Kid President -How To Be An Inventor!

On a day I am feeling under the weather, this is a good cute laugh and yet very inspiring.

"Captain America" theological review

So I got to hang out with my best friend tonight and we went to see the new Captain America movie. Usually after I see a movie I discover a few theological ideas that the movie is trying to teach to the viewers. Captain America I have to say was a little different so I will break this post down into first a movie review and then a theological idea that I picked up on.

Movie Review

So "Captain America:The Winter Soldiers" is a thrilling, fast paced, adventure, spy movie. The actions starts a few minutes in and continues to almost the end when a few loose pieces are tied together and Marvel does what it does best, tie-ins to the next set of movies. Chris Evans does a good job at playing Captain America, as an individual that is driven by good and cannot understand when that good is compromised. I personally like Samuel L Jackson in this movie. I think his portrayal as Nick Fury is the best so far, for him, in this movie. Maybe because this is the most screen time he has gotten so far or maybe also because they play into the Nick Fury court when good looks like bad and bad looks like good. Ultimately this movie though is a spy thriller that is full of action and is all about what is good and should that good control others. I would recommend this movie to anyone for a good enjoyment to watch.

Theological Review

Honestly this movie does not teach or show much theology of any kind. Some might say differently but I feel this is just a strait action movie that goes from one point to the next. Something I did note though while watching is the fact that a main story line running though the movie is about protection. Who should protect who and how should that protection look. SHIELD is a organization that protects people and in this movie that protection is tested, a good protection verses and evil protection.. As I was watching this unfold, I realized that I can praise God that I have Him for protection. I do not need some organization, flying ship, or even superhero to protect me. I have Jesus, the one true hero, for protection and I have the sovereign all-powerful Creator to guide and keep me safe. That I think is the overwhelming truth that this movie cannot show and we as lovers of Jesus truly know. 

Reminding myself

So, the Lord has blessed my perseverance and patience in Him. The Lord has brought me to a new amazing faith family to love, guide, teach, equip, and serve. God has placed a burden on my shoulders and has brought me to a place that now more than ever I need His power in my life and a humble spirit to lean and trust on Him to provide. As I have been thinking and praying about my new role in this faith family I was reminded of a post that I wrote months ago. I need to reread it and remind myself that as I venture out into this new life and service for God somethings though in my life should and will not change. And in those areas and relationships that do not change I need to grow and become stronger in. My first priority in this life after God is the one area that will not change by this new adventure and in fact my relationship with my beloved should grow stronger through this new adventure and challenge. So here is a re-post from months ago about my relationship with my wife that I need to remind myself of.

Priority #1

 As I have moved one step further into my journey with God each day I seem to be reminded that no matter what I do, I must put my family first. I believe this will be vitally important when I get into full time Pastoral ministry. 

I have first learned to sense when my wife and better half is in need. I have notice that unless I bring her along with me in this journey and share with her a lot of what God is doing in me and through me, she seems lost. I have noticed that her gauge is tuned into mine. When I feel close to God she is strong confident and is a great support. But when I become distracted, disillusioned, and totally over burdened in life, she to can become irritable and a stress factor for me. This also then factors into her spiritual heart beat and relationship with God. This challenges me to because I believe that God makes the man accountable to Him for the spiritual heart and the wife. 

God is reminding me through each step that when, Lord willing, I become enthralled in my ministry and my faith family that I shepherd that I will only go as far as my wife's support. My wife must come first because then and only then will my ministry succeed. As Paul reminds us in Ephesians, "husbands are to love their wives as Christ loves the church". 

This means practically that my ministry cannot come first before my wife. My wife must come first. She must be the ultimate sacrifice and my first choice. She must realize that she means the world to me and that even as the weight of ministry and love of God's children, she is still my first and most important love. 

God created the man and women and the relationship of oneness in marriage before sin entered the world, before His mission through Christ, and way before the church. This union is the foundation for the rest of the Christian life and it is also what I found to be the foundation for success in what happens next. That means and what I have come to realize my wife is the most important thing and relationship in my life next to my bond and relationship with God. 

Quotable Friday

"The chief end of man is to glorify God by enjoying Him forever"~ The shorter Westminster Catechism tweaked by John Piper

Are you enjoying God? Just God, not what He is doing or has done for you! We need to love Jesus for Jesus and who He is.

Mom Thank You-money and ministry repost

Thank you all for your prayers for my mother and her cancer surgery today. The surgery went well. The doctor feels he got all the cancer and after a round of chemo starting in a few weeks after her recovery, this cancer thing will be kicked from her. So thank you all for your prayers for her. Please continue to pray for her and my wife as they journey together over the next few weeks in this early recovery stage.

Also thank you all for your prayers as I have began my new amazing call with my amazing new faith family. I wanted to re-post a blog that I ranted on from this past October about money and share that God has answered and been faithful with my money desires for my family and also staying true to my faith family as I serve them. I praise God for His many blessings. So here is a re-post of my money rant from October 8th 2013 and God has truly blessed in spite of this rant.



"So first when I mean my journey, I am talking about the call of God in my life to serve Him and when I mean serve Him, I mean work in a full time pastoral role. This has been an interesting and exciting journey. I have trusted God each step of the way and He seems to teach me something new everyday. One of the biggest things I am continually learning about is the relationship between my family (my beautiful bride and my lovable and crazy kids) and my future ministry. A discussion I have been reading about over the last few days that has many sides to it is money and a Pastor. How much is to much and how much is not enough for a Pastor. That can be a tough question. This is where I think the relationship between my family and my ministry is important. I believe that my family should and will always come first before my ministry. I will dive into this conviction in my life in the next post but it is what has stemmed me with every decision I have made up to this point in regards to my position in ministry. But when it comes to money, I believe I need to make enough that my family is supported and not hurt by my ministry. This does not mean my family has to live in luxury and have a vacation home with 4 cars and a 4,000 sq/ft house, but what it does mean is my family is taken care of and not in need. The money level in my life and pay for doing God's work must not make my family despise the church and God for the sacrifice but love Jesus even more for the blessing and grace He has give the family for serving Him. This means as I am looking at the ministry God will lead my family in, the level of money that He will provide must be sufficient to support and meet the needs of my family. I have come to follow God's leading in my life by using money to guide me in my search and not have money be the root of evil and despair."

I praise God that He has answered and blessed in the money desires that I have had for my new exciting ministry with my new faith family and church home. 

Attractions of Idolatry

Recently I was listening to a lecture for my OT survey class. In the lecture the Professor was discussing the book of Judges and the attractions of idolatry that the Hebrew people were dealing with. In his comments the Professor stated that the Hebrew people continually gave into their idolatrous temptation and the attractions that it gave. For the Hebrew people it was merely impossible not to fall in to the attractions of idolatry unless they strictly and intentionally kept their eyes focused on God and His amazing grace in bringing them out of Egypt and His loving care in providing a Promised Land flowing with milk and honey. Here are the attractions that the Professor gave that idolatry had for the Hebrew people.

1) Worship and an access to a god or goddess was guaranteed
2) Selfish
3) Easy
4) Convenient
5) Normal or what everyone else was doing
6) Logical and made sense in our world
7) Pleasing to the Senses
8) Indulgent and very satisfying
9) Erotic and full of pleasure

First as I was thinking about the professor's comment about focusing on God intentionally and not falling into the attraction, I have to say that it is the same for us today. We today must continually focus intentionally and strictly on God. God has given us amazing grace on the cross and continues to give us grace daily. God has also in His loving care for us provided a new life filled with new hope and new joy in Him and His daily provisions. We are the same as the Hebrew people thousands of years ago.

Secondly I believe that we face the exact same 9 attractions in our idolatry today. Our idols might not be wooden or brass figures or animals sitting on our wall or in a stone temples that we must walk to. But our idols are all around us; money, power, sex, celebrities, our stomachs, family, jobs, friends, cars, other big boy toys, our lives, and the list could go on. And we might not have to walk to a stone temple but our idols do have other temples like; stadiums, movie theaters, malls, computers, houses, skyscrapers, and the list goes on.

So our attractive idols are just like the Hebrew people from Judges, they might change names, places, and sizes, but they are still there and they are still as attractive. Tomorrow I would like to open up the attractions and look at some of the ways our idols are just as attractive in the same categories.

Who is on First

In honor of April Fool's day and the Pirates winning on Opening day!