Love for God

I have recently been wrestling with idea of love for Jesus and the list of duties that come from it. Many times I have rejected the thought that in loving Jesus I must do duties. I keep thinking that to love Jesus is not a duty and to love Him, I can just, well, love Him. But, I have recently been reading through the book of Deuteronomy and have found many times in the book that a love for God (Jesus) is connected to obedience, which could be said to be a duty. Here is a list of some of the references that Moses makes to a love for God and obedience; 6:1-8, 10:12-13, 11:13, 11:22, 19:9, and 30:6-8. As I have been reading through this book I have realized that love of God must always be connected to obedience to God and His law. (When I mean the law in reference to Moses I mean the moral law that has come to all humans from God, not His civil or ceremonial law that He gave Israel.)

But I become surprised by the fact that a love for God must be connect to obedience. And as Deuteronomy 6 says we must put everything we have into this obedience and love for God. We cannot hit the cruise button on our obedience when we obey like everyone around us, we must strive for more love and more obedience in spite of others around us. And to make this duty of obedience harder, love for God must be the only motivational tool in obeying Him. We should never obey God in fear or with the idea that we can get something from God. We must obey God simply becasue we love Him. And obeying God leads us to delight in Him, which grows our love for Him which then should drive us to obey Him even more. Our motivation for obedience, which must be love, is just if not more important to God than is our level of preformace in that obedience. We must love God and show Him we love Him by obeying what He says.

So a love for God is connected to a duty becasue the only way we can show our love is by doing the duty of obedience.

Humility

When you hear the word humble what thoughts come into your mind? Many times we think someone who is being humble is like Eeyore. When we think of humility many times we think it means low self esteem and having a pity party for ourselves. We get this idea of humility as a attitude when we think we are dirt in the ground, scum of the earth, or the worst person in the world. But the Bible speaks of humility in different ways. The Apostle Paul speaks of humility in different ways than low self-esteem. Paul is always telling us we need to be confident and think of ourselves as children of God. We are supposed to have a good self-esteem and think we are important. We need to remember that we are important enough that God in the flesh gave His own blood and life for us. That makes us important and should make us think and have a high self-esteem. Paul on the other hand in Philippians says that humility is the trait of thinking more of others than ourselves (2:1-11). This means we have a good view of ourselves but think higher of others. Being humble means we think of others first, put their needs above our own, and give them what they want as far as preferences above what we want. So being humble is like Jesus. We know how we stand before God and then we take that view and think of others first, always, and continually. Humility is a high view of others above our own.

Are you confident?

I believe there are many different ideas about confidence and what it is and what it looks like. I believe confidence is something important for every human being to have. I believe it is vital for every believer in Christ to be confident even more. Confidence in God, His grace for us, and His plan for us is important for every disciple of Christ to have.

In my New Testament class I was reading through the Gospels and discovered a great moment from the life and passion of Jesus, of His confidence in His Father. Jesus states, "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit" (Luke 23:46). This is a great moment at the climax of Christ death where He puts His full faith, trust, and confidence into the plan, will, and grace of His Father. Christ is showing a confident trust in the Father's control. Just moments before this statement, Christ also says, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" (Mark 15:34). This statement by Jesus shows that He was in complete anguish and being crushed for bearing the sin and wrath of God and the separation of the Father and Son in that moment.

These two moments by Christ show us something important to remember. Even in life, when the hurricane and tempest come, even when the weight of sin and the consequences of it, even when we are being crushed in life; we can still have confidence that God is in control. Christ bore our sins, so that we would not have to. Christ was crushed and burdened beyond anything that we can bear ourselves or even imagine. But in that moment He was an example for us to still have confidence in God. Christ died so we would not have to, so that we can have the confidence in those crushing moments to still look to the grace, will, and strength of the one who bore the weight so we would not have to.

That is true confidence, and a confident spirit in God can withstand anything that life or evil throw at us.

1st Anniversary

I have offically been blogging for 1 year now, so in honor of the milestone and this wonderfully blessing from God I wanted to repost my very first post.

The Quiet

So this being my first attempt at actually writing other than research and term papers, I have no idea what to expect. We shall see how this goes and whether or not God has given me any talent in writing and if I have any hope of ever actually putting a book or two together.

My first post I just wanted to explain the quiet part of my blog title. Habakkuk 2:20 states, "But the LORD is in his holy temple; let all the earth keep silence before him." To me this is where life starts, ends, and should be all the time in the middle. Keeping quiet in life can help you discover many enjoyments. It can bring you much wisdom when you listen before you talk. It can make you a better and more generous person as you let others talk and have what looks like the spot light. It can make you a more loving person so that the wrong and hurtful thing is not said. Being quiet is also where you learn the most and gain the most wisdom.
The quiet is where I discovered that I need to be and is the place I need to be in my God, the quiet.

Quotable Friday

You obey the law, not to lighten the penalty for your sins, but because your heart is so thankful that Jesus fully bore that penalty for you.~Paul David Tripp

More important than blogging

Last night I highlighted the fact that my wife and kids are much more important than blogging and writing. Tonight have found another more important activity than blogging. I get to spend time with my favorite "Timothys". These are some young men that love Jesus like I do. I have the privilege and opportunity to spend time with them sharing what Jesus has done in my life and living life with them. Spending time with the next generation and friends is very important. I love pouring into other people and being able to do it with these find men is a great time of worship. Thanks for a great night brothers in Christ. Who are you caring for and pouring your love for Jesus into?

More important than blogging

There are many things in this life more important than blogging. Activities like sharing the gospel with my neighbor or preaching Jesus to a lost relative. There are also activities closer to home like playing dress-up with my daughters or throwing a football with my son. But at this moments my beloved is calling so spending time talking with her and giving her the attention she needs is much more important than blogging. What in your life is the most important things and why?

Signs of losing your way

I recently read a great article addressed to Pastor about warning signs that would let a Pastor know they were losing their way in ministry. This article got me thinking about some signs that we as lovers of Jesus would know we are losing our way. When we begin to lose our way we are then losing sight of the Way. Here are 9 signs that show us if we are losing our way.

We ignore clear evidence of our sin problems
We are blind to the issues of our own heart
Our Christian life lacks devotion
We forget the good news of Jesus in our lives daily
We fail to truly and deeply listen to those closest to us in our lives
Our Christian walk becomes a burden and we feel like a slave
We find ourselves living in silence
We then begin to question God's love for us
Finally we fantasize about a different life outside of our burden

I would like to explore each of these signs in the next few post and hope and pray we can all find these signs in our lives so that we turn back to the Way before we lose our way totally.

Letter to my Church Family (whole)

From your loving and affectionate Elder and "little" shepherd. To those who have faithful served our Savior and reached out into the world for the lost. Much grace, peace, and encouragement I send to you today as I write these words.

I am writing to you today with 4 different thoughts and points in mind. Ultimately I want to encourage you, strive to give you strength, and seek to lead you forward into the way of following and living for Jesus. I know we all live in a world that is broken and full of sin and my hope and prayer is that writing to you today will inspire more to live as you do in your walk and life in Jesus. Being lights in the lost community and showing the world what true love is to one another is a quality that I continually pray, so that together through, the power of the Gospel, we can strive to reach out together.

The first thing I want to write to you about, as the great Apostle Paul did, is to update you on where I am at and how I am doing spiritually as your leader. Being your Pastor over these last few months has been a great joy and blessing in my life. God, through my service with and for you, has truly shown me His great power and amazing beauty. I have come to know the deeper depths of God grace in my life as He continues to refine and stretch me. There have been days and even weeks where I have felt totally overwhelmed and incapable of loving and serving you. But God has continued to remind me through His words that He has called and He is in control and nothing is every outside of His power. My affection for you, I know has come from Christ and I feel His warm welcoming love flowing through me every day to you. That is the only way I can explain the fact that I have continued to fall in love with you all more each day. Loving this body of Christ has been one of my greatest joys, greatest struggles, and richest blessings.

 I know and have felt the fact God is in control and has great things in store for us because the darts and temptations of Satan in my life alone have been more than I was prepared for. Only through the grace, mercy, and power of Christ have I withstood many of Satan's attacks. Satan is ready and watching and does not want us or myself to succeed it loving and serving God. I continually pray not only for myself to withstand the attacks of the devil but all the more for you as you seek to live each day in the devil's playground. Only together, under the power and control of God, can we move in following God and resist the ways of the evil one.

I pray for you all daily and hurt when you hurt. I know as we seek the future, only together, will God lead us for His glory. Growing more like our Savior has been a joy each day as you have continued to stretch me with your questions, conflicts, and lives. I pray that I will continue to love you all the more and that God will give me the wisdom that only He can give as I seek to lead and guide us into the future. My love for you grows and I pray and trust the God of love that you, my dear ones will feel my love and compassion for you. Many of you have become my friends and as I walk with you it brings me great joy to live and love with you.

. It brings me great delight to know and see that many of you are deep in your faith and walk with Jesus and many more desire and progress in a forward direction. God makes it clear from His Word, that not only are we called to put on many traits that are from Jesus, which are given to us in the power of the Holy Spirit, but we are also called to take off many of the worldly and sinful traits that we have outside of our lives with Jesus. It brings me joy knowing and seeing many of you put off as well as put on and knowing this has truly made my serves for Jesus, that much more enjoyable. I wish to write to you though today about a trait I desire for more of us to put on in our walk with God.

Many of us know the traits we are called to put on as they are commonly known as the fruit of the Spirit from the book of Galatians; love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and self-control. The trait that I pray we put more on in our lives together is faithfulness. When many of us think of faithfulness we think of faith in Jesus and His death for us. This type of faith is a great faith and I have seen many in our faith family have this type of faith. A faith in Jesus is the first step that any person must take in their relationship with Jesus. Faith is a foundation for the Christian walk and a Christian cannot live this life without having faith. As the Apostle Paul would say, we are justified before God because of our faith and this faith is a great virtue that is essential to our walk with God.

But this faith must also present itself in action. This action and visible faith is again sometimes labeled and shown through commitment. Commitment in faith is a virtue that I pray we have more of. Being committed to Jesus is not always easy. In a world that is self focused and all bout self gratification, commitment to Jesus is a hard thing to put on. But commitment to Jesus is something that deepens our walk. When we commit ourselves to regular church attendance, loving one another deeper, striving for faithfulness in our walk and testimony, and reliance on the work of the Gospel, we present ourselves worthy of the Gospel and lights to the world. I pray for you all daily that your love for Jesus will deepen so that your commitment to Him and His bride, the church, will grow. 

So, I am calling and praying for you, brothers and sisters I love to put on a deeper faith and stronger commitment to Jesus and His church. I pray that many of us will make a stronger desire to gather together and spend more time with each other. I pray that many will desire to be at church more and having a stronger love for one another. I pray that many will take their faith deeper and understand that the world will see our Savior through our actions and words. Many times good things can be shown in a bad light and bad thing we justify for a good reason. I pray for many of you daily to take your faith deeper and grow in your commitment to Jesus, each others, and the church. Faith is vital and faith in action through a deeper commitment is just has vital.

So, the joy of loving you as been the fact that many of you are walking intimately with God and staying true to His desires for your lives. When I pray over you and serve God together with you I have seen many of the qualities that God desires and it has been a joy to see you add more of Jesus to your lives. The call to put on more of Jesus, as I have said earlier, has been a great blessing because you all continue to do that. But like I have already stated, taking off the sin and life of this world is much harder. Many of you have put much on and the fruit of the Spirit is evident in all. But putting off much of this world and its distractions and desires is another matter. I desire much more from you and so does God, so the next few words I say are hard to say but they are a call from God, a plea from God, to be a holy people, separate and different than the world.

So, there are many things that I find we are like the world. We are called to be a people that are separate and different from the world. This means that we as a church must view marriage and divorce different than the world. It is a sad day when the church as a whole is worse in marriage than the world. Marriage is a sacred covenant between one man and one woman and as God designed in Genesis, is a covenant that last for the life of the person. Marriage is not something that God says we can give up on or cut the cord in if things go bad. Marriage is a faithful covenant that is made between people and is a choice that must always be chosen in love. If we view marriage and act in marriage just like the rest of the world we are no different and not living lives of holiness and obedience to God and His word. Marriage is sacred and must be treated so not something that can be put to the side if we feel like giving up or not working at. Our view on marriage and history on marriage must change.

Another area that I find us looking too much like the world is our mouths. Our tongue can be used for love or as a weapon. When we talk like the world with our attitude or words it does not honor God. When we talk in judgment or with venom to one another, we are talking like the world. When we gossip, slander, or saying lies about each other, we are just like and sometimes even worse than the sinful world. God calls us to use our mouths first to honor Him and to glorify Jesus with our speech. Then God calls us to use our tongues to say sweet, kind, and loving words to each other in the faith family. Finally God calls us to use our lips to get the Gospel and news of Jesus out into the world. When we use our tongues instead to talk bad, say unkind words, or speak like the world, we are sinning and hurting our Savior. WE are called to use our words and tongues for love not sin. 

I know these words are hard to read and hear. These words are hard to swallow and tough to hear but God knows, to be a lover of Jesus is a tough life to live. Being a follower of the Way requires and calls for a life that reflects that way. It is vital and eternally critical that we live lives that are different than those around us living in sin. We are called to be a holy people that are chosen by God. The Christian life is a life that is different and a life that is called to put off the world and its way. So I pray and plead with you now to put on Jesus and put off the world.

One thing that I feel we do very well in but still have much room to improve on is unity. God is a being of unity and is unified throughout all 3 of His beings, being Father, Son, and Spirit. God in His mission was unified and in His design and plan for the church was unified. Jesus in is prayer in John 17 prays for unity. Paul lists it as an attribute that the church must have. The Gospel is a story of good news that is unified around grace. Unity is an attribute that is everywhere and an attribute that every church must have.

We as a church do have unity. We love each other, care for each other, and spread the gospel with great work. We care for one another and do not disagree in many matters. We are a church body of love that is warm and welcoming. Unity is in the core of who our church is and we are very good in many ways. We have unified over the spread of the Gospel. We have come together in many ministries and in the reaching of children, unity together in the work has taken place. We do unity very well.

But I also feel that we can do much better at unity. We find many times that we think church is about us. We forget that church is about God, Jesus, and the mission. Church will never be about us and the minute we find that we think church is about us, we leave unity behind. When the music becomes about us, we are not unified. When the sermons and teaching times become about what we want to hear, unity is not in us. When other ministries like men's. women's, and children's, become what we want to see, unity is not part of who we are. When we use our mouths to harm one another or say unkind words, unity is a problem. In many ways we lack unity and need to pray for unity more in us. Jesus was about unity in His church, which He bought with His blood. If we love Jesus, we must follow is example and be unified around Him.

So, to those whom I appreciate beyond words, I write these things to you all not to judge you but to love you all the more. To bring joy to our Savior with our lives. To spread the Gospel to the world father. And to bring us closer together, because only together can we bring about a change in our lives for Jesus and a change in our community for Jesus. I pray that you all feel my love and affection for you in these words and I I pray that these words and our lives glorify our Savior and Lord.

Letter to my Church family (part 4)

This is the final part to the letter I have written to my church family.

One thing that I feel we do very well in but still have much room to improve on is unity. God is a being of unity and is unified throughout all 3 of His beings, being Father, Son, and Spirit. God in His mission was unified and in His design and plan for the church was unified. Jesus in is prayer in John 17 prays for unity. Paul lists it as an attribute that the church must have. The Gospel is a story of good news that is unified around grace. Unity is an attribute that is everywhere and an atytribute that every church must have.

We as a church do have unity. We love each other, care for each other, and spread the gospel with great work. We care for one another and do not disagree in many matters. We are a church body of love that is warm and welcoming. Unity is in the core of who our church is and we are very good in many ways. We have unified over the spread of the Gospel. We have come together in many ministries and in the reaching of children, unity together in the work has taken place. We do unity very well.

But I also feel that we can do much better at unity. We find many times that we think church is about us. We forget that church is about God, Jesus, and the mission. Church will never be about us and the minute we find that we think church is about us, we leave unity behind. When the music becomes about us, we are not unified. When the sermons and teaching times become about what we want to hear, unity is not in us. When other ministries like men's. women's, or children's, become what we want to see, unity is not part of who we are. When we use our mouths to harm one another or say unkind words, unity is a problem. In many ways we lack unity and need to pray for unity more in us. Jesus was about unity in His church, that He bought with His blood. If we love Jesus, we must follow is example and be unified around Him.

So, to those whom I appreciate beyond words, I write these things to you all not to judge you but to love you all the more. To bring joy to our Savior with our lives. To spread the Gospel to the world father. And to bring us closer together, becasue only together can we bring about a change in our lives for Jesus and a change in our community for Jesus. I pray that you all feel my love and affection for you in these words and I I pray that these words and our lives glorify our Savior and Lord.

Leter to My church family (part 3)

This is the third part of a four part letter that I have wirtten to my church family. This idea came out of my study of the book of Philippians.

So, the joy of loving you as been the fact that many of you are walking intimately with God and staying true to His desires for your lives. When I pray over you and serve God together with you I have seen many of the qualities that God desires and it has been a joy to see you add more of Jesus to your lives. The call to put on more of Jesus, as I have said earlier, has been a great blessing becasue you all continue to do that. But like I have already stated, taking off the sin and life of this world is much harder. Many of you have put much on and the fruit of the Spirit is evident in all. But putting off much of this world and its distractions and desires is another matter. I desire much more from you and so does God, so the next few words I say are hard to say but they are a call from God, a plead from God, to be a holy people, separate and different than the world.

So, there are many things that I find we are like the world. We are called to be a people that are separate and different from the world. This means that we as a church must view marriage and divorce different than the world. It is a sad day when the church as a whole is worse in marriage than the world. Marriage is a sacred covenant between one man and one women and as God designed in in Genesis, is a covenant that last for the life of the person. Marriage is not something that God says we can give up on or cut the cord in if things go bad. Marriage is a faithful covenant that is made between one persons and is a choice that must always be chosen in love. If we view marriage and act in marriage just like the rest of the world we are no different and not living lives of holiness and obedience to God and His word. Marriage is sacred and must be treated so not something that can be put to the side if we feel like giving up or not working at. Our view on marriage and history on marriage must change.

Another area that I find us looking too much like the world, is our mouths. Our tongue can be used for love or as a weapon. When we talk like the world with our attitude or words it does not honor God. When we talk in judgement or with venom to one another, we are talking like the world. When we gossip, slander, or saying lies about each other, we are just like and sometimes even worse than the sinful world. God calls us to use our mouths first to honor Him and to glorify Jesus with our speech. Then God calls us to use our tongues to say sweet, kind, and loving words to each other in the faith family. Finally God calls us to use our lips to get the Gospel and news of Jesus out into the world. When we use our tongues instead to talk bad, say unkind words, or speak like the world, we are sinning and hurting our Savior. WE are called to use our words and tongues for love not sin. 

I know these words are hard to read and hear. These words are hard to swallow and tough to hear but God knows, to be a lover of Jesus is a tough life to live. Being a follower of the Way requires and calls for a life that reflects that way. It is vital and eternally critical that we live lives that are different than those around us living in sin. We are called to be a holy people that are chosen by God. The Christian life is a life that is different and a life that is called to put off the world and its way. So I pray and plead with you now to put on Jesus and put off the world.

Quotable Friday

"Death is ours, it will be given to us- not as a gift we can reject, but as a triumphant gateway to glory."~John Piper

Letter to my Church Family (part 2)

Yesterday I started the first of a 4 part letter to my church family. This idea came to me as I have been studying the letter of Paul to the church in Philippi. I will write a new letter a year from now and enjoy a years perspective in hind cite.

Again, to my faithful and true fellow followers of Jesus, it brings me great joy to see and pray with you in your growth. It brings me great delight to know and see that many of you are deep in your faith and walk with Jesus and many more desire and progress in a forward direction. God makes it clear from His Word, that not only are we called to put on many traits that are from Jesus, which are given to us in the power of the Holy Spirit, but we are also called to take off many of the worldly and sinful traits that we have outside of our lives with Jesus. It brings me joy knowing and seeing many of you put off as well as put on and knowing this has truly made my serves for Jesus, that much more enjoyable. I wish to write to you though today about a trait I desire for more of us to put on in our walk with God.

Many of us know the traits we are called to put on as they are commonly know as the fruit of the Spirit from the book of Galatians; love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and self-control. The trait that I pray we put more on in our lives together is faithfulness. When many of us think of faithfulness we think of faith in Jesus and His death for us. This type of faith is a great faith and I have seen many in our faith family have this type of faith. A faith in Jesus is the first step that any person must take in their relationship with Jesus. Faith is a foundation for the Christian walk and a Christian cannot live this life without having faith. As the Apostle Paul would say, we are justified before God becasue of our faith and this faith is a great virtue that is essential to our walk with God.

But this faith must also present itself in action. This action and visible faith is again sometimes labeled and shown through commitment. Commitment in faith is a virtue that I pray we have more of. Being committed to Jesus is not always easy. In a world that is self focused and all bout self gratification, commitment to Jesus is a hard thing to put on. But commitment to Jesus is something that deepens our walk. When we commit ourselves to regular church attendance, loving one another deeper, striving for faithfulness in our walk and testimony, and reliance on the work of the Gospel, we present ourselves worthy of the Gospel and lights to the world. I pray for you all daily that your love for Jesus will deepen so that your commitment to Him and His bride, the church, will grow. 

So, I am calling and praying for you, brothers and sisters I love to put on a deeper faith and stronger commitment to Jesus and His church. I pray that many of us will make a stronger desire to gather together and spend more time with each other. I pray that many will desire to be at church more and having a stronger love for one another. I pray that many will take their faith deeper and understand that the world will see our Savior through our actions and words. Many times good things can be shown in a bad light and bad things we justify for a good reason. I pray for many of you daily to take your faith deeper and grow in your commitment to Jesus, each others, and the church. Faith is vital and faith in action through a deeper commitment is just has vital.

Letter to my church Family (part 1)

I have started a teaching series this fall called Pilgrim's progress. It is a study of the book of Philippians, and as I have been studying the book for my sermons, I have discovered that it is one of Paul's most intimate letters written to any of his church plants. Many times as I have read over the different passages I can feel the love of Paul for his fellow faith family members in Philippi. This got me think about writing a letter to my faith family in many ways similar to Paul. So I have decided to write a four part letter to my faith family similar to Paul and then every year write another letter and see how my affection for them grows and also my understanding of where God is leading in my relationship with them. So here it goes, part 1 of the letter to my church family.

From your loving and affectionate Elder and "little" shepherd. To those who have faithful served our Savior and reached out into the world for the lost. Much grace, peace, and encouragement I send to you today as I write these words.

I am writing to you today with 4 different thoughts and points in mind. Ultimately I want to encourage you, strive to give you strength, and seek to lead you forward into the way of following and living for Jesus. I know we all live in a world that is broken and full of sin and my hope and prayer is that writing to you today will inspire more to live as you do in your walk and life in Jesus. Being lights in the lost community and showing the world what true love is to one another is a quality that I continually pray, so that together through, the power of the Gospel, we can strive to reach out together.

The first thing I want to write to you about, as the great Apostle Paul did, is to update you on where I am at and how I am doing spiritually as your leader. Being your Pastor over theses last few months has been a great joy and blessing in my life. God, through my service with and for you, has truly shown me His great power and amazing beauty. I have come to know the deeper depths of God grace in my life as He continues to refine and stretch me. There have been days and even weeks where I have felt totally overwhelmed and incapable of loving and serving you. But God has continued to remind me through His words that He has called and He is in control and nothing is every outside of His power. My affection for you, I know has come from Christ and I feel His warm welcoming love flowing through me every day to you. That is the only way I can explain the fact that I have continued to fall in love with you all more each day. Loving this body of Christ has been one of my greatest joys, greatest struggles, and richest blessings.

 I know and have felt the fact God is in control and has great things in store for us becasue the darts and temptations of Satan in my life alone have been more than I was prepared for. Only through the grace, mercy, and power of Christ have I withstood many of Satan's attacks. Satan is ready and watching and does not want us or myself to succeed it loving and serving God. I continually pray not only for myself to withstand the attacks of the devil but all the more for you as you seek to live each day in the devil's playground. Only together, under the power and control of God, can we move in following God and resist the ways of the evil one.

I pray for you all daily and hurt when you hurt. I know as we seek the future, only together, will God lead us for His glory. Growing more like our Savior has been a joy each day as you have continued to stretch me with your questions, conflicts, and lives. I pray that I will continue to love you all the more and that God will give me the wisdom that only He can give as I seek to lead and guide us into the future.My love for you grows and I pray and trust the God of love that you, my dear ones will feel my love and compassion for you. Many of you have become my friends and as I walk with you it brings me great joy to live and love with you.

Idols

 Tonight I want to show that yes, the idols that the nation of Israel had to deal with were attractive but, we also deal with very attractive idols in the world today. Here is the list of the attractions of idolatry with a linked idol to each attraction to show that we deal with idols just like the Hebrew people and we are no different then they were. We would have been sucked into worshiping something else other than God just they did. 

1) Worship and an access to a god or goddess was guaranteed
I think this idol is food. Food is everywhere and in great amounts, especially in America. How many people do we know that worship their stomach and can get to it whenever they want.
2) Selfish
This idol is me, me, me. How many people do we know that worship themselves. In fact how many times do we worship ourselves and forget about God.
3) Easy
The idol that I think of that is easy and attractive to get is money. Money I think can also be the easiest idol to replace God in our lives. Money is easy and can be easy and is very attractive because it is easy to get a lot of very easily.
4) Convenient                                                                                                                                 
Family is very convenient to idolize. We are born from a mom and dad and we usually have sisters or brothers. Family is familiar and comfortable and family is all around us. Family is who we love and cherish so family is a very convenient idol. 
5) Normal or what everyone else was doing
Success in our lives and achieving that next promotion is what everyone else is doing right? This idol of success is a big one and we often forget we are doing it because it is normal and what each person, even those inside the church, are after. 
6) Logical and made sense in our world
How many romance and love movies and books have we seen or read. The world wants love and people desire love and romance so romance and the idol that it can be is very attractive, logical, and make sense in a love starved world. 
7) Pleasing to the Senses
The idol I think of when I think pleasing to the senses is entertainment. How many times do we spend the money to go to the movie, the baseball game, or on a video game, rather than send the extra to help God and His church further the good news of Jesus or help the needy neighbor down the street.
8) Indulgent and very satisfying
The idol that this is attractive with is called achievement. We all want to be recognized and get the reward because it feels good and is very satisfying. We all like to work hard and win the prize and feel great about our work, not because it glorifies God but because it makes us feel good. 
9) Erotic and full of pleasure
The idols that I think of when I think of this attraction is the idol of sex. Sex is very erotic and full of pleasure. Come to think of it I think you could put sex for all 9 of these attractions.

Fellowship

How many time do we think or understand what it means to fellowship with other believers? This past weekend I had the opportunity to spend time in fellowship. First, my church family was going to take part in a work day to help a widow in need with her house. We were going to work hard and sweat in service for God helping one of His children. But we were going to rub shoulders and fellowship together over the work project. Because of rain this event was postponed for 2 weeks. As I was falling asleep that night I realized that I had missed the opportunity to gather with my brothers, even though it was going to be work, and have fun together serving Jesus. Then on Sunday we had a drop in at our new house to celebrate with others the blessings from God. We had all different people enter our home for a time of fellowship. We had friends from our old church, our new church, family, and close friends outside of church. It was a time of celebration as laughing, catching up, and the joy of company took place. This too was a great time of fellowship and as I fell asleep that night I was grateful for an exhausting day but a great day of love and joy with others. Both of these times are times when fellowship take place.

Both of these possible occasions got me to think there is no book or set standard to what fellowship as children of God is. We can fellowship with others over work, food, fun, worship, study, games, outreach, pretty much any activity that involves love for each other and a love for God. Fellowship can take place in homes, the church, a forest, a work site, a street corner, a soup kitchen, or in a car. Fellowship will take place when God's blessings are celebrated, when serving each other takes place, when a genuine love is had for one another, or when heart ache hits and we cry with each other. Fellowship can take place in a group or one on one. Fellowship can take place with a mix of young and old or among a group of men and women.

Fellowship is something that every child of God needs and like the other day when we miss it we realize the void and desire it all the more. The Sunday of the drop in was exhausting, but it was a beautiful exhausting and for no other reason would I fall asleep being happy yet tired. Fellowship is something that all believers need for sharpening, making us feel loved, giving us courage, and honing our skills and attributes. Fellowship is anvital part of the Christian walk. I have discovered from my own life that it is a part I cannot live without and after my study of the Bible, think it is a part no Christian can live without.

Simply put, God is a being of relationships, so we must be also. We must love each other and fellowship together in every way possible and in every chance we are given. Fellowship is a blessing from God that we must enjoy, as we enjoy each other.

Courage

I recently read a story about 2 men testing out a new shark repellent. They first threw chum or shark bait into the water. After about 10 minutes a dozen sharks were circling in the water and it included 3 big tiger sharks. Then one man grabs a camera and jumps right in the water with them while the other guy grabs the re-pulsar and after a few seconds drops that in the water after his friend. Instantly all of the sharks run away from the man in the water and after a few minutes he is completely alone in the water. Then last night I was watching the first Hobbit film and a line from the book is spoken by Gandalf in the movie. Gandalf tells Bilbo, "true courage is not taking a life but knowing when to spare a life".

Both of these instances reminded me of a section of my teaching time tomorrow. This fall we have started to work our way through the book of Philippians and in the middle section of chapter 1, Paul talks about advancing the Gospel. At one point Paul points out that others have advanced the Gospel with all boldness. Paul is reminding us that it takes courage to get the news of Jesus out there. To truly preach Jesus in the world full of people who hate Him, it is like jumping in the water with sharks. Gandalf is right, to tell others about Jesus and save their eternal life is true courage. When we truly do not slink down from our duty of defending and preaching Jesus, it is true courage. Satan is the king of this world and sin is counter Jesus. We must have courage and hold on to the courage to preach Jesus. Courage is a character trait that we need as Christians to honor Jesus and proclaim His name

Quotable Friday

People need to hear the gospel with words, but our good words will mean very little without our good walk.

Is Football an idol?

I don’t think being a huge football fan is automatically, or even normally, idolatrous. I’ve loved watching football as long as I can remember. It’s one of the many habits of sports fandom I picked up from my dad. Each year when I start to get sad about the inevitable ending of summer, I am cheered to think that with everything we start to lose in the month of September–daylight, heat, leaves, pool time, vacations, sleeping in–at least we gain football.

Americans love football like the rest of the world loves. . . .football. Except in our football the actions takes place six seconds at a time and the players pretend they are NOT hurt.

Wherever there is a consuming passion for anything that is not God there is the danger of idolatry. And football is certainly a consuming passion for many in this country. So what are some of the signs that football has grown to idolatrous proportions in the heart of the Christian?

Here are three questions to help in your self-diagnosis:

1. Is ministry and worship on the Lord’s Day compromised by my allegiance to football on Saturday and Sunday?

It’s a bit of common grace goodness to unwind during part of your Saturday watching college football. My Sunday scruples are even sufficiently lenient that a little football on Sunday can be enjoyable (and usually a nice precursor to a nap). But let’s keep our priorities straight. And twelve hours of football on Saturday, only to be dead tired for church on Sunday, is not the right priority. Some Christians drive hours every Saturday to watch their team live on the field. If that’s a way to spend time with your family and enjoy being outside seven Saturdays this fall, that’s great. If it means you miss attending your own church for the next three months, not so great. And when it comes to Sunday, football should not dictate whether we can attend a Sunday school class, whether we stay for the missionary potluck, whether we can invite a new family over for lunch, or whether we can come back for evening worship. Football is fun–in its place. Football in the place of worship is, well, worship.

2. Are my emotions all out whack?

How do you feel when your team loses? I don’t think you have to feel especially chipper about it. We root for our teams for all sorts of reasons: regional pride, family tradition, loyalty to our alma mater, comradery with friends. A little bummed-out-ness is fine. The opposite of idolatry is not emotional detachment from most of life. And yet, some of us need to get a grip. It’s a game! A game with a ball, played by men in tights. Caring about your son’s JV scrimmage is no excuse for berating other grown men (let alone children).

Go ahead and root your guts out for the Fighting Turkey Vultures but don’t be a bore to your wife and a louse to your kids just because they lost a nail-biter to the Flying Turnips in overtime. If the good news of Jesus’ resurrection can’t outweigh the bad news of your team’s minus 3 turnover differential you’ve got some heart work to do. Cheer when your team wins and kick the dirt when they lose, but don’t show up to church a sourpuss and don’t sit their emotionally unengaged during the worship of our Triune God when everyone knows how you can jump, jive, and wail for a perfectly placed pooch punt. Where your heart leaps out of your chest, there your treasure is also.

3. Can my conversation go deeper than football?

Sports is a great entry point for many conversations. It’s more interesting than the weather and safer than politics. I don’t feel bad talking about sports in the church lobby or across the lawn in the neighborhood. But the point of wading through the shallow section of the pool is to get to the deep end. Don’t stop at sports. Don’t settle for being the guy who knows only one question: “Did you catch the game?” Press on to more important matters. Redeem the time in between commercials. Don’t waste your tailgate.

I see no problem in caring about football. But the man or woman who cares only about sports doesn’t care about nearly enough. Go ahead and give football a little bit of your weekend. Just don’t give it your worship.

*This blog was originally publish and written by Kevin DeYoung @ the gospel colation cite. You can find it here  http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/kevindeyoung/2014/09/09/three-questions-to-help-diagnose-possible-football-idolatry/*

Set a Fire

I want a faith that's so alive

It can be seen

I want a hope I cannot hide

Even when I'm weak

I want a love that speaks the truth

Of what I believe

I want You, You're all I need

Set a fire in me

Bring me to my knees

Like a rushing wind

Consume this heart again

Set a fire

Turn a spark inside of me

To a holy flame

Melt away all my fear

It fills me with strength

Come and bring this heart to life

'Cause I'm not ashamed

I want You, You're all I need

Yeah, I want You, Jesus

You're all I need!

Set a fire in me

Bring me to my knees

Like a rushing wind

Consume this heart again

Set a fire

Set a fire!

Oh, let Your love be a wave of mercy

Come in me, open up my eyes

Oh, fill my heart with a passion burning

Come in me, open up my eyes!

Set a fire in me

Bring me to my knees

Like a rushing wind

Consume this heart again

Set a fire!

Oh, set a fire in me

Bring me to my knees

Like a rushing wind

Consume this heart again

Set a fire!

Set a fire!

God still works, in spite of me

This past Sunday was one of those days. I did not sleep right the night before. I felt groggy all day and was always feeling in a rush to do things. I felt more nervous than normal leading the worship service. I had distractions in my mind and emotions more than a normal day. It was one of those days where I stood up to teach and after I had finished I felt like throwing up. I have not had many of those days. but I know that everyone has days they feel off. I was glad when my head finally hit the pillow on Sunday night.

But I love more than anything how the Lord works in spite of ourselves. I read a preaching article on Monday that gave me encouragement. In the article the author states, "simply put, preaching is using the spoken word to open the written word to proclaim the Incarnate Word". This brought be joy in the fact that in spite of how I talk, it is always God talking first and last. God controls the word that was written and is the Incarnate Word. God then also controls through the Spirit how the words are received by the people in the pew. This is evidence by the encouragement that my beloved gave me when she was telling of a conversation she had with someone in church about how my teaching time spoke to them and they heard from God that day what they need for that day.

This type of day gives me hope then knowing that I can try all I want but it is all about God. This type of day then also drives me to work harder and draw closer to God knowing that if I prepare more and rely more on the power of God, He can do even more amazing things. I have been finding myself spending more time in prayer over my sermons the more I teach. I love days like this past Sunday because it reminds me that I need to get myself out of the way and let God do the talking and run His show. So, even though this was a Sunday that I will be glad to put behind me, it was a reminder, an encouragement, and a total dependence on the fact God is still at work when I feel like I am not. I pray now this week that I will have the power of the Spirit to feel confident and courageous as I share the Incarnate Word and get out of God's way.

I needed a laugh

Do not try this in your church!

What is meekness?

Attribute of Jesus that I think we do not give much attention to is His meekness. Jesus is the Son of God, the guy who spoke and the world came into being. Jesus said light and light showed up. Jesus said I want a dog and there was a dog. Jesus deigned the beauty of a rose and created the noise of thunder. Jesus walked on water and told the storm to cease. Jesus even told Lazarus to come forth and Lazarus came out of the grave alive.

But there Jesus was; getting hit with fist, knocked on the head and even spit on. Jesus stood before an unjust ruler, Pilate, and took false accusations from the Sanhedrin. Then, Jesus gets crucified and is hanging on the cross dying a horrible, painful, slow death, and even taking ridicule from the crowd, in front of His mom and best friend.

I know that if I had the power Jesus did at that moment someone would have been a pile of sand and some lighting would have been flying all over the place. But that is not what Jesus did. Jesus meekly stayed on the cross and took all of that even though He did not have to. 1 Peter tells us that, "Jesus did not retaliate when He suffered, and He made no threats". Jesus in all His meekness "entrusted Himself to the One who judges justly". That is true meekness. Trusting God, who can use His power perfectly to deal with things, even when we have the power to deal with it.

Jesus meekness is a great example for us to follow and next time you want to use your power, remember that even Jesus who had the true perfect power was meek enough to trust His Father, God.

Jesus did not die for what?

I read a blog this week entitled "4 things Jesus did not die for". It was a great read that made me think and begin to understand what Jesus did die for. Here is the blog to read for yourself.

http://thegospelcoalition.org/article/4-things-jesus-didnt-die-for

Quotable Friday

You stand in the right because grace atones. You desire what is right because grace transforms.You do what is right because grace empowers. It's all grace!~Paul Tripp

Anticipation

I am sitting here tonight getting ready for the start of the NFL season. The anticipation of this coming season has been ridiculous. They have been talking this season since April and the rookie draft. They have been doing team synopsis since the end of July and training camp. Predication and season analysis have been going on for over a week now. And to top off the anticipation, they have had a 60 min pregame show talking mostly about the 2 teams playing tonight. There has been commercials and adds for this coming football season. I think direct tv has had a commercial ever other time and please, do not even get me started on the internet craze when it comes to the new season. This anticipation got me thinking about some other anticipations.

The first anticipation I thought about was the birth of Jesus. Was anyone anticipating the Savior to come in the form of a baby in a manger? Was Mary and Joseph anticipating their new born Son to take away the sin of the world? Where the shepherds asleep in the desert really ready for God in the flesh to make an appearance that night? I find when I pour over the Bible only 2 people were anticipating the first coming of Jesus and they were ready for Him (read Luke 2:22-38).

The second anticipation I think about then is the second coming of Jesus. This time we know Jesus is coming. The Bible says so every few prophecies and now even our times are telling us that Jesus is coming back soon. This is an anticipation that I think we do not get ready for enough. Do our lives tell others that we are anticipating the return of Jesus? Does our mouth and words tell others that we are anticipating the return of Jesus? I know from my life, more times than not I am satisfied with this life and the anticipation I need for the return of Jesus is not good. But this is not what Paul and Peter were calling us to be like. Paul thought he was living in the end times and was anticipating the return of Jesus. We are 2000 years later and I find our anticipation in the church has waned and we have become comfortable.

What are you anticipating?

Fix My Eyes

My daughters love this song and it has been running through my head now for over a month.

Leaving a Church

I have had the opportunity in my life to leave 2 different churches over 3 different situations. I left my first church when I was 19 because of a girl that I eventually married. Then when I was 26 I left that church with my wife and children because we all needed more from the worship gathering. Finally I left the first church (which my family and I had returned to) to become a Pastor at the church I am at now. Except this last church exit, which I grieved over greatly, each of the other 2 exits I did not think to much about after the decision was made. I prayed about the situation, made my decisions, and then moved on. After each leave I did not look back and second guess myself and trusted that God was allowing me to follow where He was leading me and my family.

Over the last month I have watched the first couple leave the church that I now call home. As a Pastor and a little shepherd, this exit does not sit with me well at all. From the perspective of being a Pastor and loving all my sheep the church exit is not a simple pray and move event. I am grieved at the lost, especially since the couple as given up on the church entirely, but overall I second guess myself and what I am doing now from this perspective. This time when the church exit happened I took it personally and it hurt much worse. I did not even know the couple that well but knowing they left and gave up on the church stung badly. So leaving the church in this situation was much different from my perspective now that I was on the other end.

So what do both of these situations mean? I realized now that leaving a church and moving on is not as simple as my mind made it seem years ago. Yes, the church as Jesus see's it is a universal body without walls and all God's children are the same in one. But relationships and loving one another inside those walls is much different. I know now, that as I have over the last month, will fight more and love better for those relationships and not simply let someone slide out and exit the church. As a pastor now the simple idea of leaving a church is huge and not simple. So I know that I must pour out my heart to God for those leaving and unless they are leaving for legitimate reasons I must fight for their soul and desire for them to stay. I now know as a Pastor that I must trust God more than ever for people moving on from the church. Leaving a church is not a simple action and should never be an easy decision.

Jesus Prayer Life

What does the Bible show us about the prayer life of Jesus. When we put the 4 Gospels together we can learn very much about prayer from Jesus. Remember that prayer is simply a conversation between you and God, you are talking to God and then listening to Him talk back. Jesus in His life gives us the greatest and wisest examples and teaching about prayer. Here is a list of the many things that Jesus shows us about prayer by His example.

He prayed early in the morning.
He prayed in a quiet solitary place away from any distractions.
He prayed all night long, like 12 hours of solid prayer.
He prayed before any major decisions that He had to make, like choosing the 12 disciples.
He prayed about His needs.
He prayed about His wants and desires.
He prayed for God's will to be done.
He prayed to His daddy.
He prayed while weeping.
He prayed while filled with joy and excitement.
He prayed while in anguish of the future.
He prayed for others.
He prayed humbly yet confidently.
He prayed and fasted.
He prayed and listened to His Fathers voice.
He prayed continually.

How many of these examples of Jesus prayer life do we practice in ours? It is a great place to start when we think about prayer and having a conversation with God our Father.