Jonah VIII January 27, 2010
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Jonah 1
5) Then the mariners were afraid, and each cried out to his god. And they hurled the cargo that was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them. But Jonah had gone down into the inner part of the ship and had lain down and was fast asleep.
It would be nice to say that the Lord had given Jonah such peace that he was able to sleep even in the midst of the tempest, but this is not that kind of slumber.
Have you ever tried to wake a teenager before? I have a son that could sleep through a tornado! The hardest thing to get him to do is wake up most of the time. You can move him around, pour water on him, yell in his ear to wake up, and he doesn’t flinch.
God has been trying to get His church in America to pay attention, but it has fallen asleep. He has allowed us to go through 9-11, economic crisises, terrorist plots and war and these things have failed to awaken the church. Of course they have provided some end-time preachers and opportunity to write another book, but none of these things have caused His church to rise from its slumber. We are an apathetic, lazy, and undiscplined people. We would rather sit around and make excuses and blame others as to why we do nothing. We see sin, but we say nothing so we can say we are “seeker-friendly”. We watch our brothers and sisters that are excited and passionate for god and say “They will chill out one of these days”.”Wait till they’ve been in church a while.”
We ask for God to bless our plans and efforts yet we never pursue HIS heart, HIS will, HIS glory. We base success on how many people attending our churches, while many of them still do not have a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. We have those that have been in church who are as spiritually dead as those who do not believe, who have no fruit produced in their lives to show they are saved. We have those who have fooled themselves into thinking that you can have a great relationship with God without ever being a part of the body of Christ. Tell me, when was the last time you saw a body organ that worked long after it was removed from the body?
I am afraid…..
I am ashamed…..
I am working a lot….
I am trying to figure things out…..
I have a good enough relationship with God…..
I don’t need church….
I’m tired of trying….
I can’t do this anymore…..
These are all things I have heard out of the mouth of those who ”believe” in Christ.
We all need to repent.
Kevin
Jonah VII (Asleep) January 21, 2010
Posted by oneofhis in Book of Jonah, Evanglism, Food for Thought, Uncategorized.Tags: challenge, christian life, evangelism, God, Jesus, Jonah, love, salvation, stretching
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5) Then the mariners were afraid, and each cried out to his god. And they hurled the cargo that was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them. But Jonah had gone down into the inner part of the ship and had lain down and was fast asleep.
There are as many reactions to disaster and devastations and hard times as there are people. People react in so many different ways. We can see in recent events with the terrible earthquake that has just devastated the island of Haiti, the different reactions to this cataclysmic event. We see pictures of people crying out to God,pleading for help. We see thugs and criminals trying to take and control the tiny amount of food and resources that can be found by force and sheer inhumanity, committing muderous acts against innocent men, women, and children. We see those whom despite the lack of tools or equipment, digging with their hands, holding on to some hope of finding their lost relatives that are buried under tons of rubble.
In the case of the text from which we are reading today, we shall see something just as devastating on the spiritual landscape of America. There are no dramatic pictures to reveal the destruction. There’s no CNN reporters doing exclusives on what exactly is going on. They may report on the aftershocks, but the underlying problem is much, much deeper than some news agency could percieve or report.
These are days of great uncertainty. Fear permeates our televisions with stories of terrorist plots, soaring energy prices, a dwindling economy, and not a lot of answers on how to fix it. We have seen great political swings in the past couple of years. People desperately turning to anyone who might show the leadership that will solve their problems and calm their fears.
Just like the mariners, people are turning to their gods to find some refuge or escape from the mounting pressures around them. For some it’s alcohol, drugs, pornography, sex, anger, and all sorts of other things that people use to medicate the turmoil that is not just on the outside but on the inside. I have never seen so many drugs advertised for depression and all kinds of other “conditions” that we never realized were “conditions”. Many would risk the side affects of these drugs that are unimaginable to find some happiness, solace, or peace.
In hopes that the government will save them, people are tossing freedoms and liberties that our forefathers of our country, fought and died for, for the hope of security and safety. This is not a political statement, as much as it reveals a condition of the heart. Just like the men on that boat were willing to throw away cargo that could have been worth a fortune, possibly priceless items, for the slight opportunity of safety, security, and self-preservation.
In the midst of this storm, tempest, fear and anxiety that our world faces, the answer to the problem, the hope for humanity, the one who can do something about what is happening in our world today……………………………sleeps.
To Be Continued.
Kevin
Worshipping Him vs Worshipping Worship January 19, 2010
Posted by oneofhis in Articles I Like.Tags: worship
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I read a great article from Scott McKnight on Spiritual Eroticism. We have to evaluate if we are loving our God, or are we loving the feeling that we get when we worship. There is a big difference. Check out the article. It will make you think.
Kevin
Jonah VI (In the Storm) January 15, 2010
Posted by oneofhis in Bible Study, Book of Jonah, Food for Thought, God's Love, Teaching.Tags: God, Jesus, Jonah, Subjection, Submission, Suffering
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Jonah 1
4)But the LORD hurled a great wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship threatened to break up.
I remember a day that is one of those days, that you remember the rest of your life. I was sitting in a waiting room at the hospital with my father. My mother was having exploratory surgery because the doctors couldn’t diagnose why my mother was having pain and digestive issues. It was what seemed like another day. There wasn’t a great deal of stress about the surgery. It was about 30 mins into the surgery, and me and my dad were just shooting the breeze, when all of a sudden my mom’s surgeon came walking into the waiting room, very grim faced. “Can you come with me please?” he asked, so we got up, now feeling pretty nervous, and walked to a type of consulting room near the operating room. He had a diagram on the door of the inside of the human body. He said “When I opened her up, I found cancer everywhere!” and he proceeded to put his hand on this diagram to demonstrate how it was attached to every organ in my mother’s body. Like Jonah, I could suddenly feel a great wind begin to blow and the tempests were overwhelming me. My life, in an instant, was rocked and flipped upside down and every which way and the day she went to be with Jesus, every belief that I was raised with, who I thought God was, everything I thought I was, was eternally changed!
God allows things to happen in our lives for a reason. God allows us to go through persecution, betrayal, times of loneliness, and yes, even allows us and those we love to suffer and die for what seems like “no good reason”. The moment my mother died, I knew that God has a higher plan that is so much greater than my feeble mind could wrap itself around. It was greater than the “faith” I had to believe for her to be healed. It was greater than the things I used to comfort myself. He was more in control and greater than I could ever imagine, or honestly wanted Him to be. The wind and waves were stronger than my ability to struggle against. I was helpless in the tempest. I felt like I was dying inside, and in all actuality, I was. I was dying to the ways of the past so that I could become alive in the truth of who He is and who I am in Him.
You may be in a tempest right now. You may not understand why. You may be without hope today. I want you to know today that God is there. God allowed the tempest to come for a reason. I know it hurts like hell and feels like you are in hell, but God is accomplishing something greater within you than you can imagine. He is revealing Himself in a way that you can only see in the midst of suffering, pain, rejection, and loss.
1 Corinthians 13:11-12
11)When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. 12)For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.
We see life through smudged and stained glasses. We rarely understand that God does work all things for our good, no matter how bad they are. No matter how desperate they are. No matter how dark the day is. He is doing something exceedingly, abundantly, beyond all you could ask or think to ask for (Ephesians 3:20)
If you need prayer, I would be glad to stand with you. You can leave a comment or email me through the link on this page.
As always, thanks for reading.
Kevin
Jonah (Part V) January 12, 2010
Posted by oneofhis in Bible Study, Book of Jonah, Calvinism, Food for Thought.Tags: but, God, Jesus, Jonah, predestination, Subjection
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Jonah 1
But the LORD hurled a great wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship threatened to break up.
There are few words in the English language more powerful than the word “but”. That word changes the course of whatever is being said, done, or planned. It can take hope and crush it, or take the most hopeless situation and turn things around in a second! It can take the most well thought out plan and change it into something totally different.
In Jonah’s case, “but” took Jonah out of the frying pan and into the fire! Jonah was in blatent disobedience. Little did he know that there was a “but” coming for him. He thought out and decided on a course of action that he felt would take him out of God’s presence and therefore negate God’s plan for him, “but” God’s plan included his disobedience, which included a little “pleasure cruise” to subjection and obedience.
It’s funny how we think that God is the least bit fazed by our bad decisions and choices. We think that God is popping anti-anxiety meds while watching us flounder to and fro and just hoping that we will “come back” to Him and serve Him. I think He laughs when we think so much more highly about ourselves than we truly are, like by our own will or choice, we can determine the course of time and history and decide the fate of those who rise and fall. We dare to tell Him like Lucifer :
Isaiah 14:
13) You said in your heart,
‘I will ascend to heaven;
above the stars of God
I will set my throne on high;
I will sit on the mount of assembly
in the far reaches of the north;
14) I will ascend above the heights of the clouds;
I will make myself like the Most High.’
I have had many “but” moments in my life. I have had moments like Jonah when I tried to take the reigns of my life and steer into a direction “I” thought would be better for me and it led to brokenness and subjection. I have also been in the midst of some very low points in my life where there seemed to be no hope and God sent a “but” my way and made a way where there seemed to be no way.
Are you facing any “but” moments?
Kevin
Jonah (Part IV) January 5, 2010
Posted by oneofhis in Bible Study, Food for Thought, God's Love, christian living.Tags: Breaking, Jesus, Jonah, obedience, Submission
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Let’s get going shall we?
Jonah 1:3-4
3) But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went on board, to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the LORD.
4) But the LORD hurled a great wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship threatened to break up.
I know we looked at verse 3 the last time I posted on Jonah but the last sentence bears more study.
So he paid the fare and went on board, to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the LORD.
I just find it amazing that Jonah was willing to pay money to get away from God! In our day and age, people will pay millions for seminars, books, conferences, and try some of the most weirdest things to get to God. They try to find God in other religions, in people who claim to be god, or people they think have the “fast track” to God. On the flip side of the coin, you have people who know God is tugging on their hearts, but they do everything they can to “feel” like God isn’t there. They try to sin in ways that they think will have them stop thinking that “God loves me” . I have always heard that there were people who were “running from God”when I was in church. I think I have truly had a revelation of what that means. There are those who will do anything to get on that boat to Tarshish, they think they are running from ”the face of God” (Penuel), but what they run into is the very One they were running from. There are things that must be broken from our lives so God can truly be our Lord and Savior. We have to go to Tarshish before we can get to Nineveh.
Nineveh is our destiny! Nineveh is God’s call on your life! Nineveh is the fulfillment of that prophetic word spoken over you many years ago. Nineveh is the consumation of every hope and desire of God for your life. Nineveh is the answer to your most heart-felt prayer. Nineveh is not the end of the road, but the beginning!
Are you fighting what God is trying to do in your life? Are you hiding behind insecurity and fear as if these things are too big for God? I ask this cause I struggle with my own insecurities and fears sometimes, but what I am learning is that He doesn’t need vessels of silver and gold, He needs yielded vessels. He needs people that no matter how they feel, they are going to do what God is telling them to do. No matter how foolish, or flawed, or unprofessional you may look. God is big enough to take care of the rest. It may take some time in Tarshish, but we will look back on that time with joy and realize that you have made it to Nineveh!
Will you join me on that journey?
Kevin
Happy New Year December 31, 2009
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To all of you who have been reading my posts this year, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. The pleasure has been all mine. God’s Word is so rich and deep! My prayer is that God will make His Word alive to you. That He will reveal things to you in scripture that you never saw before. That the words you read will reveal His gospel to you in every passage simply because it is there! I pray He will put a hunger in your spirit for more of Him. That you will not just remember the joy of your salavation, but that you will find joy in Him in the midst of suffering and pain, knowing He is with you.
I pray for the greatest year of spiritual growth in your life and mine in 2010. We should look forward to what God has for us in 2010! it’s going to be exciting!
God Bless You,
Kevin
Derailed December 30, 2009
Posted by oneofhis in Uncategorized.1 comment so far
Just got through reading “Derailed” by Tim Irwin. If you are in any type leadership role, whether corporate or in you should take some time and read it.
I liked the CEO examples that were used to illustrate Mr. Irwin’s points. Character is a huge in leadership. You can be brilliant, but without character, you will derail your career, ministry, and possibly your life.
Tim shares some things we all need to be aware of as leaders that can help keep you from derailing. I don’t want to give away the book, but the points are nicely broken down to bring things down to a more human level.
The only down-side is that he used all corporate CEOs for examples. Would have been cool to get a couple of Christian examples of a derailing leader, but still a decent book.
Kevin
Here is Some Perspective for the Holidays December 20, 2009
Posted by oneofhis in Food for Thought.Tags: God, Jesus, provider
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This video moved me greatly. In times when people are worried about presents and things, there are folks who are simply praying for their daily bread. There’s some perspective we all need at this time of year.
Thanks Carlos,
Kevin
Jonah (Part III) December 14, 2009
Posted by oneofhis in Bible Study, Book of Jonah, Teaching, Uncategorized.Tags: Brokeness, God, Jesus, Jonah, Subjection
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In the last couple of posts we have broken down verse 1 and 2 of Jonah 1. We have been peeling back the layers of a book of the bible that on the surface looks pretty cut and dry on the surface in the message it’s getting across. What is actually being revealed is a much more powerful, multi-faceted, message. We can see a story of God’s love for His, the story of God’s call of reconciliation to those far away from Him, and the church’s role in the process. Let’s get to work shall we?
Jonah 1
1)Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, 2)“Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me.” 3)But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went on board, to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the LORD.
This is exactly how Adam and Eve reacted once they had sinned. They hid themselves from the Lord’s prescense. There was a breaking of fellowship with God. Our disobedience and sin once created a chasm between us and God. Jesus Christ came and bridged the chasm between God and man, and brought us back into right fellowship with Him. When we become aware of what He has done for us and refuse to respond, in many cases a time of breaking and subjection is soon to follow.
One of the things that really stands out in this verse as I studied it was the root meaning of “Tarshish”. It means “breaking or “subjection” (Gesenius’s Lexicon) Our sinful nature is constantly self-serving, self-centered, and self-motivated. Thanks to Jesus Christ, He has given us a new life, a new nature, new freedom. Where you were once self-serving you are now called by Christ to love others. Where you were centered around your own wants and needs, you are now seeking after the kingdom of God and those things that will glorify God and further His kingdom. This change happens in our spirit right away when we are regenerated and born again, however the change in our outward actions sometimes take some time and take some painful lessons to learn. Jonah had to go through a process of being broken and brought into submission to His will before he finally obeyed God.
As we grow as Christ-Followers, God shows us things in our lives that He wants us to submit to His Lordship. Sometimes these things are not so hard to lay down. Sometimes we refuse to lay those things down. We must be broken of those things. We must be disciplined. We must be brought into subjection to His will.
Some of the hardest people for God to reveal Himself to is religious people. God wants to reveal Himself but due to jacked up mindsets and putting God in a box, they have the hardest time accepting God when He doesn’t fit their mold. That mold must be broken so you can be free to receive everything God has for you and wants you to be. God wanted to reveal Himself to Jonah, but Jonah ran. What he didn’t know, is that he was running straight into subjection and breaking!
God help us to hear Your voice and give us the grace to obey You, even when we don’t quite understand what You are doing. Help us to know that no matter what, that You are working all things for our good.
Kevin
