100 Days of Change

EB

The power of the Tongue - Part 1

I will be writing a blog about the power of the tongue and it's ability to yeild a destructive course for those who are not able to "tame" it..(ME!!!)

I wanted to first share this line I heard yesterday because I found it to be quite clear and powerful and succinct.

Gossip - Something you say behind someone's back but hide to their face

Flattery - Something you say to one's face but hide behind their back

Something to Think About !!

:)

EB

Stuffing God in a closet? Is He a Vending Machine?

***********April 21st, 2009 4:48 PM Eastern
BOB BECKEL: Miss USA Flap — How About Keeping God OUT of Politics?
The furor over the anti-gay marriage comments made by Miss California, who was competing in the Miss USA contest were both unnecessary and inflammatory. It reminded me of a former gay-bashing beauty contestant, Anita Bryant. The less than brilliant Bryant traveled the country in the ’70’s spewing hatred towards gays by her hateful speech and support of anti-gay referendums.
How about being Good Samaritans and keeping God out of politics?
I don’t know where this woman is now or if she is still alive but her sentiments certainly are among those felt by a minority of Americans who apparently don’t believe the Constitution of the United States provides for civil liberties for all our people. Some opponents of gay marriage love to quote the Bible as an anti-gay source.
I am a Christian, read the Bible daily, and attend church at least once a week (hard for some of you wingers to believe, isn’t it, that there are born-again Christians who happen to be liberals). I do not believe our Savior would have spoken out in favor of anti-gay referendums. “Give onto Caesar what is Caesar’s.”
How about being Good Samaritans and keeping God out of politics?
Having said that, I am appalled that the question was raised at all. Given the fact that the questioner, celebrity blogger Perez Hilton, is gay makes it appear that he is injecting his own politics into what is after all just a beauty contest. It’s time to cool the rhetoric on both sides on the gay marriage issue and leave it to state legislatures and the courts which is where the debate belongs.**************

Ok..Now that you have read the above piece written by Bob Beckel...Allow me to offer up an alternative view..because I get very upset when people claim to want to "Keep God out of it" whatever "it" is...HELLO!!!! God is not a vending machine where you can choose to follow Him on some days and issues and NOT on others..Good Grief..This is exactly the problem that is watering down the Christian Faith and causing it to be less and less relevant...because when an unbeliever looks at statements like this, they ask themselves..What makes him any different than me..Answer...NOTHING.. I have this righteous anger building up with pseudo Christians that claim the mantle of Christianity but live no differently or act no differently than the rest of the unsaved world...

Since when did God and His commands for us a believers become second to our political beliefs or our education beliefs, etc.. What gospel is that? Mr. Beckel claims he reads the bible every day...goes to church...but feels God doesn't belong in politics..God is not something we can choose to turn off and on whenever it is convenient.. God demands our surrendering of ourselves and our submission to HIS authority..Not the authority of mere man.. God demands we live in His truth as revealed to us thru the Scriptures..That means we are to live as He would and it rips me up on the inside when the word is expressly clear on such issues as Homosexuality or abortion and people take the stance that somehow Jesus Christ would have take a different opinion on such "controversial matters" other than what His inspired word says.. Really? Bob what bible are you reading? Since when are you in a position to interpret what Jesus Christ would do when it is in direct contradiction to what is said in His word..

See here us the crux of the problem.. God belongs FIRST..in every single situation known to a human.. Whether we like it or not..and so if it flies in the face of what you believe, you do not get to choose when God is relevant and when He is not.. God is relevant in every single situation no matter how controversial or unpopular.. We are not afforded the right to adjust the truth to suit our political persuasion..God belongs in every decision we make..Period..

He also says that Liberals can be born again Christians..Let me take that issue up for a moment..Understand I am not here to condemn anyone or judge anyone but I am willing to boldly speak the truth..to stand firm with God and against the prevailing winds of this world..no matter the consequences. If you believe abortion is OK...then you are contradicting the written word of God..Plain and simple..The scripture is clear on when God made us..and if you believe in God and that every word in the Bible is true and God inspired available for teaching and reproof..then you do no get to selectively choose the parts that conform to how you want to believe..Either you believe the Bible or you don't.. There is no in between..Either you are on God's side or you are not.. Psalm 139:13 says " For your formed my inward parts; you covered me in my mothers womb. Psalms 139:16 says " Your eyes saw my substance being yet unformed". Psalms 51: "Behold I was brought forth in iniquity and in sin my mother conceived me". See these passages are clear that God is the creator of life...not us humans..He speaks of "substance" not a viable fetus..yet many people selectively dismiss this part of the bible because it doesn't "jive" with what they want it to mean.. The same issues can be said of homosexuality.. If we choose to claim Christ as our Savior and not our Lord...that does not work.. In order for Him to be our Lord..Then He must rule and reign in our lives and His edicts must be the order for our lives.. I hear people like Bob Beckel say "voters are not just one issue voters".. I can't hardly think of a more false statement than that..If the issue is an issue relevant to God's Truth, then we have no other choice but to follow the Truth....i.e. Believing in abortion will eliminate you from my vote but just because you don't believe in abortion doesn't mean you get my vote..Does that make sense.. The one issue can eliminate you altogether but doesn't mean you are assured my vote..but you must pass that provision before I can consider you any further.. What I am trying to say is we must filter everything thru the Truth..not your version of it, not the worlds version of it but the written word provided to us by God.. It is just that simple.. Here is another example..You may agree with many positions one takes with regards to economic issues, foreign policy but if they are contradicting the Truth, then you must side with God..You are not given the latitude to selectively choose which issues matter more to you..Either you are on God's side or you are not.. There is no middle ground..

God belongs everywhere and should be in everything we do.. No matter what..!! Just because humans created separation of church and state does not preclude you to leave your beliefs at the door..Your beliefs are who you are and are indicative of who you serve..Again, either you serve God or Man...so it is blatant rejection of Christ to act as if you can leave God out of your life for certain areas and use Him when you deem appropriate.. That is not Christianity..That is "religiosity." The bible says there are false teachers 1 Timothy 3-4On my way to the province of Macedonia, I advised you to stay in Ephesus. Well, I haven't changed my mind. Stay right there on top of things so that the teaching stays on track. Apparently some people have been introducing fantasy stories and fanciful family trees that digress into silliness instead of pulling the people back into the center, deepening faith and obedience.

1 Timothy 6: 20 O Timothy, guard the deposit entrusted to you. Avoid the irreverent babble and contradictions of what is falsely called "knowledge," 21for by professing it some have swerved from the faith.

2 Peter 2: 1-3 there were also lying prophets among the people then, just as there will be lying religious teachers among you. They'll smuggle in destructive divisions, pitting you against each other—biting the hand of the One who gave them a chance to have their lives back! They've put themselves on a fast downhill slide to destruction, but not before they recruit a crowd of mixed-up followers who can't tell right from wrong.
They give the way of truth a bad name. They're only out for themselves. They'll say anything, anything, that sounds good to exploit you. They won't, of course, get by with it. They'll come to a bad end, for God has never just stood by and let that kind of thing go on.

The bible is clear..People will distort the truth for various reasons..to mislead you, to justify their own positions, to hide from their own sin, etc..We must rigorously search the truth for direction..and spend time in God's word asking for wisdom to be able to discern the truth..to separate fact from false..to separate Christianity from heresy. We must not fall into this false sense of Christianity being promulgated today that says God is relevant only when we want him to be and that church should be left at church and not observed in any other part of our life..That is exactly what Satan wants us to do..To be a Christian only while we are at church but to stuff it away in some closet when we are at work, or at home or even in the voting booth.. That is not what a genuine Christian who has been "transformed" by God and given a new life acts like..

James says it best in Chapter one of his letter versus 21-27 " 19-21Post this at all the intersections, dear friends: Lead with your ears, follow up with your tongue, and let anger straggle along in the rear. God's righteousness doesn't grow from human anger. So throw all spoiled virtue and cancerous evil in the garbage. In simple humility, let our gardener, God, landscape you with the Word, making a salvation-garden of your life.
22-24Don't fool yourself into thinking that you are a listener when you are anything but, letting the Word go in one ear and out the other. Act on what you hear! Those who hear and don't act are like those who glance in the mirror, walk away, and two minutes later have no idea who they are, what they look like.
25But whoever catches a glimpse of the revealed counsel of God—the free life!—even out of the corner of his eye, and sticks with it, is no distracted scatterbrain but a man or woman of action. That person will find delight and affirmation in the action.
26-27Anyone who sets himself up as "religious" by talking a good game is self-deceived. This kind of religion is hot air and only hot air. Real religion, the kind that passes muster before God the Father, is this: Reach out to the homeless and loveless in their plight, and guard against corruption from the godless world.

I just felt compelled to speak out against this false idea of what we as Christians are suppose to look like.. We are not to be conformed to this world.. We are to be set apart, separate from this world and that should be evident to all those who come in contact with us..To make a statement like " Keep God of politics" is blasphemy and should be confronted by true believers..God is our life..God is our way of thinking. God is the Truth, the way and the Light.. God belongs in ALL things because God created ALL things and all things are so because He allows it so.. He is the Alpha and the Omega..the Creator of all things seen and unseen..the ruler of all of creation....The God Most High..All knowing, All Powerful, omnipotent, omniscient, immutable Lord of Lords..whether you serve Him or not..

EB

The "Boo Boo"

This is so funny that I just had to place it on the blog..Please do not misunderstand. Lilygrace is 4 and has no idea what she is doing..and it is because she has no idea that makes it so funny..

Enjoy

EB

"Unstable in All His Ways"

I am studying the book of James and as with any book of the bible I believe that each has a distinct message in which the writer is trying to convey to the reader..I know that we should take in to account geography, time frame, audience, etc when trying to interpret the meaning of what is said...however I think an awful lot can be learned by just taking the words for what they are..I am not of the position that God requires you to be a scholar to understand His word. His word is meant and written for all people, regardless of the educational background we might come from..and so if we are truly desiring to read and understand His word, then the Holy Spirit will certainly help us translate what that meaning is and how it is meant for our life.. I noted in an earlier blog that the more time you spend in the word the deeper more transformative meaning you can glean from it...and that in no way contradicts what I am saying here..There are times in our life and spiritual growth we can handle the deeper meanings of God's word and there are other times that just below the surface is a mind full.. So as I was studying James Chapter 1:5-8, I found myself having one of this days where the meaning was very clear to me, sorta of enlightening if you will..I always love these days because I am inspired to take what I have learned and place it into application in my life and to share..This is usually when I would write Nicki and share with her the great truth and revelation I learned today...because it is exciting for me to feel engrossed with the Word and to have been given a mind able to understand enough to write it down in retrospect...

First let me share the actual passage and then allow me to offer up my understanding as it came to me today..

James 1:5-8 (English Standard Version)
5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. 6But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. 7For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways

I have written in previous blogs about Wisdom and what it means to apprehend it..This verse further expounds on the idea..See wisdom is not something that can be learned or is innate. It can not be acquired through patient hard work, utilizing careful observation and self discipline. Wisdom is a supernatural gift from God..It comes only by God..We need to first understand this.. If you look back thru the book of 1 Kings you will see a passage where Solomon had an encounter with God over this issue..and little did I know in my infantile state of biblical understanding that the reason we Christians consider Solomon the wisest of all is because he asked for wisdom and God granted it.. I always knew Solomon was considered the wisest, but never understood the reason why..I guess I just attributed it to his writings or the belief of others telling me he was..but in verses 9-12 Solomon as God for an understanding mind to govern God's people, to be able to discern between good and evil and this pleased God so much that he granted this to him..God was delighted that Solomon wasn't looking out for himself and did not ask for untold riches (although we know that later God also entrusted Solomon with wealth unimaginable)..God said " Behold, I give you a wise and discerning mind, so that none like you has been before and none like you shall rise after you". So here we can see Solomon seeking wisdom and God granting wisdom...wisdom of the ages in this case..

What this told me is no amount of education, studying God's word or piety will bring about wisdom in terms of how God sees it..It is a gift from God to those who ask for it. This knowledge is possible only because the Lord gives it to the upright. Thus, while wisdom is to be sought diligently and cultivated in practice, it is not something merited by the actions of an individual. According to scripture the first result in heeding wisdom is one will understand the fear of the Lord and that is necessary in order to have the proper perspective and motive as you move forward in your walk. Without a proper fear of the Lord, then you have not the foundation needed in order to build your faith..

Notice it says "it will be given him"...not probably, not if you ask it the right way, it will be..and also see he says without reproach.. God is not going to scold you for coming to him and asking for this..without reproach means without blame or disgrace..God does not want anyone to hesitate to come before Him...hence without reproach..

Now this is where I began to have the word come alive to me and speak to me directly and this can have the ability to get all up in your kitchen..so beware..

He says "let him ask in faith with no doubting.....for he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways"

Ok this is where the rubber meets the road...Either we believe in God's goodness and power or we don't..Doubt is simply another expression of disbelief in God...so when we doubt God will do as He says He will, we are being double-minded...that is to be believing in both God and the world(ourselves)..We waver back and forth..Somethings we believe God is capable and cares and somethings we believe He is incapable(or doesn't bother) and doesn't care...This is a VERY DANGEROUS place to be..The term that comes to my mind when reading this is Christian term called "lukewarm". Where we are sorta half in half out..Not totally sold out to God and His ways..still holding onto the world with some parts of ourselves being in control and not surrendered to Him..This can arise out of pure or impure thinking..meaning some of this wavering comes from a true disbelief and some comes from a "distorted truth". See in today's modern world, Truth is no longer truth..Truth is different for everyone and that kind of irrational thinking is exactly what James is warning against..We must be Solid in our understanding of Christian Doctrine, otherwise we are like gullible children tossed helplessly in waves and wind of cunning and deceitful schemes of false teachers..See some of us want God to be OK with certain parts of our life and not Ok with other parts..We want God on our terms and not His..that means we make God into whatever sort of fits our lifestyle and we reject the God of the bible..Let me provide an example or two..If we are a homosexual, then we might reject a God who condemns such behavior...Or say we lust with our eyes and commit adultery in our heart but think as long we did not touch, we are OK...I have heard many a men say something like this " We can read from the menu as long we don't order"..meaning we can look at other women as much as we want as long as that is as far as it goes..NO..that is a distorted view of God and his view of things.. God searches the heart not the actions per say..He is very concerned with what goes on in your inner being..This sort of manipulation of who God is is not only dangerous, but also deadly..We are not to be double-minded..We have a path in which we are to follow and narrow is its way..

Let me bring this home now.. James ends this verse by saying "unstable in all his ways." Now when I first read over this, I wasn't really sure what to make of it and almost concluded my study with some shallow understanding of that last phrase such as someone who just doesn't get it and will never fully understand God in all His glory..but just as I was about to conclude, I decided to dig a little deeper at the request of the Holy Spirit I can only presume and this is where I was able to truly make this fit my life and draw a real application from the study..

So I looked to see where this "unstable in all his ways" was further explained and I ran across

2 Peter 2:14 They have eyes full of adultery, insatiable for sin. They entice unsteady souls. They have hearts trained in greed. Accursed children!

Their eyes desire adultery with virtually every woman they meet. insatiable for sin. Their appetite for sin is never satisfied. Even worse, they entice (Gk. deleazō, “lure with bait”) unsteady people to join them in their debauchery. Sexual sin and greed characterize these false teachers (double-minded, Vending machine style God where you can choose the God to fit your lifestyle) Accursed children! Peter assures his readers that the heretics will face God's curse.

Those who operate on a loose truth of who God is and how He desires for us to live and act, are operating on a false teaching..Those who waver back and forth on God and the world(ourselves, man) are vulnerable to instability in their ways.. You will have an appetite for sin that is never satisfied..Sin is hard enough to deal with, but those who are lukewarm, double-minded are sinking their own ship..Those who are kind of Christian and kind of not, depending on what day it is and who they around are the ones who will be insatiable for sin, eyes full of adultery, unsteady souls.. Here is the point..Either you are for God or you are NOT.. There is no in between..You can't have it both ways because the only way is God's way..and anything short of that leads to "unstable in all his ways". If you are a man and you struggle with lustful eyes, then ask yourself if you are lukewarm for God..Is God the most important thing in your life or does He take a backseat to ballgames and work..If He is not priority #1, then you are unstable in all your ways..not some of your ways.....ALL OF YOUR WAYS..Man that is huge..Get your life right with God and allow Him to steady your life..to remove the insatiable desire for sin.. If you are a woman and struggle with submission...ask yourself is God my focus always all day..Do you place God on the back burner when you have those little itty bitty gossip sessions with your girlfriends about your undeserving husband or that friend whom you ridicule behind her back and would be hurt if she/he were to be present.. God is all knowing and all things are visible to Him..maybe not to us..so when we choose to place God second or third in our life and our desire to follow him is diminished or rejected because we feel like no one will know or God will be OK with this because He is a loving God and not a jealous or just God, then understand that you are living a double minded life and that is a life subject to God's judgement. If you want to be free from the bondage of Sin, you must commit fully and totally to Him, the Creator and Sustainer of Life..There are no shortcuts..and God is NOT a vending machine suitable only when we deem so and need Him or don't need Him

God I pray that you alone will rule and reign in my heart, and that you alone are glorified and lifted up, rightfully so, deservedly so..Lord may I be of one mind with you and may the fruit of my life be representative of the flowing waters of your grace and mercy...and let there be no doubt as to my allegiance and my love for You..Lord I ask for the wisdom that can only come from you and that any doubt I have about Your Goodness or Your Power will be removed forever more so that I can stand firm, knowing and trusting in you with ALL things.

In Christ's name I pray

Amen

EB

His Steadfast Love Endures Forever !!

I just wanted to post these verses as it pertains to my earlier blog from today "I want what happened to you to happen to me." I wanted to spend the day just trying to wrap my finite mind around the Love of God...My mission today is to Praise God for His Love and Mercy..and to dwell on that all day and steep myself in His Magnificent presence..to just be still and know that He is God!!!!!!!!

Psalm 135 1-4 Hallelujah! Praise the name of God, praise the works of God. All you priests on duty in God's temple, serving in the sacred halls of our God, Shout "Hallelujah!" because God's so good, sing anthems to his beautiful name. And why? Because God chose Jacob, embraced Israel as a prize possession. 5-12 I, too, give witness to the greatness of God, our Lord, high above all other gods. He does just as he pleases— however, wherever, whenever. He makes the weather—clouds and thunder, lightning and rain, wind pouring out of the north. He struck down the Egyptian firstborn, both human and animal firstborn. He made Egypt sit up and take notice, confronted Pharaoh and his servants with miracles. Yes, he struck down great nations, he slew mighty kings— Sihon king of the Amorites, also Og of Bashan— every last one of the Canaanite kings! Then he turned their land over to Israel, a gift of good land to his people. 13-18 God, your name is eternal, God, you'll never be out-of-date. God stands up for his people, God holds the hands of his people. The gods of the godless nations are mere trinkets, made for quick sale in the markets: Chiseled mouths that can't talk, painted eyes that can't see, Carved ears that can't hear— dead wood! cold metal! Those who make and trust them become like them. 19-21 Family of Israel, bless God! Family of Aaron, bless God! Family of Levi, bless God! You who fear God, bless God! Oh, blessed be God of Zion, First Citizen of Jerusalem! Hallelujah!

Psalm 136 1-3 Thank God! He deserves your thanks. His love never quits. Thank the God of all gods, His love never quits. Thank the Lord of all lords. His love never quits. 4-22 Thank the miracle-working God, His love never quits. The God whose skill formed the cosmos, His love never quits. The God who laid out earth on ocean foundations, His love never quits. The God who filled the skies with light, His love never quits. The sun to watch over the day, His love never quits. Moon and stars as guardians of the night, His love never quits. The God who struck down the Egyptian firstborn, His love never quits. And rescued Israel from Egypt's oppression, His love never quits. Took Israel in hand with his powerful hand, His love never quits. Split the Red Sea right in half, His love never quits. Led Israel right through the middle, His love never quits. Dumped Pharaoh and his army in the sea, His love never quits. The God who marched his people through the desert, His love never quits. Smashed huge kingdoms right and left, His love never quits. Struck down the famous kings, His love never quits. Struck Sihon the Amorite king, His love never quits. Struck Og the Bashanite king, His love never quits. Then distributed their land as booty, His love never quits. Handed the land over to Israel. His love never quits. 23-26 God remembered us when we were down, His love never quits. Rescued us from the trampling boot, His love never quits. Takes care of everyone in time of need. His love never quits. Thank God, who did it all! His love never quits!

EB

I want what happened to you to happen to me!

I really do not have any particular agenda or message to deliver here but I did want to take some time just to deliver some thoughts to the pages as my mind is weaving in and out of various thoughts concerning my life, my faith, my marriage and my children. I seem to find myself more and more pondering the heavier subjects of life..taking on the very ideas that for so long have sent me packing into reclusion with myself...what I mean is that these heavier topics have been so painful to deal with mentally that it normally just shuts me down and forces me to move on to a different subject matter...but for whatever reason now at this point in my life, I am not only willing to sit and think about them, but I am prepared to challenge myself to deal with them in such ways that cause me to "test myself" or to "check my progress." This is all fairly foreign to me as most of my life has been about me and what I could make of it and what I could get out of it..

Here is what I know.. God has gotten hold of me over the last few years and He is not letting go.. Once He truly gets your attention, I believe He intends to finish the work He started. Once God gets your faith to a certain point and your heart becomes willing and your mind submissive to His authority, then every day from that point on becomes a day in which we grow. The very way we view our life and those involved in it changes..The very framework to which we operate takes on new meaning. Books we read, TV shows we watch, music we listen to all brings about a new perspective. We began to see things as God sees them...I was in church yesterday and we were singing a song and a line in the song went something like this " Lord cause my heart to break for what your heart breaks for." I found that phrase to just jump all over me..because my desires are no longer what they once were..I do want desperately to feel the way God feels about matters such as sin, righteousness, Love, Serving, Marriage, etc...but my flesh is constantly rising up against what my heart and soul feels. It is like my flesh is constantly looking for any opportunity to spring up and cause conflict in my thinking, my framework to which God is altering to be more like Him. The battle is real and it is raging and as I begin to see the world with a different set of lenses, I hurt on the inside..because I can now begin to see this spiritual battle for my soul play out before my very own senses..and as the apostle Paul says " I do what I despise to do, my heart is willing by my flesh is not cooperating." How is that we can have a sincere desire in the inner most parts of who we are to trust and follow God, yet we constantly sin against Him, unintentionally and sometimes intentionally. Is it part of the humbling process so we may not boast in our Faith or righteousness? Is our nature that bent on rejecting the Lord God who created us? Do we not have enough Faith to simply Trust? I am not saying here that I am frustrated with this process or it should not be this way, I am merely suggesting that I recognize the war being waged....and at times, I am extremely sorrowful for my actions and my words that flow from my mouth and then there are times I am feeling spiritual growth take place..almost like two steps forward, one step back process...I can understand the molding process may at times be painful...and there will be opportunities that I miss completely to reveal the Faith that I know I have growing inside me..but I also understand that the foe who wants to destroy me is extremely crafty and is vicious in his attacks... The bible says he is like a lion seeking to devour...and the moments we lose focus and allow satan to enter our mind and our heart, we can see the devastating effects he can have on us and our maturity as a believer.

I know that many people write blogs to try and help others learn and grow in whatever variety of subject matter they take up and that includes me..but as I have said in the past, I have a focus and desire to document my thoughts and emotions as they arrive so that in the future I can look back and see the work God is performing in me. I mean I want to be able to see the changes in my mindset, the way I view and look at the world around me, how I perceive situations and I how I react to them...and over time, it is much like watching my children grow up..I see them every day and so the physical growth that they undergo is often missed by me while those who might see them on occasion or more sparingly can so obviously see what I am not able.. The girl's grandparents might say, "goodness you girls are getting so big" and while I recognize they are getting big, the change is so close to me that I really cant see it as well as they can..if that makes any sense. This blog is meant to serve that sole purpose for me..I am to close to myself to see the changes taking place, but journaling it all down will allow me the experience of a different perspective..much like snapping photographs and then looking back on them and saying to yourself " I cant believe that was me" or " I cant believe I used to look like that." So if you find yourself reading this and you are not me, then you may have some understanding as to why it may not make much sense or why it seems so random at times. I want to be able to look back and say "Wow I cant believe that was me"..I want to see the growth in my thinking and my spiritual understanding..

I finally had the opportunity to sit and watch the movie "Fireproof" last night with Nicki..There has been a lot of hype about this movie in my circles and I was concerned just because it was a Christian movie made by a church that they were just showing favoritism toward it, but that in all actuality it could not be as good as they all made it sound.....I was ASTONISHED. That was one of the most inspiring movies I have ever watched..I laughed and I cried, I was on the edge of my seat as well as sitting back on the couch thinking about what just happened and how it challenged me as a man, a husband and a believer.. I must say that after all the chatter about this movie and all the church billboards I saw saying "Fireproof your marriage", I can see why it has had such a profound impact on those who have seen it. I know that for me and how my marriage has transpired over the years, it brought up some very ugly emotions that I stuffed away hoping to never relive again but did as I saw myself in many of those scenes..The tears that formed on my cheeks were birthed from my overwhelming sorrow for how I have acted so many times in my own marriage and so totally against God. I was amazed at just how accurate these scenes were to real life but not only real life but my life.. The scene where He comes to accept Christ with his father standing beside the cross and he talks about being spat on by his wife and how undeserving she was of his love and how they wove that into the idea of how we are constantly rejecting God, Him being spat on yet He still finds a way to Love us was a very heart wrenching moment for me..because I am so that person..and for so many years I have rejected surrendering my life to Him...not allowing Him to have a say so in my decisions..even though I knew intellectually that God loved me, I really never felt it and therefore blew it off as not part of the life I would ever know of God..but seeing that scene play out and with the work that God has done in my life in the recent months allowed me to see this in a way that touched the essence of the man I am today..and Praise God that I have this perspective and that is matters to me when once before it did not..For all the sick, twisted, sinful desires I have pursued in my life, God still loved me enough to Save me from all that..to pull me up out of the desolate pits and place my feet upon a secure foundation in Christ...even though I was so undeserving and not worthy of any love from Him at all, after all my constant rejecting, HE still cared.. That is a love not known to me and one that escapes me but one that I am forever grateful for and humbled at the very existence of..This is very emotional just to think about and causes me to weep and grieve in my soul...at just how much God can care for you even in the midst of your most wicked days..I pray for a love so great as that to be inside me....just as the wife at the end says " what has happened to you, I want to happen to me". What a model of the affect we can have on others by how we act, if we can allow God to show Himself thru us.....then there was the bedside scene where Kirk Cameron kneels at the bedside of his beloved wife and says to her " I have trampled on your for 7 years and I am so so sorry" and " just as God has forgiven me, I pray that you to will also be able to forgive me." Those were some very powerful words that again caused tremendous pain in me for how so many years I have trampled on those I love, particularly my wife, and how sorry I am for that and how I wish I could take it all back and start over knowing what I know now...but being the selfish, ignorant man I was and still am, I can only seek the same forgiveness from them as I seek from my Lord...and to extend that same forgiveness to those I love, especially my wife, that God has extended to me...It is a true "mark" of your genuine conversion to have within you a capability to love and forgive as God has with us...to suppress our flesh to such a degree that it is no longer about me and my feelings as it is about others and how I treat others...for if Christ truly lives inside me, then I ought to act like it and display that in everything I do..and allow Christ to rule and reign in my heart, unrivaled and unchallenged, totally surrendering to Him and giving up on my desires and seeking only the desires of God and what He wants for my life..to seek Him so earnestly that His desires are clear and precise to me and doubt has no residence in my heart...to fully and absolutely trust in Him and to make my life about Him...to share that with everyone I know and see, regardless of how I might be perceived...There is a song by Brandon Heath "Give me Your Eyes"...That is my desire..To have the eyes of God, the ears of God, the heart of God and for Him to Open me Up and rip out the old wicked self and replace it with His parts...

So the war wages on and battles will not cease for my heart by the evil one...but as for me and my life...I choose to serve the Lord and His will is my will and His desires are mine. I surrender!!!

EB

A feminine view of feminism

i LOVE controversy and debate. i am sort of obnoxious when it comes to being a submissive wife and a conservative republican. i'm even a little loud about having a sweet and quiet spirit. i am an oxymoron, really. i'm a work in progress...some of my more liberal friends (colleagues) might even say i'm a 'piece of work'... but i love my God...and love His Word and i love when people proclaim it. so in the spirit of a good debate and a good word from God...listen to this INCREDIBLE pastor from the great state of Texas. (I'm making myself an honorary Texan...but that's a WHOLE 'nother blog) Eddie and I have seen this guy in person...and he's awesome. Now...please...if this steps on your toes...let me know...and i'll try to help you understand why it shoudn't! :)

about a month ago we had a 'fam-fest' at our church. it was a friday evening and saturday morning event that was a to high-light the distinctive roles of boys and girls (men and women) in the family. i love my pastor because he isn't scared of his congregation, or scared of the politically correct members of our community. the man fears God Himself...and that's really about it. so it is a privilege to sit at his feet and hear truth...God's Word is always pastor Jeff's foundation...and he does not waiver from its truths.

the distinctive roles of men and women have become such a controversial topic that...of course... i'm going to LOVE blogging about it...but controversy is like a comfort zone for my pastor! :) So...lets start with the basics... men are to lead...women are to submit (follow)...children are to honor their parents (that means do what they say when the say to do it) and families are a picture of God. God is neither male nor female...and marriage is from HIM by HIM for HIM.

ok...so now that those basic principles are out there....we learned how these truths are to be lived out by us...Christians. when i was younger, you would NEVER have convinced me that any man would ever lead me. no one would ever lead me...i would lead myself and i would make my own decisions. it was safer that way for all involved. i would be the only one accountable to me. i would be responsible for my destiny and that way i only had myself to congratulate when my life worked out according to plan. only....the flip side of that is that when life doesn't stick to the plan you GAVE IT...you are also the accountable (to blame). so...as dr. phil would say..."how's that workin' for ya?"

lets fast forward a few years to now. and get back to our distinctive roles. as a woman i was never meant to lead...a family...a husband...a church or a church's congregation...or (lets get in your conservative kitchen here) a country. I was created by God Himself to be a helper, a caretaker or homemaker, and a nurturer. now there is an amount of 'leading' that needs to take place in these primary roles God has given women...but i'm not supposed to lead my husband (or any other man) around by the nose ring. I'm not supposed to be the final say so in my house...I'm not supposed to degrade my husband with my extra special super-smarts :), and i am NOT supposed dishonor my husband even with my thoughts and especially not my words or actions. and if i try to head up my house it is dishonoring to my husband. now don't get me wrong here...i work for a woman...and i voted for a VP in november that is a woman...i admire many women...i gave birth to 3 women...and heck, i am a woman! women have a unique spin to put on things and are incredibly valuable...value is not what i'm after here. i just understand that God created women to do certain things better than men...but running the show was NOT one of them. I can say all of this because, like i said, i am a woman. it does not hurt my feelings that i'm not the head of my home or the minister (or even a deacon) of my church. i used to think that i could do anything i wanted to do...but i failed to realize that its not what i want for me...its what God wants for me that will determine my future and what i 'become'. God designed me to be a girl. a lady...a woman....a vessel of sorts. i'm not a real girly girl (though i spawned at least 2 of them...and i don't know how it happened), but i love being a girl...feminine. and i see nothing wrong with it. i don't want to be a man...i don't want to dress like a man....i don't want to have the responsibilities of a man...now that i know what they are. :) i have no desire to be masculine at all. and honestly i don't think most women want that either. i don't think they realize that trying to 'succeed' by this world's standards fits us all, men and women, into one mold. as a little girl...i don't think i was ever encouraged to be a "good mommy", or a good home maker. in school i was encouraged to be a well educated (and i think i am) and use my education to go as far as i could in the business, academic, or science world. i'm sure that i wouldn't disappoint God by being successful in these areas but i think what we miss as women is that God calls us to succeed as wives and mothers and nurturers and care givers. its not wrong for a woman to become an astronaut...but at what cost does it come? the whole point of my blog is this...what God plans and desires for us, girls, is not always the popular thing in our culture. I have tried doing things my way and the 'world's' way. and now i'm doing things God's way (or i'm constantly, with God's grace, trying) and the contentment and the peace that i have from handing over all the 'say-so' that i thought i HAD to have to my wonderful husband is worth more than any promotion or pay raise or 'win' (in an argument or otherwise) in my life. God's way is the best way...period.

God made me to fit perfectly in my distinctive role. Ladies, have you ever watched your child try to stuff a triangle into a square hole? they get so frustrated and they cry and their little faces turn so red (or at least the little faces at my house do). Girls, lets stop trying to be something that we aren't and lets give God's creation a chance to work the way it was intended. be the very best woman you can be...and just watch all of the incredible successes God will bring you.

Nicki

The "Cantaloupe" "Seed"

I was sitting here at my computer, more or less rummaging the news and looking over some blogs from others, just reading and looking to fill some time when I realized something that quite simply has changed my life..Has everyone heard the story of the mustard seed...

The Mustard Seed 18 He said therefore, "What is the kingdom of God like? And to what shall I compare it? 19It is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his garden, and it grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air made nests in its branches."




Have you ever really just sat and thought about what a seed is and what that seed can become when it reaches it's full potential..A seed if never planted can never be anything..It can serve in no other capacity nor be anything else..It must be planted in order for it to ever be something..

So as I was saying I was sitting at the computer and look over to my left by the window and noticed a small pot with some potting soil and a few very small cantaloupe plants..and I said to myself.."What a great picture of God"..Those small baby plants started out as a mere seed...dropped in some soil and then a couple 10 days later, you have these small plants that are on their way to maturity, to produce fruit...A little water, lots of sun and these small seeds germinate and begin the journey of reaching their fullness ...to be what they were designed to do..To bear fruit..The seed has no other avenue to which it can take..It cant become anything else..It can only become a cantaloupe..Not a watermelon, not a tomato or not even an oak tree..It can only become a cantaloupe..That is what it's entire existence is to be..It will take months before it reaches the apex of its life, but when the fruit are ready to be picked, it will have successfully carried out it design...

Now lets get deep and translate this over to our lives since God felt this was a very appropriate parable to give us in the bible.




We as humans are just like these seeds..without soil, water and sun they can not fulfill the design..We without Jesus (our soil) and without the Word (water) and without the Holy Spirit and Prayer (Sun) we can never fulfill our design.. We must be firmly planted in Jesus Christ before any amount of watering can begin..We, just like the seed can never be anything unless we are first planted..We are of no use if we never accept Jesus as Lord and Savior..We are just like a seed in that regard..being nothing, producing nothing, existing but not for the purpose to which we were designed..I imagine a seed could stay in the packet for as long as we left it there...but it is of no use or value until it gets planted..We must understand that Jesus Christ is the life blood to our existence just as the soil is the lifeblood for the seed..No soil, no growth..No Jesus, no growth( spiritual growth)..If we are never planted in Christ, we are also of no value or use for the kingdom of God..no matter how good of a person we think we might be.. This is crucial for us to understand.. Jesus Christ is the only thing that can help us reach our potential..our created design to bear fruit..only our fruit will be different than cantaloupe, it will be Love, Joy, Hope, Peace, faithfulness, etc..but that fruit needs some help along the way..Just planting it in the soil is a great first step, but there has to be some watering and sun in order to help grow the seed to fullness.. Jesus is the first step and that step can not be skipped or manipulated..It must happen first..Our germination as humans begin when we accept the Lord Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior and believe in Him as the only way..Once the germination happens, which is the most difficult phase in this wonderful journey of life...then the spiritual growth can begin.. We need to water our souls and mind with the spiritual food of the Word of God..This is absolutely necessary in order for us to sprout some small leaves and begin to mature as Christians.. Just like a plant, you cant just water it once a week, or once a month and expect it to grow and look healthy.. We are the same way..We can open the bible sparingly and read it occasionally and expect to grow as a Spiritual being and look like a healthy spiritual being..It is a daily dose of God's Holy Word that can amazingly work in our lives to bring us to a fulfillment of our created design..This renewing of the mind as mentioned in Romans 12:2 is source to which we go to for nurturing..without it, we wither and fade, just like the small tiny fragile little plant does without its water source..




SO now we have sprouted a few leaves, our roots are digging deeper into the soil and we begin to need more and more in order to continue to grow..What was once a drop of water now has turned into a half a cup in order to maintain our path to bearing fruit..That means we must spend more time in the word and begin to meditate on it and memorizing it...Our bible intake must grow substantially in order for us as eternal souls are to grow and mature.. Now you add the powerful force of the sun, coupled with the soil and the water and this plant can really begin to take off.....so we now have the power of the Holy Spirit shining down on us, guiding our way, helping us to become the mature spiritual being we were designed to be..If you notice a plant will lean toward the direction of the sun if it is at or near a window..This plant in front of me is just inside the window, but the entire direction of the plant is pointing out the window..You can almost see that it desperately seeks out the sun to help it grow..We as humans must desperately seek out the Holy Spirit and look toward it, if we are to gain understanding from our time in the word..The Bible is vastly deeper than we can imagine and there is much more in those words and pages that what meets the eye...but with the Holy Spirit dwelling inside of us, we are able to make sense of the beautifully woven fabric of the Word of God..and how it is to apply to our life in this moment and this day..Without the spirit translating the Word, it is merely words on paper that may or may not have that much of an impact on how you live..Just like the plant..without the sun, the plant will possible grow, maybe not at all, but certainly will be much much slower than it should and could potentially die off.. The interesting thing about the plant is no matter what stage of the plants life it is in..it must have water..You take the water away and it will without fail, fade away and die..You can plant the seed, water it once and expect it to produce anything but an empty pot.. We are the exact same..You cant become a germinated Christian rooted in Jesus Christ and then not read the Bible ever again..You will also wither away and die..You will become a victim of the world...The word is an absolute necessity to the Christian Life..There is no way around it..You can 't simply get by on hearing a Sunday sermon no more than a plant can get by on a droplet of water..You need irrigation..You need a life spring of water to grow you up strong in the Faith...When the bible begins to collect dust and ceases to be opened and studied, then your spiritual growth begins to wither and fade until you either begin to water it again and get nourished or you leave God behind and take up the worldly agenda..rejecting the plan God has for you and the created design.. So we must be diligent stewards of our time, always allowing time for the Word of God to Grow our minds and our souls so that we can reach our potential...of bearing fruit...


Then there will be a day in our life with the right soil, proper and consistent watering, plenty of sun that we will bear fruit..just as this tiny little plant will also one day bear fruit..That is the culmination of perseverance and steadfastness..If any of your have ever tried to grow a garden..it takes work..It takes constant attention..It takes effort..but the end result is a wonderful fruit that is soothing to the palate...Our created purpose is to follow Christ and submit our life to Him..To spread the gospel to all peoples and to be doers of the word and not just hearers..to live out our faith and to one day reach our full potential where we are producing so much fruit, it is unmistakable who we are..Many plants look alike along their journey to producing fruit...but once the fruit comes, it is unmistakable what kind of plant that is..Are you not yet bearing fruit, and at a point where the people around you are not sure if you are a Christian plant or a Worldly plant.. Can others look at your fruit and see that you are a plant of God's design...and not one that looks like the plant of this world..? or better yet..are you watering your soul every day in order to reach the point you will sprout the fruit of the spirit..when you can turn your cheek and walk away from a situation...or humble yourself in front of your spouse or children and apologize for acting foolish or immature, or reaching your hand out to help those who are in dire need, to love someone who has treated you like dirt for years, or to forgive someone who has stabbed your right in the middle of your heart..If not...keep watering, look toward the sun and press on!!

How appropriate my study today was in James 1..:)

James 1 (The Message)
James 1 1I, James, am a slave of God and the Master Jesus, writing to the twelve tribes scattered to Kingdom Come: Hello! Faith Under Pressure
2-4Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don't try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.
5-8If you don't know what you're doing, pray to the Father. He loves to help. You'll get his help, and won't be condescended to when you ask for it. Ask boldly, believingly, without a second thought. People who "worry their prayers" are like wind-whipped waves. Don't think you're going to get anything from the Master that way, adrift at sea, keeping all your options open.
9-11When down-and-outers get a break, cheer! And when the arrogant rich are brought down to size, cheer! Prosperity is as short-lived as a wildflower, so don't ever count on it. You know that as soon as the sun rises, pouring down its scorching heat, the flower withers. Its petals wilt and, before you know it, that beautiful face is a barren stem. Well, that's a picture of the "prosperous life." At the very moment everyone is looking on in admiration, it fades away to nothing.
12Anyone who meets a testing challenge head-on and manages to stick it out is mighty fortunate. For such persons loyally in love with God, the reward is life and more life.
13-15Don't let anyone under pressure to give in to evil say, "God is trying to trip me up." God is impervious to evil, and puts evil in no one's way. The temptation to give in to evil comes from us and only us. We have no one to blame but the leering, seducing flare-up of our own lust. Lust gets pregnant, and has a baby: sin! Sin grows up to adulthood, and becomes a real killer.
16-18So, my very dear friends, don't get thrown off course. Every desirable and beneficial gift comes out of heaven. The gifts are rivers of light cascading down from the Father of Light. There is nothing deceitful in God, nothing two-faced, nothing fickle. He brought us to life using the true Word, showing us off as the crown of all his creatures.




EB

"Call to Action"

Here the just three MAIN headlines I woke up this morning..

1. "8 killed in Nursing Home shooting"

2. " 6 killed in California home shooting"

3. " Man decapitates 5 yr old, kills sister"

I thought to myself..what in the world is happening to our country?...Why on earth would anyone do such horrific acts of injustice and malice?... Has this become the norm that we just read over these articles and fancy about our day?..Does anyone feel like shaking this country back to our roots..our God centered, Christian principled way of living...versus this liberalized society that we have become that has booted God out of our lives to the degree that we are questioning whether or not God's name should ever be used in any setting due to it possibly offending someone..I have righteous anger this morning over what this country is turning into..and how we as Christians are not willing to lead by example..to show our neighbors, friends, co workers, countrymen how a life centered on God looks like..We have diluted our Faith so much that we simply blend into society..No longer do we stand out and stand for God..Well we might be called a Religious nutcase, or a fundamentalist or an intolerant person..Folks we are losing the moral battle in this country and it is centered around the exclusion of God in our lives..The further we push Him away, the further we sink into this moral cess pool we are in..If we could see ourselves from God's perspective, I am sure we look like a modern day Sodom and Gomorrah or Corinth.. Corinth...the most important city in Greece during Paul's day, was a bustling hub of worldwide commerce, degraded culture and idolatrous religion.. Does that sound at all familiar..

Folks the sounding call has been sent out for we as Christians to mobilize in this world..We need to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with everyone in earshot and beyond..We have to take seriously our command to obey God and live our life according to His commands..not some feel good worldly type that fits into this worldly system we live in..It is time for us to take a stand..We will stand for Christ or we will bow out and retreat and allow our families, neighborhoods, towns, cities and states to be run a muck.. We need courageous battle ready Christians to assist in this warfare over our lives and stand our ground before it is ripped from underneath us..

The vocal minority has been reeking havoc in our lives..They have managed to demonize Christians and fully embrace degraded thinking..They have minimized our influence and spread their filth around parading it as the new era, or new way of thinking..the modern 21st century way of living..They have ridiculed our way of life and worked very hard to normalize idolatrous and sexually immoral behavior..

WE MUST WAKE UP AND HEED OUR CALL!!

This is the verse I was take to in the Word when reading those article mentioned above

Romans 1:28-32 (The Message)
28-32Since they didn't bother to acknowledge God, God quit bothering them and let them run loose. And then all hell broke loose: rampant evil, grabbing and grasping, vicious backstabbing. They made life hell on earth with their envy, wanton killing, bickering, and cheating. Look at them: mean-spirited, venomous, fork-tongued God-bashers. Bullies, swaggerers, insufferable windbags! They keep inventing new ways of wrecking lives. They ditch their parents when they get in the way. Stupid, slimy, cruel, cold-blooded. And it's not as if they don't know better. They know perfectly well they're spitting in God's face. And they don't care—worse, they hand out prizes to those who do the worst things best

Folks..If we believe every word of the bible to be True and God breathed..(I do)..then this verse ought to scare you to action..This is exactly what is happening in our world..

The sub title of this little section on Romans Chapter 1 is "God's Wrath on Unrighteousness"..This is God's wrath.. God turning the nation loose over to their vile passions..Basically God is stepping aside and allowing us to destroy ourselves..A form of Wrath is to lift His protection from us..and let us do as we please..

EB

On My Heart !!

I wanted to share some excerpts from the Manly Dominion Book I am reading with the 1:28 class..I read several chapters today and felt an extremely strong calling to apply this to my/our life..I am not sure why the strong tug on my heart and soul, but I certainly want to be sensitive to this type of feeling whenever I get it..

Chapter 16 - Personal Devotions - As a Christian, my heart is a well. The land of my Christian Life is teeming with hostile forces determined to do me harm by separating me from my water source. The world hourly blows in the burying sands of vanity. My flesh (indwelling sin) welcomes in unclean sights and sounds that putrefy the waters. The devil works hard with distractions to harass and dispute my every attempt to drink deeply.

My heart will be kept open, fresh and clear only by my aggressively watching, guarding and keeping the condition of my heart. Passive negligence in my devotional life will result in certain famine.

I should understand my heart is disputed territory. If I go to the prayer closet and discover that my heart is stopped up with apathy and carnality I should not be surprised or deflated. When I find my heart stopped up, it is not time to turn away from the prayer closet with a bone dry bucket. It is time for me to roll up my sleeves and get to work. It is time to do some holy digging by resolute prayer, attentive reading and purposeful meditation. We must not say with fainting dejection "I must be missing something", simply because were habitually required to work at keeping our hearts in a good condition. Heart keeping is a standard daily chore of every Christian.

JC Ryle writes " This paper may fall into the hands of someone who reads the bible much, and yet fancies he is no better for his reading. This is a crafty temptation of the devil. At one stage he says "Do not read the bible at all" and at another he says "Your reading does you no good; give it up". Are you that man? Do you think you are getting no good from the bible, merely because you do not see that good day by day.(This is me). The greatest effects are by no means those which make the most noise and are most easily observed. The greatest effects are often silent, quiet, and hard to detect at the time they are being produced. The word may be gradually producing deep impressions on your heart, of which you are not present or aware....settle it down in your mind as an established rule, that, whether you feel it at the moment or not, you are inhaling spiritual health by reading the bible, and insensibly becoming more strong.

In our personal devotional lives, we can not permit ourselves to be pushed around by our environment. We can not let ourselves be bullied by the world, the flesh and the devil..

That chapter spoke volumes to me and was exactly what I needed to hear as I felt I was getting a parched throat from my study and not the refreshing waters I thought I should..This chapter encouraged me in this area to persevere.

Chapter 17 - Family Devotions - Do you think after the famfest weekend and now this chapter that God is desperately trying to get my attention with regards to my role and spiritual leader of the home and my role and leader of family devotions..I would say emphatically YES

What father would be so uncaring as to negligently permit his family to suffer chronic dehydration of their souls? The head of the household is solemnly responsible to provide spiritual hydration for his whole household; he is the spiritual "irrigation system" for his family.

Our wives are our assigned fields whose souls were to conscientiously cultivate and irrigate with the hoe and water of the word..and each child composes an additional field that the Lord has solemnly assigned to our estates. A loving and godly man will make it a conscientious priority to spiritually nurture every soul that has been appointed to his care (Whew!!)

God fearing parents also are assigned the task of continuously communicating the words of God to their children. Deut 6:7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.

Soul cultivation needs to be our chief priority. It is quite easy for series of devotionless days to become devotionless weeks, then a devotionless month, then a devotionless year and ultimately a devotionless upbringing in your home

Lets liken our children's soul as an Olympic size swimming pool. If each day, you poured a large pail of water into the pool, by the end of twenty years, you would have some real depth. It would be nearly full to the brim. On the other hand, if you forgot to pour on half the days, the pool would hardly be swimmable . If you neglected pouring on most days, the pool would barely have any water. Do we want our children to have spiritual depth? or are we content for them to be spiritually shallow? Before you know it, your children will be gone an out of the house. The brief day of parenting will soon be over. Today is the day to start pouring so grab hold of your solemn chore to irrigate our families with the Word..

JW Alexendar said " There is no member of a household who individual piety is of such importance to all the rest, as the father or the head: and there is no one whose soul is so directly influenced by the exercise of family worship. Where the head of the family is lukewarm or worldly, he will send the chill through the whole house; and if any happy exception occur, and one or another surpass him in faithfulness, it will be in spite of his evil example....Where the head of a family is a man of faith, of affection and of zeal, consecrating all his works and life to Christ, it is very rare to find all his household otherwise minded"

Chapter 18 - Churchmanship - Prevailing attitudes toward church attendance are of the "I'll participate if I feel like it" variety. I'll participate as long as I feel like it and as long as it's cheap. As long as it's convenient and pleasant. I'll partake. But if your asking me to miss some of my entertainment, rearrange my weekends, weary my body, re prioritize my life or deny myself, then I am not really interested....

Many view their duty toward the church as fluctuating with their feelings. NO longer is church a sacred house where worshipers come to serve the Lord. Now the church has become an amusement park where thrill seekers come to amuse themselves. The pop culture perversion of church has conditioned many to say "What do you offer for me today?" verses the scriptures calling of "How can I serve the Lord today?

The Lord is worthy of our first fruits..the cream..of our lives

The following are guidelines for true churchmanship
1. Regarding attendance - So help me God, my family and I will be there. It will be a priority in our schedules. We would never miss work or class or soccer games because of a sniffle. Why is a sniffle an excuse to miss worship. Why should our employer get a higher priority treatment than our Savior

2. Regarding Worship - So help me God, I will not sit passively back in my pew, waiting to be entertained, but will gird up the loins of my mind, and expend concentration energy as I worship in Spirit and truth. We should be willing to isometrically press our minds against his the sermon for the full duration. If we can give our attention over for three consecutive hours to a football game, surely we can give nearly an hour to listening to God's word preached. The pagan world get well over 100 hours of our waking attention per week..Why should we begrudge the preached Word getting two or three hours of our full attention in the same span?

3. Regarding Service - So help me God, I will sacrificially give myself to serving my local church ministry. A valiant churchman willingly serves his turn in the nursery, and sometimes cheerfully fills in when somebody else forgets. He volunteers to drive the older handicapped saint to church. He is willing to burn the Saturday night midnight oil to teach a Sunday School class. He is willing to habitually go beyond the comfort zone of his familiar friends in order to greet and meet visitors and even invite them over to his home for hospitality. He receives from his Lord and Savior "Well done, thou good and faithful servant"

4. Regarding Public Praying - So help me God, I will take up my solemn duty to carry my share of the load of leading groups in prayer..

5. Regarding Financial giving - So help me God, I will give faithfully and sacrificially to the cause of the Your church and Your Kingdom - To pluck a weed from the roadside and present it to a sovereign would be no better than an insult. Yet how often is God served with that which costs men nothing! Men will lavish hundreds and thousands to gratify their own fancy, what miserable driblets they often give to the cause of God!

Chapter 19 Conversion - Isaiah 64:6 For all of us have become like one who is unclean, and all of our righteous deeds are like filthy garments: and all of us wither like a leaf and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away

Faith is connection with Christ. Christ is on the shore, so to speak, holding the rope of faith and if we lay hold of it with the hand of our confidence, He pulls us to shore. But our good works, having no connection with Christ, are drifted along the gulf of despair. Grapple them as tightly as we may, even with hooks of steel, they can not avail us in the least degree. We can't save ourselves by our good works..but Jesus came to do what we could not do..There on His back, He bore the load of sinners

How can I know if I am really saved? If you are genuinely saved, the Holy Spirit lives in you as a down payment of your salvation. His presence will be observable as He will warm your soul to the things of God, resulting in the gradual melting away of patterns of sin. He produces a love for the Savior and a hatred for sin.

If your life is blanketed with habits and patterns of sin, if your heart is consistently hard and cold to the Bible's urgings and warnings, if your soul is a stranger to the Spirit's stirring up within you a love of Christ that desires to obey His Word, then you have good reason to doubt your salvation. 2 Corinthians 13:5 " test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you, unless indeed you fail the test?

I really felt led to write this all out as it has weighed on my soul very heavy today..and having read all this one and now writing it all down again has forced me to deal with these issues head on in my own life..There are moments in our life on earth that we need to heed the words spoken to us and to apply them to our lives..and not just intellectually understand what we read..This has caused me to think about myself in all these areas and how I conduct myself..where my strengths are and exposing the areas I need serious work on and guidance and strength from God..I just know God is looking out for us and desires for us to do things His way...and if we will do things His way, the wisdom, grace, mercy and Love will runneth over in our very own lives..

EB (footnote - Manly Dominion by Mark Chanski)

How is Your Thought Life?

You know I promised myself that I would never just write in this blog for the sake of writing....that I would only write when felt inspired, compelled or led..and that is why I have not had an entry in a couple of days which has been a bit unusual for me.. My mind has been weighed down over the last 5-6 days with a particular subject that has finally manifested itself into this entry..

I would also like to take a mini sidebar for a moment and speak about another smaller issue that I felt led to say..Everyone has a varying degree of understanding of what the bible has to say..Now I DO NOT mean that is says something different to everyone...let's be clear..I do believe that each person has different layers in which they are able to penetrate of the Word of God..There are those people who skim the surface and spend little to no time reading the bible and as a result are just not able to see and grasp some of the concepts that flow from it...and then there are those who are steeped in the Word every single day and spend enormous amounts of time in it, meditating on it and memorizing it...taking the concept of "bible intake" to a very high level...and it is my belief that those individuals are able to peel back many more layers in order to see a deeper more eternal meaning from the text, than others with less time. My point in saying all this is to say that my entries are a direct reflection of the time I spend in God's Word and what has been revealed to me..I make no bones about the idea that I am unable to see the text the same way my pastor Jeff Long does..I am not able to gather the level of deepness that he is and therefore my perspective may often times seem shallow and simplistic to those who are much more spiritually mature than I...so please when reading this blog, take this into consideration..There may be some who will have light bulb moments when reading and some who will find some interesting nuggets that in previous experience was not seen or understood..I am simply a man who has a desire to study the word of God and try to use the Mind God has given me to understand my role as a Man, a child of His, a fellow brother, a husband, a father, a servant and a son..These are my thoughts as they unfold in my mind in this moment in life and spiritual growth..

That leads me to what I really wanted to discuss and that is "Thought Life".. Let me start at the beginning..Our church held an event this past weekend called "Famfest" where the title of the weekend was called "Different by Design: the distinct roles of men and women"..Now I knew going into this weekend that I was going to be challenged as a man and as a leader.. That was no surprise..maybe I wasn't sure about the level to which I would be challenged...but nevertheless I was certain this weekend would give me a lot to think about and certainly inspire me to blog about..but here is the twist..This blog is not about my design or my role per say..It wasn't until the last 10 minutes of the last breakout session that I heard the sentence that would ultimately lead to this and the previous several days of thinking and pondering over..The last session was titled Manhood 101: what it means to be a real man. In the last few minutes after looking at what all this entails..Jeff Watts spoke about 6 sentences he keeps with him when counseling others and it comes from Promise Keepers.. Now I know very little about Promise Keepers and what all this ministry does but I can glean from the title it has something to do with "mean what you say and say what you mean." Anyway, one of the six questions was this..."How is your thought Life?" In that instance, I was blown away..my mind begin to scramble for direction as to what this really meant and the meaning I was to take from this sort of Epiphany. Think about that question.."How is your thought life?" Have any of you really set around and pondered your thought life..The very idea of thinking about your thought life is somewhat difficult to grasp..but there is more significance in this than most would ever imagine...

So as my mind poured over this question..I begin to remember things in my past that are relevant to this..such as "GIGO"...Garbage in Garbage Out... and an author and motivational speaker I am very fond of Zig Ziglar says that your mind is like an Bank or ATM..You can only draw out of it what you deposit into it..Boy that sounds over simplistic and basic to say the least..but at the core of this statement is your thought life..Most if not all of the things we do originate from our thought life..It is said that which we say flows from our heart..so if anger is flowing from your mouth, then anger is what is inside you..ie. your heart take the anger and moves it to your mind and then your mind expresses itself with words or actions.. I am taking a class called Manly Dominion with Clay Robinson as leader also at Parkwood and in our last class we got on a discussion about the Holy Spirit and the mind...which sparked a small debate as to the role of the mind versus the role of the Holy Spirit..Clay had just gotten a new bible study software called "Logos" and this software really allows you to break down certain themes of the bible as well as analyze certain words and phrases in their frequency and use.. The day after class he sent me verses of how many times "the mind" was used..I was stunned..I literally and this is no joke had to scroll for about 20 seconds solid to get to the bottom of the email..that is how many times it was referenced..I would copy and paste them here but it is so many that it would take up way to much space..I may post in a separate blog for reference..but the point is this idea of using the mind is a very well defined position and God has given us a mind different than any other species He created for a very specific reason..TO USE IT!!!!!Here is one of the many many verses from that bible about the mind ..Jer 17:10 “I the Lord search the heart and test the mind, • to give • every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.”

It is my position that we are not renewing our Mind with the word of God..We are allowing the world to fill our mind and therefore resulting in our beliefs and actions in life.. It is the secular music we listen to that clouds God's view..It is the TV shows that paint antagonistic views of the Bible..It is the secular books we read that alter our positions..It is corrupting our THOUGHT Life.. How can we spend 8-9 hours a day in the world and 1 hour a day in the bible and expect to think and act like Jesus..You couple this with an already sinful heart and a flesh that desires to fulfill its own desires, you are left with a very difficult road to hoe..No wonder our society is crumbling..no wonder our families are breaking down..no wonder people are leaving the faith for the world..We need to fully understand our thinking, what we spend our thought life doing, will result in the way we live and spend our time.. We are allowing our minds to be possessed by the evil one and his dark ways. Satan is not going to always place an obstacle in your way that keeps you from serving our Lord..he just intercepts our minds and we place our own obstacles..just as Adam and Eve. Satan simply placed the thought of " You can be like God".." Is God really telling you to not eat of that Tree?"..See he uses our mind against us and we allow this to happen..We are not equipped to take on Satan alone..We will lose..We need the power of Jesus and the Holy Spirit to lead us in this battle..

The battle starts in the Mind..Here is what I know..The very minute I realized this idea was the very moment I began to live a life surrendered to God and separate from this world..It is when I realized that my thoughts were obstructing my ability to truly get to know my Lord and discern His desires for me, that I was able to turn the tables on Satan and cast him out of my way..There was a book that alerted me to this and it is called "THE DIVINE DEFENSE" by Robert Jeffress..( http://www.amazon.com/Divine-Defense-Strategies-Winning-Greatest/dp/1400070902)For those of you who have never read this book or who want to understand how Satan attacks your minds, this book is an excellent supplement to the Word of God to help you..Here are a few of the chapter headings to give you a feel for what this book speaks about. 1. Demons in the world today; Satan's sidekicks are no laughing matter 2. Winning the mind games; you are what you think 3 Satan's favorite mind games; four lies that will pull you away from God 4. When satan comes knocking 5. Putting out the NOT welcome mat 6. Storming the gates of Hell; strengthen your resolve to resist..

I share this with you because it was a defining book and moment in my own personal life that revealed to me my thought life was where I had always lost the battle..that if I could capture every thought captive..2 Corinthians 10:5 We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ

We must fully understand this.. Many books have been written dealing with this issue in some form or fashion..One that my wife felt helped change her life was "Lies Women Believe"..See it is the lies, the distortions, the disfiguring of the Truth that keeps us in bondage to sin and Satan..What goes into your mind is a crucial as to your spiritual walk than any other component..It is our mind that we need to control with the help of Christ in order to defeat this deceptive foe..to win back our families, our culture..tolerance is just a word used today to describe TRUTH as whatever form you feel it should be..THAT IS A LIE..The Truth is absolute..There are no half truths..If something is True then the opposing view by definition has to be False..The Word of God is TRUE...2 Timothy 3:16-17 (English Standard Version)
16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.

SO my question to you and myself..What do you spend your time on filling your minds with..Is it the things of God(His word) or the things of this world..?

Second..How is your Thought Life? really..think about that..Start there and watch your life begin to be transformed..If you have never really gotten out of your faith and beliefs what you felt you should have, or if you have consistently given in to temptation and went against the things of God, I would submit to you that this is where it broke down..Don't miss this..This is more powerful than you will ever imagine..God gave a you mind...Use it for His Glory..

The Apostle Paul says this Philippians 4:8 (The Message)
8-9Summing it all up, friends, I'd say you'll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized. Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies.

EB

Wisdom of Psalms 119

Psalm 119. This psalm celebrates the gift of God's Torah, or covenant instruction, as the perfect guide for life. It thus belongs conceptually with Psalm 19 and overlaps with such wisdom psalms as Psalms 1 and 112. It is far more extensive, and far more elaborate, than they are; it is the longest psalm (and the longest chapter in the Bible, longer than many of the books) and the most carefully structured. By singing and praying its contents, one expresses heartfelt admiration to God, who has so lovingly bestowed this great gift upon his people, and fervent yearning for one's personal life to reflect the loveliness and goodness of the Torah. The psalm's structure observes a strict acrostic pattern : there are 22 stanzas of eight verses each, following the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet in sequence. Within a stanza, the first word of each verse begins with the same letter, the letter to which the entire stanza corresponds. This pattern severely limits the author's liberty in sustaining his flow of thought, but this does not hinder the psalm from accomplishing its goal, which is to enable God's people to admire his Word so strongly that they will work and pray hard to have it shape their character and conduct. The cumulative impact of the psalm is huge.

The psalm uses a number of terms for God's covenantal revelation: “law” ; “testimonies” ; “precepts” ; “statutes” ; “commandments” ; “rules” ; “word”. Except for “precepts” (which appears only in the Psalms), all of these words can be found in Deuteronomy , and denote God's Word, focusing on its role in moral instruction for his people. The person who will “keep” God's instructions will find that his “way” (the moral quality and orientation of his life) will more and more reflect God's own character. Only a few verses in this psalm lack an explicit mention of God's Word: The psalm calls these instructions “righteous” , “true” and “sure” ,and worthy of trust, hope, and faith. All of these are attributes of God himself, and it is no surprise that God's words would partake of his character. Indeed, the law expresses God's own “steadfast love” and “faithfulness”. This psalm reflects the view that the Lord, who abounds in steadfast love and faithfulness and who therefore freely and fully forgives his people when they confess their sins , loves his people without limit, and therefore also guides the faithful in the way of life that is genuinely good and beautiful . The psalm speaks the language of one ravished with moral beauty, to which there is only one fitting response—to try to reproduce this beauty, as much as possible, in one's daily life. There is no pretense of perfection here , only yearning, and trust ,and dependence on God. To say that these commands are “true” is to confess that, with all their elements geared to a particular culture and phase of redemptive history, the principles that underlie them are founded on the very nature of things, and of God. This is why Christians can sing these words with the same yearning, trust, and dependence. The psalm does not tell who its author was, nor when it was written. Many scholars think it comes from after the Babylonian exile, but this cannot be proven. The psalmist identifies with the faithful among God's people, when they face trials , and when they suffer contempt and ill treatment for their faithfulness, even from members of God's people who reject his grace. Even when many of God's own people forsake him, there will be those who want to pursue faithfulness. This fits, e.g., the time before Ezra and Nehemiah carried out their reforms, but it fits many other times as well. The words of this psalm can enable Christians to embrace its aspiration, both when they sing it and when they use those words as prayers for illumination as they attend to God's word in public and in private.

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalms%20119;&version=47;

EB

Amazing Grace - Rendition

Jesus - Lord - Savior

YOU MAY WANT TO PAUSE THE MUSIC AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS PAGE BEFORE VIEWING THIS VIDEO..JUST SCROLL TO THE BOTTOM AND CLICK PAUSE

EB

"The Sun and the Snow"

I would like to use this forum as another opportunity to document another moment in time that I would like to be able to look back on and relive time and time again..As I mentioned in an earlier post, it is my belief that we rarely slow down long enough to appreciate the moments of life as they come our way..mostly because we are so busy doing much of nothing but in our minds there is no time to sit and think and write about what most would consider trivial..I have a made a commitment to myself to slow my life down enough to try and capture those moments that are short, sweet but extremely meaningful in the grand scheme of life..I know that writing them down allows me an opportunity to revisit them often and remember the times of our life that if we did not write them down, would be gone forever from our memory bank..lost in the thicket of stuff that takes up space in our mind..

So as you all know we just received a pretty good snow for this area and I was glad to see it come and equally glad to see it go...which leads me to this message..I was driving the girls to school this morning and as I looked around at God's creation..something dawned on me that I felt I could use to help explain to my girls about how God is..I would love to say that I never miss an opportunity to try and use the world around me to help create mental pictures and teaching moments for my girls, but sadly all to often I miss those chances, caught up in my own little world..but it is a desire of my heart to do better at this and God has been working on me in this area and peeling back the blindness to allow me to help my girls understand just who God is and how He relates to our life..

As we were driving I noticed that most of the snow has melted away but there are places where some snow exists and even fewer places where there are still lots of snow still in view..So I turned the radio down and tried to use this image to explain to CJ and Jaydin an example of how God is..See the SUN, which in this example is likened to Christ, and the snow, which is likened to SIN was the image I was trying to create( I know snow all white and pure is not a great sin example but stay with me).. The Sun has washed away and melted most of the snow...just like Christ in his Glory can wash away Sin...I exclaimed..but notice there is still some snow (sin) still existing even though the Sun is out and bright and in full effect..This snow (sin) is hidden away in darker places, where the Sun is not allowed to be..and even some that has piled up so high that even in direct sunlight is still there..and that is how we are with some of our sin..We hide it away and tuck it away, trying to keep it from Christ and not allowing Him to wash it clean from us...We hide it in the dark places of our mind and soul...or even worse we let it just pile up until it is so much that we lose Hope or we feel unworthy of God's Love...and that Sin that we don't allow the light to shine on, remains there and blocks the flow of grace from Christ and severely inhibits our relationship with Him..See when the Sun cant shine on the snow, it cant melt it away like it can the parts that are exposed directly to the Sun....In the Bible is says 2 Corinthians 4:6 For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.


Christ is the light of the world and He has come to shine His light on the darkness, to give light of the knowledge of the Glory of God...but if you do not let that light shine on you and expose the sin in your life thru knowledge, then you are essentially rejecting Christ.. You can take this example one step further and say..we as Christians are all lights of the world..Didn't God call us to be Light and Salt of this earth..What does light and Salt do to Snow (sin)..It melts it..It exposes it.. So if you think about us riding around in our cars on the roads(shining our light)...where is the first place snow melts? Not a trick question..Yes the roads and that is because we took our light and shined it in essence on the snow and caused it to melt.. If we will take God's command and share this Good News to all those who are lost, we can be like the Sun melting away Snow..or like Christ in helping people become saved and have their sin remembered no more...but as long as we sit on the sidelines in a blind self righteousness, the sin will remain, even in the midst of our Sun shining bright..but make no mistake, even the largest piles of sin (snow) can be washed away by the Sun (Christ) if exposed to it long enough or properly..


One last point, which by the way, assured me that my teaching moment was sinking in to my girls...because in the middle of this explanation..Jaydin says " Daddy, Daddy" from the back seat..That is like the "Itsy Bitsy Spider" song...and at that moment..I realized she GOT IT.. The song " Up come the Sun and dried up all the rain"....Jaydin was connecting the dots in the way that she knew how and for her to draw on another parallel example was a clue for me that she had at least vaguely understood the point that I was trying so hard to deliver...I am not sure how much of the discussion we had this morning made it thru to their understanding...but one thing is for sure...even if this event will never be remembered by them..I know at least for a few seconds, they were able to get a glimpse of the Glorious God we serve..even if it was for a brief moment in time..


Praise God for the Light thru His Son Jesus Christ He has shined on my life and for the sin that He exposed and exposes every day and Thank God that for those who Trust in Him as Lord and Savior, that He forgives that Sin that you lay at His feet and removes it as far as the East is from the West....

EB