Lessons From the Philippines II

Posted: September 1, 2010 by oneofhis in Life Experiences
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IAI Arava cockpit

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I don’t like to fly.

Yes, I will fly and I have flown, and will fly again but it doesn’t mean I like it.

Let me take it to another level: There are a lot of times I don’t even like to be a passenger in a car!

While in the midst of a pretty turbulent flight, I really came to realize how much I hate not being in control. It’s kind of stupid cause I don’t know how to fly a plane, but I would have loved to be in the cockpit with those experienced pilots so I could see the calm on their faces, or even hear the pilots come on the PA system and say “It’s going to be alright. It will be over soon.”

Sometimes we are in the midst of the trials of life, there is noone who is going to say “it’s going to be alright”. There are a lot of times we feel like we are not in control and it seems we are battered around by the things of life. Many times we fight for control of the very things that God wants to be in control of in our lives. Sometimes He wants us to be still and trust. When we are in the midst of the turbulence that can be hard. On a flight of about 16 hours, I probably only slept 3 hours. By the time I got to the Philippines, I was totally exhausted.

Our fears and anxieties and worries will sap the life out of us if we let it. God never meant for us to live life exhausted and drained. He should be our source of life, peace, and joy, yet we choose to hold onto the armrests of our seat on the plane of life with a death grip. We think if we can just “hold on” we will make it.  The whole time we need to let go.

I wish I could say I was courageous and bold the whole time I was flying. I wish I had 3 points to overcoming fear and anxiety. I wish I could write the book, and create a 5 DVD set on how to live completely free from fears.  I would make millions. I am a work-in-progress, just like you.

God gave us His Word and the Holy Spirit to guide us, to comfort us, to change us into the image of His Son. Our answers reside in His Word, if we will simply ask and believe. I don’t know how long the process will take, but if we will be allowed to be guided by His Word and His Spirit, we will experience true freedom. He will give us the strength to let go and trust a God that loves us more than we can ever comprehend.

Will you join me on the plane?

Kevin

Lessons From the Philippines I

Posted: August 26, 2010 by oneofhis in Uncategorized
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Well, I just got back to my hotel from saying goodbye to some great people. I figure I would start sharing some things that are on my heart. Some things I got from my trip to the Philippines. This is the first part of a series. I don’t think that you can go to another country and not get some things that you learn from being there, and taking part in another culture. This series of posts is a result of not only my trip but what I learned and was reminded of before I went anywhere, so hang with me.

My friends came to the U.S. a little over 3 months ago to learn some of our jobs cause the company I work for is moving some jobs to the Philippines. Not everyone in the U.S. is that gracious when folks come to take your job. It’s not an easy thing to train your replacements. I don’t think anyone really likes it, but that’s just a reality in the world we are living in these days. I am thankful that I am keeping my job with the company, but I have had to say bye to some of my co-workers. That’s not an easy thing and there was a while I wondered if I would keep my job.

Lesson 1) Uncertainty is Certain

The only thing certain is that change is inevitable. We live in a world that is constantly changing, moving, spinning. Think about it, we live on a planet that is always spinning and orbiting the sun. The tectonic plates in which the continents are constantly moving, rubbing up against each other (earthquakes), spewing hot liquid rock and metal (volcanos). The oceans are always rising and falling (tides). The wind blows across the water and ground in constant movement, causing clouds to form, and rain, and plants animals and people to be affected by it. Even our hearts beat every second of our lives so we are in constant movement till the day we die.

If this is the case, why should we think that things in life won’t? Let’s look back in Ecclesiastes for a second:

Ecclesiastes 3

A Time for Everything

1For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:
2a time to be born, and a time to die;a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; 3a time to kill, and a time to heal;a time to break down, and a time to build up; 4a time to weep, and a time to laugh;a time to mourn, and a time to dance; 5a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; 6a time to seek, and a time to lose;a time to keep, and a time to cast away; 7a time to tear, and a time to sew;a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; 8a time to love, and a time to hate;a time for war, and a time for peace.

So many of us are tossed to and fro on the waves of our emotions, circumstances, and situations. One minute we are happy, another moment we are sad. One minute we thank God for His blessings, the next we are complaining about what He has given us. One minute we are happy about the church we attend, the next we are visiting another. One minute we are in love with our spouse, the next we are contemplating divorce.

Just because life is so uncertain, doesn’t require that we be so uncertain. There are things we can as Christians, can “hang our hat on” so to speak:

God loves us unconditionally

Romans 5:7-8

7For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— 8but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Tough times will come

John 16:32-33

32Behold, the hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home, and will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone, for the Father is with me. 33I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

He did not leave us to fend for ourselves

John 16

13When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. 14He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you.

Remember, change is inevitable. How we respond to change when we have an opportunity to show our maturity, or a an opportunity for God to show us where we need to mature so we can move toward our destiny in Him.

Kevin

Walking in Truth

Posted: July 21, 2010 by oneofhis in Food for Thought, Life Experiences, What's Happening Now, christian living
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My writing has been a lot more sporadic lately. I’ve gone weeks without a post. For those of you who keep checking in, I am so very grateful for it. There is definitely a method to my madness which I kind of hope to explain. Not to explain why in an apologetic slant, but in a way to make you step back and think about motives and condition of the heart.

God has revealed Himself to me in so many ways I don’t know if this blog could hold them all. He is so good and the depth and breadth of who is cannot be measured. He has opened up scriptures to me and shown me that there is so much depth to them that you could spend a lifetime reading them and still find something new that you have never seen before.

Something He has shown me is that some truths can’t be explained or taught, some have to be walked out. We can speak the truth, but are we walking in the truth? Are we walking in the truth that God has revealed to us or are we learning about the truth for sake of  saying we know it?

 James 1:26-27 (English Standard Version)

26)If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless. 27) Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself  unstained from the world.

I think we can be a lot better at telling people how to live than living the Truth and we need to shut up and live it. That’s what I get from this scripture. That’s my message to you and me.

Some truth is meant to be revealed, some is meant to be walked through, wrestled with, and  toiled in.

Are you walking in the Truth?

Kevin

Lost Touch?

Posted: July 8, 2010 by oneofhis in Food for Thought, God's Love, Life Experiences, Missional, Things That Inspire Me, christian living
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Everyone has people that they knew for a long time and have lost touch. We were close to know thier quirks, habits, likes and dislikes.  We remember the good and bad times shared together. We were close to those people, but somehow, we just lost touch.

I wonder as Christ-Followers if we have lost touch with our “old-selves” or the person we were before Christ found us. I think it is critical to ”keep in touch”. You may wonder why we should want to remember our “old-selves”. Let me ask you a few questions:

Are you moved to compassion when you hear someone else’s struggles?

Do you feel empathy or disgust when someone shares a weakness you once posessed in your “old life”?

Is your first reaction when someone confesses a hidden sin to you that you are glad “you don’t have that problem”?

When someone asks you for help is the first thing you do is figure out how you can pawn it off on someone else?

Are you emotionally unavailable to those closest to you?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, you have lost touch.

What you have gone through, where you have failed, the pain you suffered, the wounds you have received, the wounds you are still healing from, are not a thing of just the past.

God allowed you and I  to experience these things for a purpose. Not as things we need to forget, or hide, or as a self-righteous “before and after” picture. Just as we are healed by the wounds Christ bore upon His body, so our wounds are ordained for the healing of others. Our failures should help keep us and others from slipping into self-righteousness. The pain we suffered should move us to compassion to show the love and mercy of Christ. They were not meant to be discarded or concealed.

We are broken people who have been drawn to the arms of love, healing, and mercy. We have the ability, with one decision, to wreck our whole lives! We are not so righteous that we can forget that we have an old nature that is at constant war the nature of Christ that compels us to sin?

We can hide our weaknesses, we can cover our wounds with religion. We can cover those things with a number of things that may seem good, admirable, even righteous, but in doing so, we cut off those things that drove us into His arms to begin with and into the bed of self-righteousness and cold dead religion.

Have you lost touch?

Does it matter to you?

Kevin

Almost Saved?

Posted: June 7, 2010 by oneofhis in Food for Thought, God's Love, Life Experiences, christian living
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In my life I wrestled with this, and sometimes still do to an extent. Being raised in the church, I learned a lot about “what not to do”.

Don’t drink

Don’t smoke

Don’t do drugs

Don’t have sex (ever)

Don’t ever mess up, cause “you never know when Christ will return and you will be left behind”.

Don’t see “R” movies

I also learned about the things I “should do”.

Read your bible

Pray

Go to church

Give your tithe

Serve in some area of the church

I lived a miserable life. If I wasn’t happy cause I couldn’t do anything “cause I was a Christian”, I was unhappy cause I struggled constantly with the things I was supposed to do that I was not doing. I didn’t make a good sinner or saint! That depressed me too!!

It finally sank in my thick skull that I was totally guilty (100% sinner) and totally lost, no matter how much “good” I did,  and  I realized Christ received the punishment for every sin, every hurt I caused someone, every time I disobeyed Him, every time I fell short of what I or anyone else thought I “should” be doing, that I was able to experience the freedom and the joy that I longed for so much!

The idea of being loved with no stipulations, no catches, no God waiting to zap me if I fail, still boggles my fallen fleshly brain. It fills me with so much peace to know that I am saved, not “almost saved” depending on certain conditions that I must fulfill.  His grace was freely given before I had a clue about what grace even was!

That love is so powerful, it compels us to do even greater things than we tried to do in our own strength to gain His approval! His radical love compells us to action for the sake of love, not obligation or religion. It goes beyond our “self” to the end that we lay down our lives if necessary.

That is the gospel for church folk like me. It is even more amazing than the day I accepted Him into my heart.

 Kevin

Book Review: Plan B

Posted: June 1, 2010 by oneofhis in Book Review, Uncategorized
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The name of the book is :

Plan B: What Do You Do When God Doesn’t Show Up the Way You Thought He Would?

I could definitely relate to this book. There have been many times in my life when things did not go the way I thought they would. Some things were more tragic than other things, but how we react in those times can affect the course of our lives for years to come.

This book really hit me cause I am in the middle of a Plan B type of situation. You think things were going one way and they don’t always end up the way you thought. Plan B really helps reiterate that that we serve a good God, even when things don’t seem good or they don’t end up the way you thought they would.

I recommend this book to everyone who is going through a Plan B type situation in their lives. It doesn’t give you three steps to turning everything around, but it puts things in perspective. Pete Wilson does an excellent job sharing some of his own Plan B moments, and you could relate to his examples.

You won’t regret buying this book, even if things are going great in your life.

Kevin

The Most Important Thing

Posted: May 12, 2010 by oneofhis in Food for Thought, God's Love, Missional, Things That Inspire Me, Uncategorized
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1 Corinthians 15 (English Standard Version)

 1) Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2)and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you— unless you believed in vain.

 3)For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures,…….

We live in an information age. If you have a question on almost anything, you can plug it into Google or any other search engine and get an answer. In the Christian world, there are millions of sites and blogs (like this one) where you can find teaching on more topics than you could ever study out in a lifetime.

The issue with so much information available, it is so easy to get swept away by the deluge of information that we forget the most important thing.

When Paul wrote to the Corinthian church, he reminded them to hold fast to the things that Paul taught them. He knew that there were so many things people would be distracted by, that would draw their attention away from the most important thing.

“For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures,…….”

The gospel is the most important thing! Paul didn’t say “that Christ died so I could speak in tongues” or “that Christ died that I may prophesy”. He said “that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures…”. Prophesy and speaking in Tongues are not bad in and of themselves, but when they become the focus, we are no longer preaching the gospel.

John 3:16 

 16)“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

As a young person growing up in church, I heard many people say “that message wasn’t deep enough for me” and “we need to move on from the cross and get into deeper things.”

The Father showed His ultimate act of love by sending His only Son to die for us. His heart was revealed and displayed for the whole world to see. When we “move past the cross” we move away from His heart. When we move away from His heart, we are no longer preaching the gospel.

The gospel is what our lives should be centered around. It should be the determining factor that every decision should be based on. Imagine with me for one second, how the world and the church would look if we made every decision centered around the gospel of Jesus Christ? How would our workplaces, our families, or schools look? How would we look at our finances? The things we spend our money on? The things we do with our “free” time? Think about that.

Let’s not forget the most important thing.

Kevin

Controlled by His Love

Posted: May 11, 2010 by oneofhis in Food for Thought, God's Love, Leadership, Ministry, Missional, Uncategorized
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1 Corinthians 5:13) For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. 14) For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; 15) and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.

This passage of scripture has challenged me a lot in the past few days. I was getting ready to leave the house on Sunday to go to pre-service practice, and God brought me to this scripture.

God asked me “are you controlled by My love this morning, or are you going through “the motions”.

Are your motivations pure?

Do you love Me so much that you are truly willing to do anything I may ask you to do today?

You don’t have to preach, or lead worship, or teach a Sunday school class to answer this question. We face it everyday. In our cars, our jobs, our homes we have the opportunity to surrender our lives to Him. The opportunity to have His life pour in us, and through us, till it overflows and touches the lives of others.

I know more often than not we choose the latter, but I’m not here today to beat you up. I am here to show you the opportunity that God has placed before all of us today. We have the opportunity to proclaim the gospel of Christ to others. We may not stand on a street corner and preach, but our actions will preach more to people than anything.

Even if you answered “no” to all the questions, grace gives us the opportunity to change. We no longer have to live for ourselves. We are free to live the life that God has given us to the fullest for Him. His death gave us a life that all the pleasures of this life couldn’t hold a candle to.

Let His love come into your hearts and fill you till you are so consumed by His love, you are forced to do something about it.

Kevin

Digging Deep

Posted: April 22, 2010 by oneofhis in Food for Thought, Life Experiences, What's Happening Now, christian living, prayer
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5 Why are you cast down, O my soul,
   and why are you in turmoil within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
   my salvation 6and my God.    

   My soul is cast down within me;
   therefore I remember you
from the land of Jordan and of Hermon,
   from Mount Mizar.
7Deep calls to deep                                                                  
   at the roar of your waterfalls;
all your breakers and your waves
   have gone over me.
8By day the LORD commands his steadfast love,
   and at night his song is with me,
   a prayer to the God of my life.
9I say to God, my rock:
   ”Why have you forgotten me?
Why do I go mourning
   because of the oppression of the enemy?”
10As with a deadly wound in my bones,
   my adversaries taunt me,
while they say to me all the day long,
   ”Where is your God?”

 11 Why are you cast down, O my soul,
   and why are you in turmoil within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
   my salvation and my God.

Sometimes life can be tough. Real tough. From families losing loved ones, people losing jobs or facing the possibility, or those facing life threatening physical conditions. These can be hard situations to deal with. Sometimes the unknown of what is going to happen can leave people feeling very lost and alone. Maybe there are those who are reading this right now, and you don’t know what you are going to do and the circumstances present a “no-win scenerio”.

David went through more than one of these situations as well as many of you out there. The words of David hold many keys to dealing with hard times and suffering. In my own life, I am facing some pretty steep odds that are not in my favor. I am a pretty smart guy, but even with all the intellect and intelligence I have,  my ability to reason, and plan, and figure out things is of no use. It is when we are at the end of ourselves is where we find God. It is where we must trust Him, completely, cause there is no other way or option.

I look at David  and I see a guy who isn’t afraid of a fight. I see a real man, a man’s man. A guy who overcame overwhelming odds who in the end made it to where he was destined. once you start reading the Psalms, that perception quickly fades. You see a guy who faced despair, depression, times of lack, and times when he was corrected. You see a guy who learned that his strength was not in his fighting prowess and skill, but it was in the art of surrender.

  I’m not going to lie to you. It’s not the place where I want to be, nor I’m sure, most of you. Having to trust God goes against everything we are taught growing up. It goes against logic to simply wait on the Lord. If you are a go-getter and an achievement oriented type person, surrender is never an option. ”There’s always a way” you think, but sometimes there really isn’t and our own lack of surrender is what is holding back our greatest victory.   

I was watching an episode of “Band of Brothers” not too long ago. These soldiers were in the woods, and they had dug foxholes. The commander in charge was constantly telling them to stay in or near their foxholes. All of a sudden, the German troops would open fire on these woods with artillery and the soldiers would jump into their foxholes, and most of the time they were safe. There were guys who wandered around to talk to guys in other foxholes, but didn’t stay in their own, and when the shelling started, most of those guys met their deaths.

Sometimes you have to dig deep and stay where you are. Sometimes there is no comfort in the mouths of others. Surrender requires absolute submission. When to go and when to stay are no longer your choice. It is the choice of the One you are submitted to. The desire to run is not an option. This option will lead to greater hurt, greater pain, and even death. Surrender is not a option, it is the only option.

David talks about how God’s love is steadfast and His song is with him in the night. While those who would destroy him ask “where is his God?”, he tells God what they are saying and allows God to answer in His might and power. God did not fail Him, and he was delivered from his enemies. How much more, we His children, heirs of salvation and eternal life will we overcome? It will come when we surrender. When, like Jesus, we stand in our garden of Gethsemane declare “not my will, but Yours be done. It was after this we see the angel of the Lord came to Jesus and ministered to Him. He was completely surrendered to the will of the Father. There at the point of complete surrender. There at the place of death to our self, He will meet us there. He will deliver. He will heal. He will be our strength and our salvation, but not until then.

Kevin

Some Blog Posts I Liked

Posted: April 6, 2010 by oneofhis in Articles I Like
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I decided the other day to log into my blog reader and look at the hundreds of posts that I haven’t read. I’m really not a huge blog reader these days, but there were a few I found interesting or humorous that stood out to me. Here are some :

Holy Indifference:

http://blog.harvestbiblefellowship.org/?p=3725

I’m not a full time staff person but I liked this post about working for a church:

http://www.catalystspace.com/catablog/full/10_things_that_drive_me_crazy_about_working_for_a_church/

Here’s a post on what the church’s purpose is for; making disciples:

http://leavethebuildingblog.com/2010/03/30/what-would-happen-if-the-churchs-focus-was-to-make-disciples/

A little food for thought for those of you who are going to have a stroke over the “Healthcare Reform Bill”:

http://mondaymorninginsight.com/blog/post/agree_or_disagree/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+MondayMorningInsightWeblog+%28Monday+Morning+Insight+Weblog%29&utm_content=Google+Reader#When:12:09:54Z

A provoking thought of what our sermons woul dlook like if we only had 6 minutes to preach. Got me thinking:

http://mondaymorninginsight.com/blog/post/15_minute_quickie_church_service_is_increasing_attendance/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+MondayMorningInsightWeblog+%28Monday+Morning+Insight+Weblog%29&utm_content=Google+Reader#When:11:45:56Z

Just a few I go through. Enjoy.

Kevin

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