Do You Know the Truth?

Truth is absolute and pure. It is what it is. Hot is hot...truth. Cold is cold...truth. There is a world that wants you to believe truth is hard to see. A world that wants you to think truth is hard to find. The world says you need an advocate, but they define the advocate. Maybe you need someone to tell you how to eat. Maybe you need someone to tell you how to spend your money. Maybe you need someone to tell you how to deal with the brokenness of your family.

What the world has to offer is people to give you their opinions. What they think is truth...what they think is right and wrong. The world says your belief system is fine, even if your belief system is to believe nothing. The world says any relationship is appropriate. The world says have sex. Exploit it. Show it off. Do it everywhere with anyone. The world says it is O.K. for you to like people who are like you and to oppose people who are different. The world says drink it. Snort it. Shoot it up. The world says abuse the system, because the system owes you. The world is chaos, confusion...the world is lost.

There is an alternative. Another truth. This truth is not confused. This truth does not rush. This truth's timing is always on schedule. There is a word that tells you love, but love appropriately. Make love, but not when it hurts someone. There is a word who says live life. Live it to the fullest, but don't snort it, drink it, shoot it up. There is a truth that says love and forgive, but that doesn't entail saying you are right when you are wrong.

There is a truth that saves. There is a truth that is life. There is a truth that will lift you out of despair, pain, darkness. Do you know truth? Do you want truth.

The word became man...became flesh to show us the Way. There is truth. Do you know truth? He has a name...only one name. He is not Buddha, Muhammad, Oprah, money, over-indulgence.

There is only one name for truth. His name is Jesus. He came to save you, to include you in God's kingdom. Jesus came to go against the world, to be counter-cultural, to be radical. He is gentle, yet strong. He is humble, yet all powerful. You can step out of darkness and into the light. Call His name. Praise Him. Pray to Him. Love Him, and be loved by Him.

There is truth. His name is Jesus.

Every Chance

When you open your eyes, it is a chance. When you breathe in, it is a chance. Every time it's not cancer, every time the car doesn't hit you, every time the doctor says it is fine, every time you punch the clock, every time you go to dinner, every time you have the opportunity to give, every time a sign-up sheet is placed in the foyer...

Every time...

Every time...

Your day is filled with opportunities. God is giving you life. Jesus saved you to live. Who are you living for? Are you living for you? Are you living for your spouse...your children? Are you living for your job? Are you living to be known? Are you living to be pretty?

Or, are you living so that others see Jesus in you? He is either your number one, or He is not. He either is your first priority, or He is not. You either read your Bible every day and spend time with the Word Made Flesh or you don't. You either are forgiving, or your not. You either loved your enemy today or you didn't.

Jesus came to save you. Jesus came so that you may have life, and have it to the full. Jesus came so that your sins could be washed away...so they wouldn't stay with you forever...so they wouldn't weigh you down and press you all the way to the floor. Jesus came to lift you up, to clothe you in beauty, to put a crown on your head, to fill you with compassion, to show you love.

Is He your heart's desire, or isn't He. Why did God open your eyes this morning? TO LOVE HIS SON!

What are you doing with every chance you've been given?

Big News...Good News

Oh, I get it! I get it! I get it! I read things...like Titus 2...that says be gentle, be submissive, be loving. Well, that's pretty, but I don't really want to be gentle. In fact, I don't believe God made me gentle. So, how can I be obebient to the Word and answer His calling???

J-E-S-U-S!!!

I am about to just bust! Jesus did not back down. He didn't manipualte, coax, coerce, or twist. He stood His ground. He never backed up! He said what needed to be said, and did what God called Him to do, BUT He did it gently and in love. He reached out. He cared for others. He cried. BUT He never watered it down.

That's why Jesus stood out from the world. In order to accomplish His purpose, He did not buy anyone off. He didn't lie. He didn't tell people what they wanted to hear. At the same time though, He reached for them. He led by example. He accomplished it all gently, in the greatest act of submission, in love.

The world lies. The world demands power. The world brainwashes. Jesus lived the Word in love. Oh, I get it!!! I may not be gentle, but my love can be!!!!

Oh, my God, my Savior, I am desperate for YOU!!!

Gifts

Salvation, surrender, confession, reconciliation, repentance...We have a lot of terms, for a lot of things, that we just haven't unwrapped. We have these concepts all wrapped up in Bible school, revival, Holy Spirit gift-wrap. We see they are gifts, but are we going to unwrap them to see what in the world is in the box? Are we just going to leave the pretty package on the table, or are we going to unwrap it, identify it, love it, and use it?

Salvation is the gift of acceptance. It is the here I AM, here is what I AM about, here is what I have to offer gift from God - eternal life. We simply get to open this gift (by the way, God has to give it to you before you can open it)and decide if we're going to keep it.

Surrender is the gift to change your life while you are still here on earth. Surrender is the gift to prioritizing. Are you going to live with you as #1 in your life, or is your relationship with God going to be the absolute #1? This gift includes batteries...a power source...tools and equipment to live a surrendered life. In this package, God gives understanding, revelation, and surrendered friends. Accepting this gift means God gave you the whole gift set. He gave you the Let's Do It in the Here and Now and Not Wait on Eternity gift set.

Next, you are on to some bonus gifts: repentence-in case you break your gift, which is fellowship, and need to return; reconciliation so you can have God in the here and now through grace and love.

The prayer says - let Your will be done, let Your kingdom come, on earth as it is in heaven. That is the gift. It's not just...do you want to go to heaven when you die...it is - do you want a piece of heaven right now?

Accept the gifts. Open them. Love them. Use them. Share them.

Who is Winning at Tug-of-War?

People say, "I can pray at home. In fact, my prayer time is better by myself instead of with a bunch of hypocrites. I can talk to God anywhere - anytime. I don't need churh to talk to God. I can take a walk, sit in a tree, or fish and feel just as close to God."

First of all, it is 110 degrees right now. So please don't even try to tell me you are taking praise and worship nature walks! More importantly though, you don't go to church just to pray. You really can pray right by yourself. You go to church to be encouraged, be spiritually fed, and to put your spiritual gift to work so that God can accomplish through you what He created you for in the first place. He didn't create you to watch 4 hours of T.V. a day.He didn't create you to shop until you drop. He didn't create you to mow, bushhog, and landscape away. Some of these activities may be part of your life, but they shouldn't be your life. God should be your life.

Church is where you go to do life. The body are the people to laugh with, cry with, eat with, pray with, praise with, and serve with. See, if you aren't in the body, you don't have your anchor, and let's face it...you're already playing tug-of-war in a pit with an unfair slope. Our culture says to do what makes you happy, take care of #1, let someone else help-you've done enough. If we aren't careful, we'll feel ourselves slip in tug-of-war. We'll start to loosen the grip on the rope. We'll start to point our feet forward so the opponent can slide us over, because maybe it is better on the other side.

The devil, evil itself, would like nothing better than to see you out of the body. He loves to hear, "Well, I can just pray at home." He loves it because he knows he can win against you. He just can't win against the church when the body of Christ is your anchor. God didn't say we couldn't be a one man island, He said we shouldn't. God gave us the church as the perfect platform to do life.

You can tell yourself all you want that CNN, FOX, and The Bachelorette have life all figured out. You can try to tell yourself you are better off without a bunch of hypocrites (aka sinners-we are all sinners thus hypocrites at some point). However, don't be shocked when life seems harder than that hypocrite in church. Don't be surprised when you go through a crisis, and it is that hypocrite in church who is there for you. Don't be shocked when you lose the tug-of-war and discover life like it seems on T.V. is pointless, ridiculous, and depressing.

Some days I am the encourager. Some days I need to be encouraged. That's why I go to church...and oh yeah, I don't like to lose at tug-of-war either!