel and don't you fool yourself I say
cause I can't make you happy unless I am I say I say I

got to be true to myself got to be true to myself

day in day out I've asked many questions I say
only to find the truth it never changes I say
if you don't deal with it it keeps killing you a little by little I say
call me selfish if you will my life I alone can live I say I say I

got to be true to myself got to be true to myself

I don't care if it hurts I'm tired of lies and all these games
I've reached a point in life no longer can I be this way
don't come crying to me I too have shed my share of tears
I'm moving on yes I'm grooving on well I'm finally free I've

got to be true to myself got to be true to myself
got to be true to myself got to be true to myself

The message in the song is that you have to be who you really are before you can be a part of the greater society. If you are not who you really are, you will not be happy, and as he says "I can't make you happy unless I am"
I think this is certainly an interesting, important, and partially true statement. If our life isn't in order, how can we be with others or impact others? The difference though, is who are we true to?

We live in a fallen state. We live with wrong doings. We do not do the things we want to do or are suppose to do. I think Paul says it best when he writes in Romans "For I don't do the good I want to do, but instead do the evil that I don't want to do." It is easy to live true to ourselves in our fallen life, it is what our body and mind want to do.
But that is not who we are called to be! Jesus says in John 10:10 "I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." This abundant life comes when we trust God and receive His Holy Spirit. The Spirit gives us the strength to live the life He desires for us. To do the good we desire to do, instead of the evil.

God gives us plenty of reason to be happy, to want to be with him. Just one example is found in Psalm 92.
4 For you make me glad by your deeds, O LORD;
I sing for joy at the works of your hands.

5 How great are your works, O LORD,
how profound your thoughts!

6 The senseless man does not know,
fools do not understand,

7 that though the wicked spring up like grass
and all evildoers flourish,
they will be forever destroyed.

8 But you, O LORD, are exalted forever.

God's works are great! The ones that I see some of my greatest joy is in His creation. I love hiking and enjoying the beauty of his world. I am being myself by enjoying something that he gave me. But I am being true to God.

Living for ones self seems to often times be associated with doing whatever you want, no matter what others think or how it harms others. However, we are made for human relationships. We are not made to be by ourselves, though I often enjoy time by myself. The writer of Ecclesiastics tells us,

Two are better than one,
because they have a good return for their work:

If one falls down,
his friend can help him up.
But pity the man who falls
and has no one to help him up!

Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm.
But how can one keep warm alone?

Friends are important in our life. If we do not care about our friends and do what we want without regard for them, who would want to be our friend?

Diversity is certainly important! What a boring world this would be if everyone was like me. I hardly think I do things right and would certainly not want a world full of people like me. The Bible is full of diverse people. God values all people, from the greatest of the kings to the lowest of the sheppards. He loves all of us and wants all of us involved in his kingdom here on earth.

Be true to yourself, but only with the spirits guiding. God has a great plan for us. Jeremiah 29:11 says "'For I know the plans that I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope." Now this is a quote from a letter written by Jeremiah to those in exile. He is reminding them why they are in exile (for following false prophets instead of God) and that after their time in exile, they will return to God. But are we not also following false prophets and false leaders when we are true to ourselves instead of God? By living our life following God and living the life God wants us to live, we are being true to ourselves, the self God desires us to be.

Listening to the words of Moses

In the book of Psalms, there is one psalm that is attributed to Moses, Psalm 90. God spoke to me through this psalm this morning as I contemplated people who come into your life for just a fleeting moment.

You can read Psalm 90 in its entirety at this website, or by googling Psalm 90. We will take a look at a few passages from the psalm.

First, my contemplation on people who are briefly in your life. There have been many people who I have met once or spent a short amount of time with, only to never see or talk to them again. People who you meet and have a short conversation with or do something with. People who you wouldn't mind spending more time with, but never do. For whatever reason, we often come across people like this. We look back at the short time with them and remember it fondly or at least not being a bad time and wish it could have been longer.

3 You turn men back to dust,
saying, "Return to dust, O sons of men."

4 For a thousand years in your sight
are like a day that has just gone by,
or like a watch in the night.

5 You sweep men away in the sleep of death;
they are like the new grass of the morning-

6 though in the morning it springs up new,
by evening it is dry and withered.

Moses tells us that our lives are fleeting. From dust we came and to dust we shall return.

9 All our days pass away under your wrath;
we finish our years with a moan.

10 The length of our days is seventy years—
or eighty, if we have the strength;
yet their span is but trouble and sorrow,
for they quickly pass, and we fly away.

Moses continues to talk about the shortness of life. 70 years, maybe 80 if we are strong. I find it interesting that this is written thousands of years ago, yet our lives really aren't that much longer. We consider people in their 70s to have lived a long life, if in the 80s or 90s, they have lived a very long life. The few that make it to 100 and considered great people. Thousands of years and all of our knowledge doesn't give us a life too much longer than in Moses' time. Granted he lived 120 years!

How quickly we pass away! One day here on earth, the next dead. Those who know us pass on and all the earth is left with of us is the dirt from our body. Last night at church, the pastor used an illustration of John Lennon. He mentioned that when talking with some of the college students about him, many didn't know who he was or only knew a few songs he wrote. A man as well known as John Lennon, even his memory passes away in only 20-30 years.

12 Teach us to number our days aright,
that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

13 Relent, O LORD! How long will it be?
Have compassion on your servants.

14 Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love,
that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.

15 Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us,
for as many years as we have seen trouble.

16 May your deeds be shown to your servants,
your splendor to their children.

17 May the favor of the Lord our God rest upon us;
establish the work of our hands for us—
yes, establish the work of our hands.

Moses is constantly reminding us of the wrath of God, rightly being brought on us because of our sins. But at the end of the psalm, he tells us to count our days. Make the best of these days. Be welcoming of the work of the Lord and that he will establish the work of our hands.

We have few years on this earth. Some are given only a few years, some many, but more than 100, very few. Even then , 110 or 115 is the maximum for anyone to live today. We do not have many days. Make the most of them. Make the most of the time you do get to spend with people. That doesn't mean to cram as much into the time as possible, but to make the most of it. When you have to opportunity to spend time with someone who you may never see again, make the most of it. Sprinkle your conversation with grace and mercy. Allow God to work through your time, conversation, and action. Our days may be fleeting, but the work of the Lord echoes through eternity. Don't waste your time!

Make no Mistake About it!

Thomas Edison once said, “I haven't failed, I've found 10000 ways that don't work.” I feel that way about my life. Looking back at my past, I can't say I've done too many things that given a second chance, I would do the same way. But looking toward my future, I know lots of things that I will not do in the future!

Buckle Up!

Spotted this bumper sticker in Montana

Love One Another, Part 2

1st John, chapter 4 verse 7, says “Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.” We are called to love one another because God has loved us. 1 John 4:19 reads “We love because he first loved us.” God’s love for us was demonstrated by Christ coming and dying for us. Paul writes in Romans 5:8 “But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us.” Humans have individually and collectively turned their backs on God. Since the time of Adam and Eve, we have distanced ourselves from God by our actions. Yet God, though he had no reason to, has chosen to redeem us by the sacrificial death of His Son, Jesus Christ. That by believing in Christ for our salvation, we can join in a relationship with God, which is what we were designed for. Now since God has loved us and redeemed us because of His love, we are to respond in kind. Let’s look at what it means to love one another.

In 1 John 4:7, the author uses the term agape for love. Agape, as we saw last time, means more than just an emotional feeling. It is love for all people. God shows agape by dying for all people, “For God so [agape] the world that he gave his only son, that whoever believes shall not parish but have eternal life.” This is given freely to all. God does not give his love with strings attached. He does not require that we give anything back to him in order to receive this love. He gave us a way to be united with him. Because of our sins, there is no reason for God to love us. There is no reason for God to offer us salvation. But because of his love, he has chosen to give.

Paul defines love in chapter 13 of 1 Corinthians. He writes “Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”

God is our example of how to love. We are to love others unconditionally. We are to help others no matter what we will receive in return. We are to help others no matter who they are. Matthew 25 gives us a good example of how to love. This is the story of the separation of the goats and the sheep. The sheep are entering heaven while the goats are entering hell. The reason the sheep go to heaven is because they welcomed the stranger, fed the hungry, visited the imprisoned, clothed the naked. Jesus says that they did these things for him. When asked when he was hungry or thirsty, naked or in prison, Jesus says “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these, you did it to me.” We love by serving. By serving others we love God. By serving others we share God’s love.

Love is the highest attribute of God. Without God’s love, it would not be possible for us to be with him. It is the only attribute that is said to be God. 1 John 4:8 says “Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love.” Paul says for us that love is the greatest thing we can do. 1 Corinthians 13:13 “And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love.” Love will always last. When our faith becomes sight, love will endure. When our hope is fulfilled, love will endure. Love never ends. In verse 1 of the same chapter, Paul says that without love, he is “a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.” Without love, our faith is without worth.
We must always remember that we love not to receive, but to give. We love because God loves us. In the story of the goats and sheep, the righteous are surprised that they are being rewarded for their love. They did it without selfish ambitions. If we give for selfish reasons, we will receive our selfish reward and not an eternal reward. Jesus tells us that when in the temple observing the priests giving. We love in response to God’s love. His love is so great that we must respond with love. If we do not love, how can we call ourselves Christians?

So love one another! Love your neighbor as yourself! Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and might! Love without conditions! Love not to receive, but to give! Love!

Love One Another

Love is a common theme in the Bible. In the Ancient Greek, there are four words for love, Storge, Eros, Phileo, and Agape. In our English language, there is one word, Love. This certainly creates a little confusion when we read. The source of this confusion is our use of the word love. I have noticed that love is typically only used in two ways in relationship with people, love of someone like a family member and love of someone like a significant other. We rarely use love in terms of friendship, so when we read that we are to love our brothers, it may seem slightly confusing.

Let's first look at the three Greek terms. Storge means affection. It is not found in the Bible. Eros means a passionate love. This would be the love between a husband and wife. It is not found in the Bible. Phileo means the love between friends. It is similar to loyalty. Agape is a sacrificial love for all. It would seem that phileo is an emotion while agape is an action.

Phileo and agape are both used in the Bible. Phileo is used in Matthew 10 to tell us that we are to phileo God more than anyone else. There is no specific command to phileo God in the NT, it instead uses the word agape.

Agape is used to describe God's love for mankind in John 3:16, "For God so loved [agape] the world that he gave his only son that whoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life." It is also used to describe what we should do. In John 14:15, Jesus says "If you love [agape] me, you will obey my commands."

In looking online, I found the following chart that contrasted these two types of love.

Philia	Agape
Natural	Learned
Emotional	Volitional
Discriminatory	Non-discriminatory
Conditional	Unconditional
Pleasure	Preciousness
Delight	Esteem
Liking	Prizing
Because of	In spite of
Fails	Never fails

This will be just the start of a look at what it means to love one another.

What do you believe?

I believe in

God the Father, creator of all
• Creator of all things (Genesis 1)
• Father of Jesus (John 1:14)

God the son, Jesus Christ. Who was born of the Spirit and virgin Mary. Who was, is, and will always be. Fully God and fully man. Who died on the cross for the sins of all and rose from the grave three days later, conquering death. He is the only way to salvation.
• Born of the virgin Mary and the Spirit (Matthew 1:18)
• Fully God (John 10: 22-39)
• Fully Man
• Died on the cross for our sins (1 Corinthians 15:3)
• Physically rose three days later, conquering death (Luke 23:54 – 24:7) (Luke 24: 36-39)
• Has always been, and always will be (John 1:1,2)

God the Spirit. Who was promised by Jesus and sent from the Father to all believers to teach and remind us. He convicts the world of sin.
• Sent from the Father (John 14:15-17)
• Given to believers (John 14:15)
• Teaches and reminds us (John 14:26)
• Convicts the world of sin (John 16:8-11)
• Baptism of the Holy Spirit (Joel 2:28,29) (Acts 2) (Acts 19:4,5)

I believe

Salvation comes from God, by his grace, through faith.
Salvation can be obtained by all people.
Faith is more than just believing God exists, but is trusting in God and God only for salvation.
True faith will lead to good works and repentance.
Good works are part of our response to God’s love.
We can be assured of our salvation
• Salvation is a gift, not earned (Romans 6:23)
• All who receive Christ are saved (John 1:12,13)
• God has given life. You will know if you have eternal life. If you have Jesus, you have eternal life. (1 John 5:11-13)
• Our salvation is guaranteed (Romans 4:16)
• True faith will lead to works (John 14:23,24) (James 2: 14-26)
• When Abraham was accredited by faith, it wasn’t because he knew God existed. It was because he trusted. He already knew God existed. But he was found to be righteous because he trusted. (Genesis 15:16) (Hebrews 11:8-19)
• We all sin, Christ is our sacrifice (Romans 3:21-31)
• If we are saved by works, then faith is for nothing (Romans 4:14)
• All can be saved (John 3:16) (1 Timothy 2:3,4)

I believe

Communion is ordained by Christ. In it, followers of Christ proclaim his death until his return. This is done by sharing in the same meal of Christ, bread and wine. The elements are not physically body and blood, Christ is symbolically in the elements
• Not symbolic, but spiritual (1 Corinthians 10:16) (1 Corinthians 11:27-29, How can one profane the body if it is only bread and wine?)
• Not physical (1 Corinthians 11:23-26) (Luke 22: 14-19)
• Proclaims Christ’s death (1 Corinthians 11:26)

Water baptism is a symbolic sign of a person’s desire to repent and live a new life in Christ. The action is not required for salvation.
• For repentance (Matthew 3:11) (Acts 2:38)
• Not required for salvation (no record of disciples being baptized) (Luke 23:39-43)

This is still a work in progress.

What do you believe?

Why do we serve?

That was the topic for the sermon today. We had a guest speaker from Frazer UMC in Montgomery, AL. He spoke on the importance of volunteering within the church.

As his message, he started with scripture and gave three reasons. First, the scripture.

14 Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. 15 If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. 16 And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? 18 But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. 19 If they were all one part, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts, but one body.

-1st Corinthians 12:14-20

Second, the speaker said that we are all gifted. We all have ways that we can serve in the church. This is shown in the scripture. Third, all forms of service are equally important. Each person serving in their own way is important. As he used as an example, the people who clean the sanctuary are equally as important as him giving the sermon. If God calls us to do something, let's do it. Let's not waste time in committees deciding which are the most important. It is meets the requirements for ministry, then do it. Fourth, serving creates excitement. When people are filled and excited in church, they invite others. In closing, volunteer to further your spiritual journey.

While I think his points are correct, it really misses what I feel are the most important reasons to serve.

Before we get further, as you may know I have been recently evaluating the effectiveness of the United Methodist church, particularly in teaching the Gospel. In one post, we looked at some quotes from John Wesley, including one that said in all sermons, the preacher must preach the gospel and invite people to respond to Jesus. I believe that the speaker made an assumption that the people in the pews were Christians. While one would think that this might be a fair assumption for a church, it is far from true. While I am certainly in no position to judge the salvation of another person, I believe that it is fair to say that not all in the church are saved. If they are not Christians, then serving in the church is of no value. Paul tells us in Ephesians that salvation comes from grace, not works. So in terms of salvation, works are of no value. Christ tells us in chapter 7 of Matthew that many will call upon the name of the Lord in the end and say they performed acts in His name. He also says many of those he will cast away as he never knew them. James tells us in chapter 2 that faith without works is dead, and likewise, works without faith is dead. We know that works will not affect your salvation, but it certainly is meant for Christians. It is our response to God's grace and mercy for us. As we see in James, true faith will lead to good works.

So if not all in the church are Christians and good works are for Christians, we have a problem telling all people to do works. I believe that first, we must do what we can to help them know Christ. How do they come to know Christ if it is not preached? Yes we have bible studies and small groups, but not all who attend church participate in these. Christ must be preached in our pulpits, sunday school classroom, and throughout the whole world. Blessed are those who preach the goodness of Christ! That from the beginning of time, God has desired to have a relationship with us. However, he is perfect and we are not. This prevents us from being in relationship with God, both today and in the afterlife. However, in his love for us, God sent Christ Jesus who came to earth. He lived a perfect life to teach us how to live, and died on the cross as a sacrifice for our sins. Our belief in Christ's redeeming power is all that is required from God's grace to cleanse us of our sins by the blood of Christ. Once we are cleansed of our sins, we can enjoy fellowship with God both now and forever. This must be taught in our churches and by those of us who are Christians.

So first, before we can even talk about performing good works in God's name, we first must belong to God. This then brings us to the reason for doing it. The most important reason for doing it is because God tells us to. We saw in James how our faith leads to good works. James uses the example of a Christian seeing a person in need of food and clothing and instead of providing for the person, the Christian says to "Go and I wish you well." This clearly does not help the person. John in 1st John tells us that we love because God loves us first. We are to love each other as a response to God's love for us! By living in love for each other, we will know that God lives in us, and us in Him. Jesus tells us in the story of the goats and lambs that by serving others, we serve God. In the story, Jesus separates the goats from the sheep. The goats are cast into hell while the sheep are brought into heaven. In both, they ask Christ when they saw him hungry or thirsty, naked or in jail. Jesus responds that as you do unto the least of these, you do unto Him. By loving others, we show our love to God and share God's love to others.

Serve in the church! Not as a means of gaining salvation, but as a means of sharing God's love!

Terrorists at the Tea Party

I recently read an article in National Geographic Adventure (August 2008) called Terrorists at the Tea Party. It was about how our body responds to emergency situations and how to improve our reaction.

School fire alarms are a common occurance in schools. These are done regularly as drills, occasionally on accident, sometimes as a prank, and, on the rare occurrence, in an emergency. As a small child, I feared the fire alarm. In preschool, I would often cry when the alarm went off. This same fear was in my body when I met police officers. However, as I grew older, I overcame this fear. When an alarm goes off, I immediately think of where the nearest exit is. When I see a police officer, I do not fear them, though my attention is drawn to them. These changes in my reaction came as a result of conditioning my body. As a child, I was not aware of how to condition my body, this came as a result of repeated interactions with the source of fear. I began to understand what the source of the emergency is in each situation and how to properly respond. This sort of reaction is extremely important in life and death situations.

There have been numerous studies on people in survival situations and what makes some people give up while others persevere. In these studies, the most important characteristic isn't strength but mental ability. When an emergency situation arises, it often times enters our brain and is immediately processed before we have time to think about it. Our brain switches into survival instinct, releasing hormones, changing the chemistry of our blood, restricting our blood vessels, and increase our blood pressure and pulse. These actions help to protect our body and give our muscles extra strength, but at the expense of our rational thinking. As the situation develops, some people often times experience tachpsychia, the changing of our mind's perception of speed. Often times people experience the heightening of some senses and the weakening or tunneling of others. As time progresses, our mind has time to analyze the signals it is receiving and the evaluate what the threat is and how to appropriately respond. The longer we have to respond to the situation, the better. Though in situations such as shootings and wrecks, we have little time to respond. We must find ways to cope with the situation to increase our ability to respond appropriately and to increase our changes of survival.

One way of improving our odds is by experience. The more times we encounter emergency situations and survive, the more self-confidence we have in ourselves, and the more knowledge we have in how to respond and how our bodies respond. By hear the fire alarm and evacuating the building, my body was conditioned in what to do when the alarm sounds. Just like Pavlov's dogs. One of the most powerful ways is by breathing. Soldiers and police officers are often taught breathing techniques to use in hostile situations to calm the body and maintain a level head. This breathing strategy works by bridging the gap between our somatic nervous system and autonoic system, the parts of our body we can consciously control and the parts we can not. By slowing our breathing, we are able to reduce the fear that comes from our primal survival instinct. A common recommended pattern for breathing is inhale four counts, hold four counts, exhale four counts, hold four counts, repeat. Laughter is another activity that reduces our stress and allows us to think clearly.

This may not be such a bad deal!

Defendant trades murder plea for KFC, pizza.

A New York man who pleaded guilty to murder in Oregon in exchange for buckets of fried chicken will get calzones and pizza to go with his life sentence.

Durham agreed to plead guilty to murder -- but only if he could get a break from jail food. The judge agreed and granted Durham a feast of KFC chicken, Popeye's chicken, mashed potatoes, coleslaw, carrot cake and ice cream.

That doesn't sound like too bad of a deal. Life with possible parole in 30 years for a bucket of chicken!

Disturbing News about the UMC

These statistics came from a recent poll by the Pew Forum. The survey was the U.S. Religious Landscape Survey. The snapshot below of the United Methodist Church is disturbing.

http://www.umportal.org/article.asp?id=3829

96 percent are “absolutely” or “fairly certain” that God exists 42 percent say they attend church at least once a week; 14 percent say they seldom or never attend church 59 percent say they pray at least once a day 15 percent say their prayers are answered at least once a week; 28 percent say their prayers are seldom or never answered one-fourth believe the Bible should be taken “literally, word for word;” 21 percent say it’s written by men, not God; 44 percent say it’s the Word of God but probably shouldn’t be taken literally 82 percent believe there is more than one way to interpret their religious teachings 85 percent believe many religions can lead to eternal life 51 percent believe “Homosexuality is a way of life that should be accepted by society” 39 percent disagree 59 percent believe abortion should be legal in all or most cases; 29 percent say it should be illegal in most cases 42 percent believe the U.S. should be active in world affairs; half said we should focus more on problems here at home 29 percent say stricter environmental laws would hurt the economy; 63 percent say it would be worth the cost 47 percent lean toward or are Republican; 42 percent lean toward or are Democratic

There are some good things. Some things that are good are that 96% are positive that God exists. A majority of United Methodists pray daily. A majority feel that taking care of God's creation will be worth the cost.

There are also some disturbing things. A majority of United Methodists do not believe that the Bible is the literal Word of God. A majority of United Methodists believe that abortion should be allowed in all cases. A majority believe that many religions can lead to God. A majority believe that there are multiple interpretations to the Bible.

These trends lead me to the conclusion that the United Methodist Church needs to lead a revival in small group Bible studies. When the Methodist Church was in its infancy, it focused very heavily on small group Bible studies and holy living. Now a days, in most churches, this does not happen. Most United Methodists are not active in small group Bible studies where they are challenged to read and study the Word of God. Where they would be challenged and strengthened in their holy living by others. Instead, they attend church on Sunday morning and call it a week.

By studying the Bible, some things would clearly be found out. One, while there are many applications, there is only one interpretation to the Bible, and that is given to us by the Holy Spirit.

John 14: 16-17a "16And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever— 17the Spirit of truth. "

The Spirit is the spirit of truth. He does not lie to us.

John 14: 26 "But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you."

He teaches us and reminds us of things that God has taught us.

1 Corinthians 2: 9-12 "9However, as it is written:
"No eye has seen,
no ear has heard,
no mind has conceived
what God has prepared for those who love him"— 10but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit.
The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. 11For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man's spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. "

God has and continues to speak to us. One of the ways God talks to us is through the Bible. He does not contradict Himself and so will not contradict the Bible. He has spoken by the Spirit through man to write the Bible. His word, revealed by the Spirit. The same Spirit continues to illuminate our understanding of the Bible. We cannot understand it outside the Bible.

Ephesians 4:18 "18They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts."

It is very dangerous that people believe that there can be many interpretations. By allowing the idea of multiple interpretations, we open the door for false teachers to take hold in our churches.

Another thing that a Bible study would show is that there are not multiple paths to God. Jesus is very clear on this.

John 14:6-7 "6Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.""

John 14:11a "11Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me"

John 11: 25-27 "25Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; 26and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?"

27"Yes, Lord," she told him, "I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world.""

I believe that the United Methodist Church must ensure that solid, Biblical sound teaching from every pulpit and that all churches have small group Bible studies. John Wesley would agree.

Let's look at a few quotes from John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist movement.

"I love plain dealing. Do not you? I will use it now. Bear with me. I hang out no false colors; but show you all I am, all I intend, all I do. I am a member of the Church of England; but I love good men of every Church. My ground is the Bible. Yea, I am a Bible bigot. I follow it in all things, both great and small."

How many United Methodist pastors follow John Wesley's advice for teaching? "1. To invite. 2. To convince. 3. To offer Christ. 4. To build up. And to do this in some measure in every sermon."

How many United Methodists would be able to tell you where the name Methodists comes from? Except for when I was in VBS, I do not ever remember hearing it. It comes from a derogatory term used at Oxford against Wesley's holy living club. He took hold of the name, later explaining it as "one that lives according to the method laid down in the Bible."

We must return to our roots in the United Methodist church of everyone being in small group Bible studies where they study the Bible and are strengthened and held accountable by their fellow group members.