Through the Eyes of my Son...

J. Oswald Sander was quoted saying “Eyes that look are common… Eyes that see are rare.” … Rare indeed , except through the eyes of a 6 year old boy…

Since he was born, I have preached many sermons inspired by my son. His honesty and innocence have helped me to remember how to see the world that I have forgotten how to see and quite often , I am completely humbled by the most simple of gestures… This morning as my nephew Carlos came out for coffee , Kole threw  his arms around Carlos and said “I love you Carlos ,sometimes for NO REASON”…Once more , my son has been the teacher and I have been the student.. Do we really need a reason to love each other ?

1 John 4 :7-8 says” Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love”…

There is no question – my son KNOWS God as he also KNOWS LOVE … And I have been joyfully reminded of how we ALL should be  - once more through the eyes of my son…

Study the Bible with me , the invitation is ALWAYS open...

Read 1 John 3:11-24

Breaking the Cycle in 2013...

If you know me , then you know by nature I am an optimist. I give strong diligence to always trying to find the best in every situation , and everyone. Admittedly – this has become extremely difficult in our current time and despite very good things that happened in my own life , 2012 was a hard year to see through positive eyes.  With a culture that has adopted a completely debased mindset and shoved God out of everything , its difficult for even me to fight the Monster within…but I do…and I press on – with much hope for the oncoming year.

The sense of renewal that comes with the passing of the old year and the anticipation of the new one to come is nothing short of exhilarating!  As humans we love the idea of beginning again ,fresh .. another opportunity to somehow ,this time – get it right… To truly change something about our lives for the better … to make a difference. All to often however  , this fades. It fades because the mistakes of last year and it’s consequences follow us , or because while change sounds good – it often requires too much work from us and so we fall back to our old comfortable habits … The truth is –  We allow history to repeat itself and then look to God as somewhere to place  blame .. There should be no need to remind anyone of this – but it was man and his CHOICE that brought sin into the world , not God .The consequence of sin is DEATH ,both physical and spiritual so everything around us now is in a state of decay . This makes renewal almost seem pointless , and yet every year – we vainly look with hopeful eyes to the promise of a new year and what it MAY bring…. but you see , that’s the point –  ”The Year” in and of itself doesn’t bring anything… WE DO.

This perspective changes things , doesn’t it? The truth is – “the universe” doesn’t bring anything to you or me ,but rather we bring the universe to us. Bad things happen to good people because of choices made before our time . Our morality in America didn’t just begin to decline , its been going on for decades and every passing generation feels the effects a little stronger from the choices made by the previous  - This very principle goes back to The Garden with Adam and Eve and the CHOICE of sin that THEY made and that we STILL suffer the consequence for. In the 50′s ,morality in America was at an all time high and now just some 60 years later it is truly at rock bottom. We have exchanged EVERY truth with a LIE – just as Eve did with thee fruit from the forbidden tree. The enemy added one word to Gods command  ,and changed mankind forever. In Genesis 2 :16-17  God said ” If you eat of the fruit from the tree of knowledge  of Good and Evil , Surely  -you will die”… Satan simply added the word”Not” and changed it to “Surely you will NOT die”…. But DIE we did… and we still do.

With violence and sexual immorality glorified in today’s culture , I can only imagine what truths we are exchanging for lies that our children will have to face and ultimately suffer for . Drug use continues to become more and more prevalent as people look to escape the reality of this world we have created and in doing so creating more and more of consequences they are trying to numb themselves to. Evil men make evil choices and pure and innocent minds are corrupted , thus making even more soldiers of the enemy for future generations. Economies crash because of greed , fear and paranoia prevail and  inevitably - somewhere  the innocent are slain down for NO APPARENT REASON ….. and we , who have welcomed these evils from previous times , who have exchanged truth for lies , who have pushed God out of EVERYTHING scream out with arms outstretched begging to know “WHERE IS GOD”???

He is exactly where he was when we first betrayed him , and where he was while we still betray him.

More importantly – He is exactly where he was when we nailed HIS some to the cross…. and he still waits there for us to CHOOSE HIM.

The REAL question is - “Where are YOU???”

In the midst of the consequences of our sin , God had a plan.. and through this plan – regardless of what condition the world is in , we can have peace – TRUE PEACE .. we can have renewal – TRUE RENEWAL ..and we can have change – TRUE CHANGE..

There are only 2 agents for change that can be served , and we all serve one  o r the other…2013  can be different from 2012… or not…. The CHOICE is truly ours.

¹⁵ And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” Joshua 24:15

If you are serious about change , as always – The invitation to Study the bible is ALWAYS open…   

Read  Romans 12:1-8

Peace , Perfect Peace... Some random thoughts on Peace.

Peace , perfect Peace...

The Personnel Journal reported this incredible statistic: since the beginning of recorded history, the entire world has been at peace less than eight percent of the time! In its study, the periodical discovered that of 3530 years of recorded history, only 286 years saw peace. Moreover, in excess of 8000 peace treaties were made--and broken.

True peace..complete and perfect , can only come from one source - its Author... Our Creator.

This time of year the phrase " Peace on Earth and Good Will towards all Men" is used quite a bit (although not as much as it used to be). Taken from Luke 2:14 , it is meant to be used as a sentiment of gesture , implying that we should all be peaceable towards each other... While I don't disagree with the sentiment , that's not actually what the scripture says. Its says "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”...

Who exactly is he pleased with? - Those who love him...those who obey him... Those who TRULY try to know him...

The truth is , the peace that is being talked about here is not that of war between men ,but peace between a disobedient creation and its creator. Being reconciled to God through faith ,love and obedience to his word can one only REALLY ever experience TRUE peace...

I for one , can testify to this truth.

Even then , the peace that we have through God doesn't ensure us a pain-free life ,but rather one of testing.Peace is not a life without trial ,but rather the quiet place you find among the noise ... safety in the midst of harm.... Comfort in the throes of utter turmoil and anguish....Peace that Jesus gives is not the absence of trouble, but is rather the confidence that He is there with you always.

I had read a short story of a man who sought the perfect picture of peace. Not finding one that satisfied, he announced a contest to produce this masterpiece. The challenge stirred the imagination of artists everywhere, and paintings arrived from far and wide. Finally the great day of revelation arrived. The judges uncovered one peaceful scene after another, while the viewers clapped and cheered.

The tensions grew. Only two pictures remained veiled.

As a judge pulled the cover from one, a hush fell over the crowd.

A mirror-smooth lake reflected lacy, green birches under the soft blush of the evening sky. Along the grassy shore, a flock of sheep grazed undisturbed. Surely this was the winner.

The man with the vision uncovered the second painting himself, and the crowd gasped in surprise. Could this be peace?

A tumultuous waterfall cascaded down a rocky precipice; the crowd could almost feel its cold, penetrating spray. Stormy-gray clouds threatened to explode with lightning, wind and rain. In the midst of the thundering noises and bitter chill, a spindly tree clung to the rocks at the edge of the falls. One of its branches reached out in front of the torrential waters as if foolishly seeking to experience its full power.

A little bird had built a nest in the elbow of that branch. Content and undisturbed in her stormy surroundings, she rested on her eggs.

With her eyes closed she spread her wings to cover her little ones...

She manifested peace in a place where there was none... A Peace that transcends all earthly turmoil. ...True peace.. Because safety consists not in the absence of danger but in the presence of God.
We are living in dark times .. and dark times don't require dark measures ,but rather - The Light ....I'll end this with the poem that inspired this thought tonight ,in hope that it will leave you with the same "Light" it left me..

" I rest beneath the Almighty's shade,
My griefs expire, my troubles cease;
Thou, Lord, on whom my soul is stayed,
Wilt keep me still in perfect peace."
                                                       

                                                       - Charles Wesley.

Windows...

“But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.”
(1 Samuel 16:7 ESV)

The human eye is incredible. The fact that there are actually 2 of them working together for the same purpose yet independently of each other is even more so…If you take in to account all the sequences that are firing off at this instant while you read this , it’s just plain staggering… There is no question ,given the complexity of these organs that they were carefully created with much thought and care.. They are often called “The Windows to the Soul”..

But for all their grandeur , they are still limited as to what they can do..

You will never be able to see your own face with the exception of the tip of your nose without the aid of a reflection..nor the back or top of your head ,with out the aid of some sort of reflection or mirror..I think we all would agree that we don’t leave the house to go anywhere without first checking our reflection first..but have you ever considered what it is we are checking?

You see we have set a standard in our minds that we check against, and depending on how the reflection looks we make adjustments – in other words we are looking for flaws… And when we find them, we make the corrections to our satisfaction and then we go about our business but regularly taking advantage of any reflective surface we pass – to just “be sure” that everything is still in check…

With all of our care and personal honesty we attack the flaws in mirror with conviction..yet what do we do about the inside?…how do our eyes see in there?… This is another limitation to the eye- it can’t look inward without a reflective surface…

So have you ever looked intently into a mirror…into your own eyes? Even then ,you can’t see whats in your heart… you can’t see the side of your self that no one else knows.. But God does – after all , if he put that much CARE into your EYES , how much more then did he for your SOUL?…

He created it.. He gave us his words to nourish it… and when we have broken it , he gave us his son to SAVE it…

Would he not also give us a way to CARE for it?.. A mirror of sorts to check for the flaws and make adjustments?… A standard to set our minds on?…. yet for many , that standard sits on a shelf and NEVER gets looked into…For all the beauty we take in with our eyes, nothing compares to the beauty and majesty The God who created us…The very least we can do is look in his book written for us so that we can come to know him. By this and this alone, we can then know ourselves and see our TRUE reflection..

For all of our complexity and beauty – we are flawed and fragile creatures…If eye sight is considered to be the most valued of the senses , how much more then is the soul and the ability to look inside and see your own – and be CONTENT with what you SEE?

The invitation to study is still open…

Read Psalm 139 ,all verses.

Do it – it will be worth it 

This Little Box...

This little box contains 2 things essentially -Thoughts and Time ,both mine and yours. For me , time is spent typing my stream of consciousness in an attempt to share something relevant with you that may be useful to you. For you , time is spent reading and considering what has been put before you for your  consideration and to hopefully provoke thoughts of your own..Therefore , given  the fact that I took time to write these things down and you have given YOUR time to read them  , then we are connected in this little box …. Here –  we share a moment in time and what I share with you MUST be worthy of your time or I have wasted both of ours…

Time is an extraordinarily complicated  facet of our lives. It was created by God to put forth life into motion , and to help us keep track of that life and its events and ultimately  , To give order and purpose… It was set in motion by Him and will only be stopped BY HIM when the TIME of HIS choosing has come.. Our great God in his wisdom didn’t give man the authority to rule over time ( imagine the mess we’d have if he did!) but rather gave him the ability to think ,reason and act on each moment as it’s presented to us. You see, we can never get a moment back once it has come , you only have 1 shot at it while its new … As soon as it comes –  because as quickly as it comes , it also goes and becomes the past . Even as I type this , and you read it – these small fragments of time are gone.. So let me get to my point and not waste the most precious commodity we have since we don’t really know how much of it we have been afforded…

We all have people that we care for and love in our lives. Our family…our friends…. I dare say that we have many people who we fight for or even die for if necessary . With that thought in mind , given only 1 hour of time left with them – how would you spend it?  I can t speak for you , but for me , it would certainly not be spent bickering over the trivial things  …nor would it be filled with “fluff ” or words that sound pretty and just take up “time”.. That last hour would be spent with them sharing with them, especially if I had not shared with them ,  the Gospel of Christ – This would be the PRIORITY. There is nothing more important than THIS…. NOTHING. You may be reading this and if you also believe that to be true or not , either way I urge you to consider one or both of these questions -

If you are a Christian already , you know that there is no other way to God  than naming the name of Jesus Christ proclaiming your faith in him, repenting of your sins and then dying to your old self in Baptism ,rising again  from the water a new creature in HIM  and living faithfully and obediently as possible for the rest of your life ( John 14:6 , Mark 16:16 ,Acts 2:36-42 , James 2:14-26 , 1 Peter 1 :13-25 and I could go on..) And so being a Christian you also know besides the importance of this message ,  the urgency of it because of TIME.. It says in Proverbs 27:1 that we are not promised tomorrow …

So why then? Why do we not tell our loved ones TODAY of this message? Why do we avoid  telling those closest to us that haven’t obeyed the Gospel of Christ about it? Are we afraid that it will end the friendship or make things “weird”?  Are we embarrassed or ashamed of it?…

A better question might be , do you REALLY love them at ALL? If you believe the Gospel is the most important thing to share with someone and yet you don’t share it – what does that REALLY say about your LOVE for them… A better question yet might be, How much do you have to HATE someone NOT to share the Gospel with them?…

It’s a harsh thought and my intention is not to offend or accuse ,  but  only to make us think while we are inside this little box together , so that we can ACT outside of it….

People are going to die without the Gospel of Christ. People are dying right now with out it. Don’t let it be people you LOVE , much less anyone you come in contact with… “ Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”(Matthew 28:18-20 ESV) …. This doesn’t say “Preacher Go” … it simply says “GO” and the implication is “NOW” because time is limited as I have already stressed…. If you are a believer ,  then you have work to do…

IF you are NOT a believer , then now comes my second question that I spoke of earlier –  Why Not?

I have just briefly just shared the  Gospel of Christ with you in a very small and simple sense…Much more can be expounded on , but would need to take place outside of this box. IF the evidence I presented is enough, please consider what has been shared between us and please , I beg you act upon it… IF you require further study then please  ,please contact me either by message here or email or phone and allow me the pure privilege of sharing more with you the Good news about Christ and how much he loved and still loves  us all ..  I promise not to waste ANY of your , or my time…..All of my contact info is available  -

I have used the space inside this little box for quite a while to engage in a moment in time with anyone who may read my ramblings , in hopes of  encouraging  some , provoking others just to think but always to offer an invitation to study the bible with me. While a few have accepted that invitation ,by the worlds standards I have been a failure…but its not about numbers.. It’s about LOVE.

God loved us enough to die for us , so we can spend eternity with him…  Because I love HIM I also have an unfeigned love for all people  -  so I will continue to offer the same invitation to study today , tomorrow  and so on…as long as time allows … From this little box

The invitation to study the bible is STILL open  ;)

Read  Ephesians 5  , giving strong attention to verses 15,16 and 17
.

Become..

In Mathew 23:37 Jesus laments -"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing..."

What a sad scene! .. Seeing all the potential in people, yet none of it in motion..Reduced down by life and its trials only to see what was left..What they had BECOME..

I can identify with Jesus here.. We all see people who are hurting , and yet instead of seeking comfort and solace - they lash out in anger and malice..People who are capable of great things and yet too apathetic to act or care..People who have every blessing that would be considered "good" , and yet are NEVER satisfied with what they have.. People who will always find a complaint , rather than a kind word.. People LIE for gain , and then LIE to avoid consequences..People who demand TOLERANCE, but TOLERATE NOTHING in return... People who go to war with EVERYONE in their life because they HATE who they have BECOME...

I see people who have bought what the world is selling and traded their souls for it... and by doing this have been CHEATED.

But I also see people who are fighting... Fighting the private wars inside all of us.. Fighting the desire to be selfish and instead be generous.. Fighting apathy and instead being caring..Fighting the desire to be malcontent and instead being content with what they have..Fighting the urge to be hateful and being KIND instead.. Fighting to be honest NO MATTER the CONSEQUENCE... People who are fighting the GOOD FIGHT because of who it means they MAY BECOME!..

I see also people who gave the world back what it was selling, because they know that there is something BETTER.

Which will you be? The slave to sin the world wants to you to be?
Or , the Fighter God wants you to be?

The truth is , we are all flawed...and we are all broken... and our scars beg for us to succumb to the ugliness that life sells us - but in fighting the ugliness ... comes TRUE beauty.

In fighting the good fight , we can be the people we were intended to BECOME...

The invitation to study the bible is STILL open... Wont you join me?   ;)

Bittersweet..

It’s funny , I have probably driven  up this road more than a couple of thousand times in that last 11 years and yet today I noticed things that I hadn’t before… Not that I hadn’t ever seen them before , but I supposed today I really appreciated them.  The small horse farm between our neighborhood and the grocery store seemed to reach out and pull me in – almost as if I was moving in slow motion so that I could fully take in the charm of the old barn , the horses and the tiny house.  I thought to myself of how awesome it was nestled here in suburbia between the ever-growing development of new neighborhoods and shops  , that right here in this 1 mile stretch of road  -  beauty still remained…I appreciated the 3 dead oak trees that I have wondered for years would ever fall , and marveled at them because they hadn’t… They just stood there stoic against the backdrop of  changing fall leaves ,almost as if they were putting on one last show for me before I go…

I just took it all in… Because in a week , my scenery will change. Not that I don’t look forward to the move and the opportunity before me to work with the church there – I mean I still can’t believe that this work will not only be the thing that sustains me and my family ,but it is the work that I truly ,truly love to do… I can barely stand the anticipation of waiting to just to “get there” , and yet –  there is sadness..though I wouldn’t  exactly call it sadness ,but I suppose more of a” nostalgia in real-time” …. It’s bittersweet  - not just leaving  my friends and family ,but my surroundings..my memories here..my road…my grocery store… my town. … Sugar Hill Georgia.

These things will all be new for us in a few weeks ,and while I am riddled with excitement of what our new places will be to us THERE, I’m caught up in a meld of moments of what these places have been to me HERE … For instance –  I obeyed the Gospel of Christ here.. I kicked addiction and got sober here.. I fought for my marriage ,  and won it back  here.. I raised both of my kids here , and this has been their home as long as they can remember…In a very real sense , I too have grown up here!  It should be no surprise to me that in the  last few weeks  I have noticed MORE of what I have taken for granted for so long , and taken advantage of the time left here – and really  , really appreciated this place…

As I sit here in front of the screen thinking of how next to word my next sentence, a  thought enters my head that I just can’t ignore – I wonder how Jesus felt in his last days? I wonder , did he take in all  his surroundings? Although he had left heaven and ultimately emptied himself as deity to the form of a human – surely he appreciated his creation? Surely he took a good look around and saw that it was indeed  , GOOD (Genesis 1:31)…Or his relationships with those that he loved ? His mother? His brothers and sisters? John? …Peter? No question that Jesus dreaded the fate that awaited him –  we see the evidence of the sweat drops of blood as he prayed in the garden for it to pass from him(Luke 22:44) – so how much more did he soak up all the little moments leading up to that dreaded tree? Although he was God – he also was human.. He felt joy and happiness…  as well as pain and anguish and its only my humble opinion ,but he HAD to  have taken a really good look around and said to himself ” It’s gonna be hard to let this go”…

But I’m only presuming , and I wouldn’t dare to make a statement for him that he didn’t say  nor would I assume to know his thoughts on these things – they weren’t revealed in scripture… I suppose its me and my humanity desperately trying to relate to his… But after all – earth is NOT heaven , but man -

It sure does have its moments…

In the last month , I have subjected myself to situations that normally I would not have. Work situations that I normally would turn down due to personality conflicts or control issues… I have done this only for the purpose of  aiding me in the move of my family to another state for the great opportunity that awaits us there to serve our great God and to help others who may be seeking him. Enduring these moments with the knowledge of what waits has been nearly unbearable at times  , and admittedly burdening on my soul…

But today – I drove up my road , on the way to my store , in my town  and took in my surroundings .Maybe for the first time since I have lived here – I made the backdrop the subject , and not just the wallpaper of my mind while I drove from one place to the next …In doing so , it made the events of the past month a little easier to swallow and the taste that will be left  in my mouth of this place , a little sweeter than yesterday.

Maybe for the first time , Sugar Hill GA lived up to its name – It has provided me with a sweetness that has over come the bitterness of leaving , and a regained appetite for the journey to come..

Philippians 3:14  -”I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”

And press on , I will….