Moved...

God has really touched my heart through the writing of a man named Oswald Chambers. Many of you probably know him for his writings in "My Utmost for His Highest" and today God touched me through the daily reading for December 29. Wow. This is something I have really been working through in my life right now. What about you?

When God, by His Spirit through His Word, gives you a clear vision of His will, you must "walk in the light" of that vision ( 1 John 1:7 ). Even though your mind and soul may be thrilled by it, if you don’t "walk in the light" of it you will sink to a level of bondage never envisioned by our Lord. Mentally disobeying the "heavenly vision" ( Acts 26:19 ) will make you a slave to ideas and views that are completely foreign to Jesus Christ. Don’t look at someone else and say, "Well, if he can have those views and prosper, why can’t I?" You have to "walk in the light" of the vision that has been given to you. Don’t compare yourself with others or judge them— that is between God and them. When you find that one of your favorite and strongly held views clashes with the "heavenly vision," do not begin to debate it. If you do, a sense of property and personal right will emerge in you— things on which Jesus placed no value. He was against these things as being the root of everything foreign to Himself— ". . . for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses" ( Luke 12:15 ). If we don’t see and understand this, it is because we are ignoring the underlying principles of our Lord’s teaching.

Our tendency is to lie back and bask in the memory of the wonderful experience we had when God revealed His will to us. But if a New Testament standard is revealed to us by the light of God, and we don’t try to measure up, or even feel inclined to do so, then we begin to backslide. It means your conscience does not respond to the truth. You can never be the same after the unveiling of a truth. That moment marks you as one who either continues on with even more devotion as a disciple of Jesus Christ, or as one who turns to go back as a deserter.

Wow.

I Will Not Be Silent...NO!

So, I was reading through the Christmas story in Luke 1 and 2. (Well I guess the real Christmas story isn't in Luke 1 but the story of Elizabeth and Zechariah are there.  Elizabeth and Zechariah are the parents of John the Baptist whom God gave the honor of preparing the way for Jesus here on this earth!  Man...what an awesome thing to be blessed with that kind of honor! 

Before John was born though, his father Zechariah had a prophecy that he shared.  He began to speak of the coming of Jesus and what that would mean for mankind!  But in his prophecy he said one thing that really stands out to me:  "We have been rescued from our enemies so we can serve God without fear, in holiness and righteousness for as long as we live." Luke 1:74-75

It's pretty awesome that we who know Jesus have been rescued from our enemies (sin and death) and we can serve God without fear because Jesus overcame death and sin and now offers forgiveness and eternal life in heaven for all who believe!  There is nothing to fear in Jesus because Jesus has overcome fear for us.  Jesus has become our righteousness because He lived a perfect life.  So the prophecy Zechariah gave about Jesus is truth that we can stand on!  Jesus connects us to God and allows us to serve Him without fear and with holiness that Jesus covers us with when we believe and call on His name!  Not just for today and tomorrow but for as long as we live!!!!  That is a blessing that I praise God for!  I do not have to fear coming before God because when God sees me, he actually sees Jesus' righteousness!  All because I believe.

So here is my question:  Since we have been rescued from our enemies and can serve God without fear, in holiness and righteousness for as long as we live, what is holding YOU back? 

Jesus is for ALL who will believe, not just for some... Are you ready to be set free today?  Are you ready to tell others about a God who loves and has given it all for them?  Are you ready to tell them without fear...because God is in control and we have overcome all fear through Jesus... Are you ready to enter heaven with friends of yours that are in heaven because of you?  Are you ready?

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The Emerging Church or Jesus' Church?

Mark Driscoll really hit the nail on the head with this video.  I know there is a lot of question about the "emerging church" out there and this video is just an amazing resource of information from a guy who was there since the beginning.  Mark states exactly what I know about the emerging church and he is in the same place I am.  I really appreciate his careful preparation and teaching about a subject that is very controversial for the Big "C" church!

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A Thought From The Movie 300

In the movie 300 King Leonidas (Gerard Butler) says something that I find pretty interesting. He was leaving to fight a war against Xerxes, a Persian, for the freedom of Sparta and Greece, when on his way to battle was met by some Arcadian soldiers. The leader of the Arcadians said that they had come to fight alongside Leonidas and the Spartans for the freedom of Greece. Leonidas looks over the large group of soldiers and asks one of them, "Soldier, what is your occupation?" The soldier responds "I am a potter." He asks yet another "Soldier what is your occupation?" He responds "A sculptor." And one more Leonidas asks "Soldier what is your occupation?" "A blacksmith, sir." The solider responds. Leonidas looks at the leader of the Arcadians and says "It seems, today, that I have brought more soldiers than you!" Leonidas had 300 soldiers that had trained for their whole life to be warriors. He knew that his group of men could out fight the 1000's of men the Arcadians brought.

I thought that was an interesting scene because I have been thinking a lot lately about focus. When we focus on one thing or a very small number of things in our lives we will find our lives to be very successful in those areas. As a follower of Jesus, I have been given spiritual gifts and if I don't develop those specific gifts and use them for Jesus then I am not going to be the most effective I can be. I have a gift that someone else doesn't have. Others have gifts that I don't have. That is what makes the body of Christ, the church, so powerful. Each of us contributes to the body in specific ways that no other person can contribute. So wherever God has you right now, use the spiritual gifts He has given you to bring glory to God and advance His kingdom! When we focus on what God has given us right now, I believe He will honor that and begin to open new doors for us to focus and serve. Even in ways we might not think or imagine!

Just a thought.

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For Those Of You Who Think the Bible Is Boring

For those of you who think there is nothing at all exciting in the Bible, check this passage out from 2 Kings 9:30-37.

The Death of Jezebel An Evil Queen

   

   ³⁰ When Jezebel, the queen mother, heard that Jehu had come to Jezreel, she painted her eyelids and fixed her hair and sat at a window. ³¹ When Jehu entered the gate of the palace, she shouted at him, “Have you come in peace, you murderer? You’re just like Zimri, who murdered his master!”^[a]

   ³² Jehu looked up and saw her at the window and shouted, “Who is on my side?” And two or three eunuchs looked out at him. ³³ “Throw her down!” Jehu yelled. So they threw her out the window, and her blood spattered against the wall and on the horses. And Jehu trampled her body under his horses’ hooves.

   ³⁴ Then Jehu went into the palace and ate and drank. Afterward he said, “Someone go and bury this cursed woman, for she is the daughter of a king.” ³⁵ But when they went out to bury her, they found only her skull, her feet, and her hands.

   ³⁶ When they returned and told Jehu, he stated, “This fulfills the message from the Lord, which he spoke through his servant Elijah from Tishbe: ‘At the plot of land in Jezreel, dogs will eat Jezebel’s body. ³⁷ Her remains will be scattered like dung on the plot of land in Jezreel, so that no one will be able to recognize her.’”

God said that her body would be like crap on the ground!!!  All because she lived an evil life, promoted evil through her actions, and openly tried to destroy God's followers!  God is so Holy that he can't even be in the presence of sin let alone put up with it.  PRAISE GOD FOR JESUS!  Because with out his sacrifice on the cross and forgiveness of my (and anyone believes in Him and calls on the name of the Lord) sin, I would be like crap laying on the ground too!!!!

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Big Daddy Weave Rocks

Sam and I went to a concert tonight featuring Francesca Batistelli, Big Daddy Weave, and Newsong.  Man, Big Daddy Weave rocks.  I have always known that, but hearing them live for the first time was amazing.  I got to talk to Mike Weaver (Big Daddy Weave) after the show.  What an awesome, laid back dude.  He loves Jesus and his song writing is absolutely God driven.  The Spirit of God is on this man and his band.  I also talked to his brother Jay Weaver.  Jay and I and my wife all talked for about 20 minutes or so.  5 minutes on the music business and 15 minutes on Disney World.  Turns out, He loves Disney as much as Sam and I do.  (And that is a lot!) Every time he gets a chance he takes his family and goes.  Jay was awesome to talk to.  Calm and laid back just like his brother...Jay is the bass player in the band, and man he is tight.  The whole band rocks.  They are so tight, and yet they live several hours from each other except for two of them.  That brings back memories of life on the road for rehearsal with LJ.  It was really great to talk to them and get to know them.  Big Daddy Weave has been one of my favorite bands of all times.  I can't wait to see them and talk to them again.  PS...They are awesome worship leaders.  I was a bit disappointed, though, that they only had 6 songs in the entire show... :(  I want to see them lead a whole worship concert!  Ok I am done.  Big Daddy Weave's Website  (More to come tomorrow on their recording techniques...very interesting...gives me much hope!

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Trying Flock

 I have been thinking there was a really good aggregator out there that could bring together all the social media applications into one bright and shiny program.  So, I began the search.  I came across flock, created by Mozilla (Firefox), which seems to be pretty neat!  In fact, I am writing this blog right in the Blog editor from the browser.  This is really cool.  Flock let's you update Facebook, Twitter, blogs, and any RSS feeds you may have all from one place, all while surfing the web.  Pretty cool.  I haven't used it enough yet to say whether it is stable but so far it is really impressive.  More to come as I get familiar with Flock.  You can download it here!

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