A Bonfire

Matthew 5:14-16

"You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven."

Fact #1 We are called to be the light to the world. We are told by Jesus that we are to let our light shine so that the world can see the light. What is the light we are to be shining? The power of the gospel in the lives of His people. 

Fact #2 We the church were designed by God and started by Jesus for a purpose. Jesus tells His disciples that when He leaves He is going to send His Helper, the Holy Spirit, to empower the mission that He will leave with them. What is the mission? Go and make disciples, teaching them the truths of Jesus. Put simply, the missions was to multiply themselves.

Fact #3 The church was designed with the community and family feel for a reason. Paul continually speaks of the church and family of Jesus as a body or a whole group of people with many parts unified for one purpose. Both diversity in unity and unity in diversity, is what the church should be. But why should I be a part of this community or family? Because a group of people unified for one goal and mission can do so much more for Jesus than one simple lonely person.

So what happens if we combine all 3 facts into one simple noun? We get a bonfire for Jesus. Take one flame and then add another flame to it and then another and another and keeping multiplying the flames and all of a sudden you get one big fire or simply called a bonfire. So if a single lover of Jesus shines His light and shows the power of the gospel in his or her life and then adds many other Jesus lovers around him or her in a particular location and all of a sudden you get a bright light in one location that first will bring others into the light with them and second the light will beat back the darkness. A community of lights and flames for Jesus will spread and multiple and the mission of Matthew 28 is accomplished.

Are you creating a bonfire for Jesus with others in your area of impact?

Friends with benefits part 3

Having your spouse as your best friend is an amazing gift to have. And here is another reason why. Can you guess it after these 3 stories?

Story #1
So we had only been married for 3 weeks. We had just celebrated our first Christmas together in our small 1 bedroom apartment. This first apartment was small, very quaint, and yet very homey. The only problem was the bathroom was right across a small hallway from the bedroom. Well a few days after Christmas I got the stomach flu and for 12 hours could not stop throwing up. My beloved had to listen to me very loudly be sick in only the first month we were together stuck inside. And she is still with me today.

Story #2
So my son was very young still and did not understand germs yet. And he was still young enough that he had a nuk and would carry it every where. I had a bad habit as a dad that when I found it on the floor, I would just clean it off with my mouth before I would give it back to him. My beloved always warned me about putting his nuk in my mouth because of germs. But I would never listen. Well you guess it he got the stomach flu one time and was sick for a few days. But I did not know he had the germs for a day or 2 so I was sticking his nuk in my mouth with his germs. Guess what? I got the stomach flu and was down for the count for a few days myself. She still reminds me of that story and putting the nuk in my mouth 8 years later.

Story #3
My beloved is out at a doctors visit and I am home alone with all 4 kids. When all of a sudden the baby in the group starts to projectile vomit and letting it fly. I start to run around and try and help her while the other 3 kids first stare at me and the baby and then run for the stairs and getting away. So now I have a sick kid throwing up with no help and vomit all over the place. My wife walks through the door a little later and jumps right in and helps start the laundry, and keep the crying baby happy and get the other 3 kids in order. My beloved came home and help set things back in place and made my life plain and simple again.

So what is the benefit of having our spouse as our best friend? They help us with the vomit when no one else will. Yes that is true but more importantly the benefit of having them as our best friend is they get to see us in the hardest moments and darkest and smelliest times and will still love us no matter what. God has given us a truly great blessing in our spouse and the benefit they can be as we deal with sickness, stupidity, and the challenging moments in life. Thank God for His great gift and then thank you spouse for being your best friend. Just don't vomit on them:)

"Be Holy" revisited

Last Saturday I posted a simple verse because after a long day I did not much energy to write. Today in my ABF class we took a look at that verse and the bigger paragraph that the verse is in.

1 Peter 1:15-16
"But just as He who called you is holy, so be holy in all that you do; for it is written: 'Be holy, because I am holy'."

These verses are commanding us to live lives that are holy. I could also put it another way and state that we are to live our lives in a way that is worthy of our calling by God. God is holy and He is calling His children who He spilled the precious blood of His son for, to live lives worthy of Him.

But what does a life that is holy and pleasing to God look like. Here are a few ideas and actions that I think could be considered ways of living lives that are holy.

1) A few verses before in verse 13 it talks about preparing our minds for actions. So a holy life is one spent in the word of God preparing our minds for His service.

2) Verse 13 also talk about self control so a life of holiness is one of self control and abstaining from evil or wrong distractions and actions.

3) A holy life is one bearing fruit and evidence of salvation.

4) A holy life is one that manifests a thankfulness for what God has done for us.

5) A holy life is a life that is encouraging to our brothers and sisters in Christ.

6) A holy life is one that magnifies the power of the gospel.

7) A holy life is one that silences the adversaries of the church and God.

8) A holy life is one that glorifies God.

9) A holy life is one that leads others to eternal life.

10) A holy life is one that lives in community with other holy lives.

These are a few traits and descriptions that I came up with as I have been studying and thinking about what it means to be holy and pleasing to God. As the Old Testament talks about frequently, we need to be a sweet and pleasing aroma to God.

"Be holy because I am Holy"

Learning when to judge others

1 Peter 1:22
"Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart".

I recently read an interesting blog recommended by my beloved to me. http://manuelluz.wordpress.com/2014/01/06/the-issue-of-age-in-modern-worship/

This blog talks about the epidemic that seems to be happening in the church today with the worship leader going the way of the young people. And how the older folks are being pushed out and not considered for leading worship anymore. The article never mentions judging the older folks and their ability to lead meaningful worship in church but it hints at it continually. While I was reading it though I began to think about how the church and the members in it are great at judging each other for who they think people really are and not getting to know them for who God made them to be or the struggles they might be having.

First I will say that I have dealt with this in my own life as I have pursued Pastoral ministry in churches full time. Churches I have applied to have seen my age, or lack of degrees, or even lack of formal paid experience and then judged me based upon those qualifications. I have discovered this is normal. But praise God a church did get past all the things I mentioned and sat me down and got to meet me and learn first hand how God has made me and what He is doing in my life. I am not sure yet what God is going to do in this relationship but I know it was amazing and was truly a blessings not to be judged for what I appeared to be like on paper and rather who I am as a person.

But the church does this type of thing ever day with each other in the pews. Maybe it is the man who is quiet, introverted, and not a social person that we think is not spiritual enough or not a leader. Maybe it is the person who is not outspoken and uses their actions to teach rather than words who we feel is not a true teacher. Maybe it is the stay at home mom who spends hours working for her family and is not involved with the church as much that we think is not spiritual or has a problem. We as a church judge each other daily and it can hurt each other as well as the reputation of Jesus and His children. Judging one another is a sin and wrong. We need to get to know people and see how God created them and what passions He has given them before we judge them.

Next, I will say though there is a time when we need to look and judge others in our church family because of sin. Maybe someone is sinning against us and we need to open up and let them know they are hurting us. Maybe that person is hurting others because of their sin and we need to help them realize what they are doing is wrong. Possibly the sin is ruining the reputation of God and we need to let them know they are destroying the name of Jesus. Finally maybe someone has an idol in their heart that has misplaced God and we need to help them realize that they have misplaced God in their lives. So there are times I believe that the Bible allows the faith family to "judge" what another family member is dealing with or what they have become. This "judging" though is meant to deal with sin and not how the person is created by God.

But most importantly in both of these good judging times and sinful judging times we need to realize that love must be the foundation and first step. We are called many times throughout the New Testament to love one another in the church. Love must be at the root of what we say and do. We must love our brothers and sisters in Christ and get to know who they are and how God has created them for His glory. Then we will learn not to judge them in a sinful way or love them in a helpful way and work through sin.  Loving one another will also help us learn how to interact with each other and make us a unified body working for the glory of Jesus and the spread of His gospel. Loving each other in the church also shows the world what an extraordinary bond that the Christians have for each other and they will want to be a part of that loving relationship that glorifies our Savior.

So there are times to judge each other and there are times when judging is a sin. But love must be the root of any judging we do with each other. Actions with genuine love will always allow us to glorify God in what we say and do.

*As a side note, I do not think churches judging me for the person I am on paper is a sin, just not the way to always do things or discover how God is working.*

Grace vs Glory

Another benefit to having your best friend be your spouse is the fact you can enjoy a great book together. My beloved and I recently started a book together entitled, "The Good New We Almost Forgot" by Kevin DeYoung. The book is a study of the Heidelberg Catechism. The reason I bring this up is because in the opening of the first chapter he talks about how the the Heidelberg starts off talking about grace where as the more famous brother catechism, the Westminster starts off by talking about God's glory first.

I think this is an interesting idea to think about. Both grace and glory are important topics from the Bible to think, talk, and pray about. Each topic has it's place in Christian doctrine and even in the every day life of a lover of Jesus. So lets take a look at each word and see how it fits into the life of a Christian.

The Westminster catechism starts off by talking about the chief end of man, which is to give God glory and praise Him. God created for His own good pleasure. So the natural response by creation should be to give the Creator glory and show off the mighty works of our Creator. A reading of the book of psalms cannot go more than a few verses and you will find that glory is due God. Giving God glory is also called worship. Again, the Bible continually speaks volumes of the act of worshiping God. We are called to worship God as Creator, Savior, Provider, Ruler, King, and many other titles because that is the reason humans exist. God ultimately provided salvation for humanity because of His glory and so that He will be praised and worshiped. Everything we do should be worshiping God. Everything we say and how we respond should be to the praise and worship of God. God's glory is the heart beat of the church and should be at the root of everything done by those who love Him.

But grace is also just as important in its place in the mouth of Christians. Grace is the root of salvation. God chose in His free will to give us something He did not have to, salvation. If the grace of God was never shown to humanity in Jesus, then all humans will spend eternity in Hell and have no hope for anything. The grace of God is a topic that the Bible also speaks volumes about and is brought up almost as much as glory. Without the grace of God we would have no reason to worship and give God glory. The grace of God in salvation and also the grace in the daily moments should be driving us to our knees in worship. The glory of God has its foundation in the grace bestowed on us by God. As Ephesians 2: 6 reminds us, "it is by grace you have been saved". Without grace in our life we would be walking around as dead men with no hope and our lives would look totally different. Even the common grace of God in the small things is important to have. God in His amazing love is continually giving us amazing gifts out of His grace towards us. Grace is the bedrock of the Christian life.

So which word should we start with? Well, if I was talking to a non-christian, I would probably start by talking about grace because after their state of sin is pointed out grace must come next. The person who needs to know Jesus needs to know of God's grace and the act of Jesus in that grace. But if I was talking to a member of my church, I might start at glory. Continually giving God worship and praise in our lives is vital for Jesus' church. If we as Christians are not worshiping God then we probably have an idol in our hearts in place of God. So glory must be a first word in the church.

So each has it place and importance in our lives. I say we cannot separate them because they are too interconnected and they are both at the root of the gospel. So we should not chose one word over the other but instead work them together hand in hand. They both shout, JESUS GRACEFULLY DIED FOR OUR SINS AND WE SHOULD GIVE HIM THE GLORY AND PRAISE FOR RESCUING US WHEN HE DID NOT HAVE TO. Amen

Friends with benefits/zombies- humor

On Monday I posted about the topic of marriage and having our spouse as our best friends. Then yesterday I posted about zombies and the fact we as lovers of Jesus have the cure for what ails them. Here is a humorous video that deals with both posts.





As husbands we need to be patient and always compassionate and not always try and fix the problem. But as believers that have the knowledge of God and His path to salvation we need to make sure that if we are talking with someone who does not know and has the death problem, we need to tell them and show them how God can fix the problem. I pray as you laugh you will remember these 2 important truths as husbands and more importantly as Christians.

Zombies

Ephesians 2:1-2
"As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient."

So I will be honest, I do not know much about zombies at all. I think the only zombie movie I have ever seen is "I Am Legend" with Will Smith. But I do know one thing about zombies though and that is that they are dead. Zombies are always dead and they always seem to want to eat those who are alive because they can never seem to find a cure for themselves. That is why I watched "I Am Legend" because in the end Will Smith finds the cure for the zombies so that they will not be dead anymore but be alive.

Did you know that all of humanity are zombies for real. The human race are spiritual zombies who are dead and have no hope in finding a cure. I was a zombie at one point in my life. Billy Graham, Mark Driscoll, John Calvin, and the Apostle Paul were all zombies at one point. Our neighbors, our co-workers, some of our family, and even some people in the church we attend are zombies. As Ephesians reminds us we were all zombies, being dead in our sins and the state we were in without a cure. We were all dead, destined for destruction and the eternal place of hell.

But God gave us a cure, JESUS. Amen. Jesus is the cure for all the zombies; us, our neighbors, people we like and people we do not like. God gave us the biggest cure for death. The cure is Jesus blood and a simple act of believing in Jesus and his death to take on our sins in our place. Then a turn of repentance and a life of faith and action in response to our love of Jesus for His cure for our zombie state. Amen. We have the cure for the state of spiritual zombies. Did you know that? We have the cure for death and all we have to do is tell those in our life who are still zombies and then they can have the cure to. God is the Doctor who has given us the cure and now asks us to share His cure with others. Wouldn't you tell someone if you knew they had cancer and did not know it? If someone had a nail in their forehead and did not know it would't you tell them and show them the cure for their problems. The spiritual zombie state is just the same. We have the cure for spiritual death and damnation, so go tell as many as possible and give the zombies you know the cure for their state and lead them to the Doctor.

Friends with Benefits part 2

Last week I wrote a post entitled "Friends with benefits" and in that post I discussed how God had designed our spouses (or as I like to call her my better half) in a way that they should be our best friends. I talked about what it means to have our spouses as our best friend and some of what that is and looks like. I want to dive into a few other benefits of having a relationship with our spouses the way God created them to be. There are definitely more ways and benefits than I will list. Maybe later posts will add to them. But here are 3 benefits that I have been reminded of.

#1- Pleasure

Now I know this is obvious to most married couples. Sex as God has designed it is amazing and for our spouse. But we can also find much pleasure in our best friend outside of the bedroom. I came across a picture of my beloved from years ago recently and through that picture I was reminded how much pleasure I can get out of just admiring the beauty that God created in her and the amazing gift of that beauty God has then given me. I love my close male friends but there is some pleasure (outside of sex) that I can only have with my beloved. The pleasure of being know intimately and the fun it can be to watch her know what I am going to do before I do it. The pleasure of snuggling in a warm blanket while we watch it snow on a cold winter day. The pleasure I can get when I hold her hand as we pray in church. Even the pleasure of knowing I am needed is something that only our spouses can bring. So there are many pleasures that can come into our lives by only having our best friends being our spouses. 

#2-Knowing ourselves better.

I have discovered and been reminded over the last few days that a great benefit to having my best friend around me all the time and know me the best, is the fact she can point out things in me that I might never have noticed. My best friend can see things in my life that I might skip or gloss over. She can remind me of things that I might have forgotten or chosen not to remember. Sometimes our biggest idols and deepest sins can only be noticed by others in our life and to have a best friend that can help open our eyes to these things is a huge benefit. Our spouses can challenge us to grow in areas, ask questions to make us think deeper, or even pry into corners to not allow us to hide things. Sometimes the best ways to discover the most about ourselves is by allowing someone to look into our lives and point things out. What better benefit than having the love of our lives be the person that can help us discover the most about ourselves.

#3-Worship

I have know since I was a teen that a place where great worship of God can take place is in a marriage. It has only been recently and after 10 years of marriage that I have truly started to discover what this worship is and looks like. Only in a marriage with our best friend can we; fight to the glory of God, forgive to the praise of Jesus, find pleasure that radiates God's glory, be sanctified with the Spirits power, have a prayer life that unifies, and on the list can go. In a marriage where each partner resembles their Savior, a true bond of friendship, love, respect, honor, compassion, and loyalty takes place and the worship and praise of God is found the most. Worship and praise to God should be an amazing benefit to have with our best friend who is our spouse and better half. Worshiping our Creator and Savior is so much better when we can do it with our best friend, and I have discovered this first hand as my praise of Jesus is so much sweeter when I can do it with my beloved.

Having our spouses be our best friends has some amazing benefits. 

Thank You

Thank you. I have had many encouraging words, kind remarks, and inspiring thoughts over the last few days as I have interacted with those of you who actually read my blog. I have been truly blessed by those of you who have comment to me over my writing and thoughts on page. Just to think about how this blog has touched many people and how God has used a simple person with a small mind like me, truly amazes me. I know a writer is never a writer unless someone reads his work. So thank you to those of you who make me a writer and daily read the thoughts and challenges God keeps reminding me of. I try to be genuine, honest, sincere, and open with what I am thinking, feeling, and been challenged with. I guarantee that as you read me I am raw and the readers will always see the real me that is unashamed of the gospel and the work of God in my life.  And to know that many readers out there appreciate what I write is very touching and I cannot not say enough how much it means to me to be read and have others know the work God is doing in my life.

So from the bottom of my heart, thank you for reading me as I randomly write about my life, the ways God challenges me, and the truths He is continually reminding me of.

Parenting-Humor

I was introduced to this video a few days ago and cannot get it out of my head. I was reminded of 2 verses as I ponder this humorous video that speaks mounds of truth.

Deuteronomy 4:9
Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them slip from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them.

Ephesians 6:4
Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.

We are supposed to be parents who walk with our children daily, showing them the amazing truths of God and how we can see Him in every day life working in our lives. We should not be parents who throw their children out and let them figure it out for themselves because then the world and their sin nature will prevail. Our children are a great blessing and gift from God. Grow them in the knowledge and love of God and the understanding of the blessings of knowing Jesus.

Drum Beat

1 John 2:15
"Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him."

I was driving home from work today and the song on the radio used the expression "marching to the beat of a different drum". It is always amazing to me how God stirs my heart for certain subjects or Biblical truths and then over many days reminds me time and time again of the importance of what He is teaching or reminding me of. The song on the radio was another truth that God was reminding me of and pricking my heart to wrestle with.

As I have been studying 1 Peter for my ABF class and as I live in this world, I have finally began to understand what a realized eschatology looks like. The New Testament authors understood that they were living in the last days. Peter and Paul knew that Jesus could and might come back at anytime. This realization drove them to the things they talk about and preached to the world. John knew that if were going to love this world we would be too attached to it and for those living in the last days being attached to the world and the things of it was a bad thing. For those living in the last days, anticipating the return of Christ, should only be focusing on His job and preaching the gospel through their words and actions. So the New Testament church was to realize that Christ was coming back at any moment, they had a job to do in this world in those last moments, this job was to look forward and make others ready for the coming of Jesus, and finally their greatest hope and joy was looking forward to that moment of Jesus return. This is a life that is marching to a different drum.

God has been reminding me that we as the church today, 2000 years later should be no different. We need to live in a realized eschatology that is all about the return of Jesus and life's moments now driven by that fact. We should be filled with continual joy and hope in the fact that Jesus is coming back at any time and we too are living in the last days. This hope we have in Jesus return is not a fleeting hope either, it is a fully secured hope in the fact Jesus said He was coming back and guarantee that He keeps His promises. Every moment in life is driven by the fact Jesus is coming and we better be driven by that, not by the pleasures of this world. Why do we do what we do? Do we do what we do for a better world, for our happiness, or for our future children? Everything we say, think, and do better be driven by the fact Jesus is coming at any moment and then it is over. This realization, hope, joy, and faith in our lives as the church then should lead us to march by a different drum beat.

This drum beat is a march for Jesus and taking as many as we can into the kingdom with us. This march is not for ourselves, children, or future pleasures. This march is for the glory, praise, and honor of our returning King Jesus. He is coming so every message better include that. We march to a beat that the hope and foundation of that beat is in Jesus, not ourselves or this fallen and broken world. Yes, we live in the world and yes we are to reach the world but the world should not be beating our drum. Jesus should be beating the drum for our march because He is coming back soon and very soon.

"Soon and very soon we are going to see the King". Are we ready and is that marching us to a different beat?

Why Good Works Are Necessary for the Christian

Why Good Works Are Necessary for the Christian
I read this blog a few days ago and it struck me as being very important. I agree with DeYoung and the fact that good works do not get us justified before God. But it is very important to understand once we get saved by Christ's blood applied to our lives through faith in Him, we should show by our life and our works we love Jesus for dying for us. If our life does not show we love Jesus and live for Him and His glory daily, how could we ever say we are a Christian. We must show by our works that we have an inheritance waiting for us in Heaven someday when the love of our lives comes back to claim us as His own.

Trials

"In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed."

1 Peter 1:6-7

I have been rolling these verses over in my head all week. This week in my Sunday School class we are starting a series from 1 & 2 Peter. The purpose of Peter writing his first letter was to encourage and strengthen the members of the church as they faced trials and suffering in this life. So these 2 verses are important to the flow of Peter's thought and letter as they give encouragement but also to challenge the church to a stronger faith.

Everyone that is alive will at some point in this life face suffering and troubles of some sort. If we are true lovers of Jesus and telling others about Jesus we will also face some persecution to go along with our suffering and troubles. So what is it that challenges us, is it money problems, health problems, family issues, work issues, or even church problems? We all have some things that give us frustration, if we are not facing anything right now, I can guarantee that sooner rather than later something in this life will creep up. So how do we look at these trials? Do we cry out to God in pain or do we bury our feelings deep down inside? How we view our trials I have discovered says a lot about who we are as a person and who we are in Jesus. 

What if we never faced a single trial in this life? These verses in 1 Peter show us that trials and suffering in our life make our faith genuine and true. So if we had life always going our way could we actually say we have faith? I do not think so. The faith we have is strengthened and made genuine by the facing of trials and sufferings. God walks right beside us as He allows us to face these trials. God is holding our hand because He know that as we face trials in this life and overcome them in Him our faith is made true. Jesus death and our faith in Him is what saves us. But how can we know we have faith in God without it ever being tested and made genuine by trials. So I would say that the trials and suffering we face in this life proves our faith and is part of our salvation in God. 

So next time you think about the suffering you are in the middle of or the trial that is right around the corner, realize that these things make our faith genuine before God and hold us fast into His hand so our future salvation in Him is true and secure. That is why it is called perseverance of the saints.

Personal Reflection

My new goal this year, or a new years resolution as come people call it, was to live every day as if Jesus was coming back tomorrow. As I have been try to gauge how I am doing with this goal and thinking about my life as a lover of Jesus, I have tried to come up with personal questions I can ask myself. I have found 10 questions I ask myself each day as I try and reflect how I am doing in my walk with Christ and living as if each day is my last. Some of the questions I  have come up with and some I have taken from random sources as I have been reading. Here are the 10 questions I reflect on.

1. Am I spending time slowly reading God’s word and memorizing Scripture?

2. Am I having consistent, focused, extended times of prayer, including interceding for others?

3. Am I disciplined in my use of technology, in particular not getting distracted by emails and blogging in the evening and on my days off?

4. Am I getting enough rest and down time?

5. How has my eating habits been today?

6. Have I exercised in the last week?

7. Am I patient with my kids or am I angry with them when they disobey or behave in childish ways?

8. Where is my focus when I am with my family?

9. Is my study time focused enough on God or am I distracted and not fully in tune?

10. Have I done anything out of the ordinary to cherish and help my wife?

I have discovered that reflecting on my day and last few hours over some of these issues helps me understand where I need to grow. Some of these questions are not necessary spiritual but all of them are connect to the state of my spirit and walk with God. I pray that some of these questions help you as you walk with God each day to.

Favoritism

A good friend of mine asked me to write a few thoughts on favoritism. So here it goes. The Websters dictionary defines favoritism as 1) the showing of special favor, 2) the state of or fact of being a favorite. When I think of favoritism I think of 2 things.

First, everyone knows what favoritism is because we all know someone who has been shown favoritism by someone else. Or maybe we are the person that is the one who is a favorite of someone else. Favoritism happens all over the planet. In work settings, in church settings, family times, friends gathering, even among our pets. When I was growing up I had a fish tank with 5 fish in it. I will be honest, I had a favorite fish and I still to this day claim that the other fish knew it because they would leave him alone and not swim around him. But yes favoritism happens all over and some people are the favorite and others are not. When we think of favorites we need to realize that they are no different than us and still deserve our love of Jesus even if they do not realize they need it. We need to honor God by showing love to those people because the favorites and non-favorites alike deserve our love and great news. And if the favorite is a Christian help them realize they are a favorite. Next if we are the one favorite person we need to fight against this human tendency by showing love to everyone, not just a select few. If we are the favorite we also need to let the person who seems to favor us know to stop it and show kindness and favor to everyone around us. If we are the favorite we need to look out for the attention of all and point out to other people the greatness of others around us. We need to do everything in our power to stop the favoritism.

The second thing I realized about favoritism is that we are all favorites if we are known and loved by Christ. The first definition of the word can help here. Favoritism is the showing of special favor. What is more special is favor than to die for your enemies while they hated and wanted nothing to do with you. Jesus showed us special favor when he came to earth and lived the life we could never live and then died the death we could never die and then called us to be His own. We, as lovers of Jesus, are the favorites of the King. And thinking about that I realized how amazing it is to be a favorite of the Almighty Creator, the person who spoke and things happened. And knowing that I am a true favorite of Jesus makes me convicted about standing up for the non-favorites around me in this world and letting them know about the One who Favored me.

"Pastoral Rule"

First, thank you to all who prayed for me today as I was taking my final exam in Church History part 1. It went very well and I never realized I could type over 3,000 words in less than 2 hours. God is good. But as I was taking this class and studying for this test I came across something that intrigued me from my notes and Professor. I came across the "Pastoral Rule" by Gregory the Great who was a famous Bishop in the church from 590-604 A.D.

In this rule he lists 5 things that ever Pastor must or should have as qualities.

1)Pure in thought
2)Active in serving others
3)Discrete or confidential
4)First in Compassion
5)Last in bribes or falling prey to sin

I found this not only interesting and convicting for me as someone who is pursuing the ministry. I found this convicting me as a Jesus lover and witness to the world. The world and those who do not know Jesus should be seeing all of these in every Christian because then they will see Jesus the Savior and Redeemer.

Pride

It has been a busy day for a Sunday in my world. I met with a church search committee today and continue to search where God is leading my family and I. Thank you for those of you who knew and prayed, it went very well and I enjoyed getting to meet some other great believers in Christ, very encouraging. I also have a final examine tomorrow for a master's class so every free moment I have been studying too. But I wanted to take a few moments tonight and jot down a few thoughts on the sin of pride that have been flouting around in my head tonight thanks to the conviction for the Holy Spirit.

I have discovered that I think the sin of pride is the most devastating and influential sin a person can commit. The sin of pride is first one of the biggest areas of idolatry in a persons life. When someone is prideful they have set themselves on the throne of their lives and they think they run the show. The sin of pride takes Jesus out of the center of a persons life and puts themselves in His place. The sin of pride leads right into selfishness and a self centered attitude which is a sin also. Pride is connect to selfishness. So pride will stop us from focusing on others and serving their needs but feeling like everyone should be serving us. Pride will stop the outward focus to those in the world who do not know Jesus. So pride stops us from loving the world and also from loving one another in the church. Pride hurts all those around us.

The sin of pride will stop us from worshiping God and Jesus. We are called in Scripture to be worshipers of God but when we are filled with pride we stop worshiping who we are supposed to and we end up worshiping ourselves because we are IT. Pride keeps us from truly worshiping God as the King of our life and Jesus as the Savior and passion of our hearts. Pride hurts God so to speak.

So the sin of pride hurts everyone we know even when we cannot see it. OUCH

Jesus the Man

All day I have been pondering and contemplating Jesus and what His life means to me. Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, the one sent to die and take my place. Jesus is the life and through His resurrection gives us hope that we too will beat back death some day. Jesus is the life everlasting and our great redeemer. Jesus is all these things and I think because of all of that, we sometimes miss some of the ways Jesus through His life on earth gives us great examples and inspires us in certain ways. Jesus is the perfect leader. Jesus is the perfect teacher. Jesus is the perfect example of a loving friend. But the best example of Jesus that I have been thinking about all day is Jesus as the perfect man.

Jesus through his actions, words, and life gives us the best and perfect example for what it means to be a man, a male human being.

Jesus was tough. He defended the weak, oppressed, abused, and the poor. Jesus fought for justice and mercy. Jesus defended the truth and stood against those who opposed the truth or were lying cheating hypocrites. Jesus was tough enough to die in our place without cursing out in pain or shedding a tear.

Jesus was also tender. Jesus comforted those who were hurting. Jesus encouraged those who were downcast and depressed. Jesus looked out for the children and provided for the women around Him in His life. Jesus was tender and loving to those who were already broken about their sin. Jesus walked lovingly with those in His life who needed Him the most. Jesus was tender enough to weep at the death of His friend, knowing He was about to raise Him.

Jesus was a provider not a consumer. Jesus came and provided first, life for all mankind. Jesus also provided truth for those He met. Jesus provided for the 5,000. Jesus provided safety in the storm, a water that always gives life, and a chance for a tax collector to repent. Jesus came to provide for us rather than take from us. And the only thing Jesus would ever take from us was our sin in His act of provision.

Jesus was a creator and cultivator. Jesus nurtured and grew the life and spirit of His followers. Jesus created new life in Mary Magdalene, and the women at the well. Jesus created healing for the women with the flow of blood and He created new life for Jarius' daughter. Jesus as the man created for those around Him and cultivated a life that could also grow and flourish after He was gone.

Jesus also took responsibility. Jesus came to take responsibility for our sin. But He also took charge of His disciples, even when Satan was trying to sift Peter. Jesus took care of the Pharisees when they were trying to distract His mission. Jesus would always take the bull by the horns and deal with the issue at hand.

Jesus was not lazy, always in prayer with God, never got angry, put children first, was generous, and was a man's man. Just a few things I have been pondering and then praying about as I looked at the life of Jesus as a man and compared it to mine. Jesus was perfect so we will not be truly like Him until were are perfect with Him in heaven, but we should at least try and be transformed more and more into His image each day.