Fasting and Maverick

So I know that I haven’t posted in a while but…well, i have nothing really to say, except sorry.

I recently came accross a YouTube video that I was quite impressed with. Here’s the link to the video

We are gettting ready to do our fast here for the 30-Hour Famine. Trying to get teenagers to fast for 3 hours seems like a chore to me much less 30! I was preparing a lesson for a class I was going to do on Fasting before our event. The young man in the video relates our fasting to how he feeds his dog, Maverick. Sometimes, Maverick does not always get fed right when he is ready, because the master is doing something else. So Maverick must wait for the word from his master to eat.

“Remember how the Lord your God has led you in the desert for these forty years, taking away your pride and testing you, because he wanted to know what was in your heart. He wanted to know if you would obey his commands. He took away your pride when he let you get hungry…” Deut 8:2-3

Now fasting seems to be a lost art in this day. I feel that if we could learn to incorporate this discipline in our lives we would be so benefited from it. Instead of running around partaking of all sorts of “food” other than the Word. Maybe we should stop, and wait for the Word of the Lord. Letting Him know that we are ready for Him to feed us.

Peace

Digging Deep

“ Everyone who hears my words and obeys them is like a wise man who built his house on rock. It rained hard, the floods came, and the winds blew and hit that house. But it did not fall, because it was built on rock. Everyone who hears my words and does not obey them is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. It rained hard, the floods came, and the winds blew and hit that house, and it fell with a big crash.”
Matthew 7:24-27

What does it take for us to actually do what Jesus teaches? Christianity is not for the faint, but for the determined and the the ones who are willing to sacrifice. Part of that sacrifice is constantly searching our selves and digging deep down to the foundation to rid our lives of the things that are hindering that relationship with God.

The man in this parable built his house on the rock. Now forgive my flashbacks to earth science but bedrock is often deep below the surface of the earth.  What are the layers that are hindering your search for bed rock? Only when we get to the bottom and ground who we are in Christ can we stand a chance at surviving the wind and the storms of life. God wants to give us something to stand on. The question is are we ready go down the path?

The Touch of the Masters Hand

Twas battered and scarred, and the auctioneer
thought it scarcely worth his while to waste much time on the old violin,
but held it up with a smile; “What am I bidden, good folks,” he cried,
“Who’ll start the bidding for me?” “A dollar, a dollar”; then two!” “Only
two? Two dollars, and who’ll make it three? Three dollars, once; three
dollars twice; going for three..” But no, from the room, far back, a
gray-haired man came forward and picked up the bow; Then, wiping the dust
from the old violin, and tightening the loose strings, he played a melody
pure and sweet as caroling angel sings.

The music ceased, and the auctioneer, with a voice that was quiet and low,
said; “What am I bid for the old violin?” And he held it up with the bow.
A thousand dollars, and who’ll make it two? Two thousand! And who’ll make
it three? Three thousand, once, three thousand, twice, and going and
gone,” said he. The people cheered, but some of them cried, “We do not
quite understnad what changed its worth.” Swift came the reply: “The touch
of a master’s hand.”

And many a man with life out of tune, and battered and scarred with sin,
Is auctioned cheap to the thoughtless crowd, much like the old violin, A
“mess of pottage,” a glass of wine; a game - and he travels on. “He is
going” once, and “going twice, He’s going and almost gone.” But the Master
comes, and the foolish crowd never can quite understand the worth of a soul
and the change that’s wrought by the touch of the Master’s hand.

Myra ‘Brooks’ Welch

Car Accident

So i got into a car accident on Tuesday night coming home from the office. It was not a whole lot of fun, especially since my car got damaged pretty good. Anyways, fortunately it wasn’t my fault and the other guys insurance has already gotten me a rental car. Unfortunately, the collision inspector told me today that they were going to “total” my car. This really stinks because i had a great car that was really cheap, but i wont be able to buy the same one that i had for what the insurance company is going to give me.

Its times like this were i think it is difficult to see where God is in all of it. Yes, he was there to keep me and the other drivers safe. But what good does it do to take away my car, and make me scrape around to find a new one? (not new in the sense of never be used, but new to me) the only think to do is to keep trusting. It’s times like this were I think of Proverbs 3:5,6.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and he will make your paths straight.”

So no matter what happens to us, car accident, break-up, lack of success and in all our failures as well as victories, acknowledge the Lord. Sometimes i think things like this happen just to force us to slow down and realize that God is still in control. Hopefully by realizing this, we can lead other people to that same knowledge too!

Holidays for Atheists

I recently received this story in an email.

In Florida , an atheist became incensed over the preparation of Easter and Passover holidays. He decided to contact his lawyer about the discrimination inflicted on atheists by the constant celebrations afforded to Christians and Jews with all their holidays while atheists had no holiday to celebrate.

The case was brought before a judge. After listening to the long passionate presentation by the lawyer, the Judge banged his gavel and declared, ‘Case dismissed!’

The lawyer immediately stood and objected to the ruling and said, ‘Your honor, how can you possibly dismiss this case? The Christians have Christmas, Easter and many other observances. Jews have Passover, Yom Kippur and Hanukkah…yet my client and all other atheists have no such holiday!’

The judge leaned forward in his chair and simply said, ‘Obviously your client is too confused to even know about, much less celebrate his own atheists’ holiday!’
The lawyer pompously said, ‘Your Honor, we are unaware of any such holiday for atheists. Just when might that holiday be, your Honor?’

The judge replied “Consider that Psalm 14:1 states, ‘The fool says in his heart, there is no God.’ Thus, in my opinion, if your client says there is no God, according to the scriptures, he is a fool, and April Fools Day is his holiday! Now have a good day and get out of my courtroom!!”

This story, however silly it is, makes a good point. The judge quotes the same scripture that Rob Bell quotes in his video, “Everything is Spiritual.” Psalm 14:1 “The fool says in his heart there is no God.” There is no amount of intellectual evidence that can convince someone, of God. No scientific research, no archaeological evidence that will ever be enough. It is a decision made in our heart. And what we do with that decision, well, that changes everything.

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Lord of All Creation

It never ceases to amaze me how just a little trip outside for a walk, run or any other kind of excercise is good for the soul. Have you ever gone for a walk by yourself, no agenda, nothing to do, just walk? It can be such a spiritual experience. I think alot of this has to do with the fact that God originally designed us to be the overseers of his creation. Adam was given the job in Genesis by God to look after the plants and animals. I find that this experience is especially powerful when i am listening to my most recent download of Christian music on my iPod. It just seems an apropriate outlet for worship. Experiencing God’s creation. Maybe that is why i have such fond memories of camp growing up as a kid. The evening devotionals on creation ridge, watching the sun setting, experience that, and then try to tell me that there is no God.

So get out and go for a walk, and experience the creation that we were created to be a part of!

Dancin’ to the radio

Tonight on my way home from Bible study, I was stopped at a red light, and i was dancing in my car to the music on the radio. No biggie right? Well then i look over and notice that not only is the girl to the left of my also dancing in her car, but the two guys on the right are bobbin to their music too! So here we are the first three cars in a row all dancing to our radios. What are the chances? We probably looked a little silly or maybe like we rehearsed this little show of choreography.

Have you ever thought of life as a song? There is something that connects each one of us to the rest of the world, kind of like a spiritual umbilical chord. Wow, that was kind of gross, sorry. But seriously in Ecclesiastes, Solomon writes that God has placed, “eternity in the hearts of men, yet man cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.” There is something that makes all humans move to the beat when we hear music, some of us move to a different beat. Its like there is a spiritual music staff running through all of us. Some of us are one key, some are way off but we are at least aware of it. Others still are singing a completely different song and don’t care.

Psalms 65 says it this way, “Oh, visit the earth, ask her to join the dance! Deck her out in spring showers, fill the God-River with living water. Paint the wheat fields golden. Creation was made for this!

There is something inside us all that makes us want to dance. The question is whether or not you will join that dance that the earth is calling you to?

Fruit Salad, What!?

So today i went out to lunch at Jason’s Deli, which is a resturant here in town, with another minister from church. Usually we try to grab lunch on Friday’s and talk about life, and ministry and what not. Today, though, we had an interesting experience due to a mistake in my order. The way the place worked you order you food and pay and they give you little pole with a number on it so they can bring your order. Well when they brought my food, it had mixed fruit salad instead of potato chips like i had ordered. I decided not to say anything because i know from my days in retail that when people complain over stuff like that it can be really frustrating. So i am eating along, and i start thinking this isn’t even the sandwich i ordered. Which probably means that someone else got my sandwich with those delicious fat crusted potato chips. So finally i say to my lunch guest, “i don’t think that this is what i ordered.” I explained to him why i didn’t want to take it back, and concluded with, “besides, i probably should be eating fruit instead of chips anyways.”

Isn’t that how prayer works, more often than not. Instead of God giving us what we ordered, He gives us what we need. I find myself then complaining to God that, “so and so, is not what i asked for i would like you to reconcile this please?” Now this doesn’t work as well with God as with restruants and for good reason. God knows what we need, and he gives it to us exactly when we need it.

The Bible has this to say, in Matthew and Ecclesiasties respectively

“The world is full of so-called prayer warriors who are prayer-ignorant. They’re full of formulas and programs and advice, peddling techniques for getting what you want from God. Don’t fall for that nonsense. This is your Father you are dealing with, and he knows better than you what you need. “

“Don’t shoot off your mouth, or speak before you think.
Don’t be too quick to tell God what you think he wants to hear.
God’s in charge, not you—the less you speak, the better.”

So let your words be few, and learn to be content and rejoice with what God gives you!

The Power of A Changed Life

So I have been preparing for a lock in that I am doing tomorrow night, and the theme for the weekend is the power of a changed life. And I am working from Romans 12:1-2. Mainly i have really been reflecting on what it means to sacrifice. I am coming to an understanding that it means that we need to stop what is comfortable and natural to us, turn our back on what the world thinks about us and start giving it over to God. I hear so many people say things like “I just don’t know what God wants from me?” I think alot of that has to do with the fact that they are not sacrificing it all for God.

I love the way that the message paraphrases these two verses:

“So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.”

Wow, i think this paraphrase is really moving. What is it that I have in the way of really sacrificing for God?