Happy New Year!
Just wanted to say Happy New Year to all of you who take the time to read this blog. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. Next year we are going to a whole nutha level!!
God Bless,
Kevin
Christmas Pics
I thought I would share a few pics from the Christmas parties we went to and from Christmas itself
This is our kickin Christmas tree!
My cute little niece playing with one of her presents.
Hanging at Mark and Amanda’s Source Group Christmas party. Had a great time!
Kickin it with Mark and Pastor Roy at the staff Christmas Party.
Me and my sweetie!
My girls holding up some of their presents
Jubilee was Mary in the Christmas Eve service at Journey
All the kiddies delighted with what they got for Christmas!
We had some of Dawn’s family over on Christmas Day. We tore up some turkey and ham!
Just thought I’d share some holiday pics with you guys. We had a great Christmas. Hope you had a good one too!
Kevin
Root of Bitterness Part 2
Hebrews 12:15) See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled
There are many circumstances that can plant the seed of bitterness. For brevity sake, I will only list a couple. I want to focus on the subtle more than the obvious.
- Abuse (mental, physical, sexual)
- Unmet needs and expectations (big)
- Past hurts
Sometimes the smallest comment or the most innocent action can be taken as an offense and thus begins a process that ultimately leads you far from God and you didn’t even know how you got there. Maybe your husband didn’t do something you wanted him to do and it goes from a moment of laziness to a characterization that your husband is a lazy bum. This is an example of how a bad decision on the husband’ s part can cause division and strife if an offense is allowed to take root. A stupid remark from a wife who is innocently joking about her husband leads to bitterness, rejection and an affair. This may seem extreme but if the root of bitterness is left to grow, these things can happen. If you were to ask couples who were divorced, if you could get to where the problems all began, you would find that it started with something very small, and it grew to ginormous proportions! There are people in church that do ignorant things sometimes too. Someone says something that hurt someone else’s feelings which leads to a split in the church and more people than original offended and offendee become affected. This is the nature of bitterness. It starts small in many cases and becomes something that it never should have become.
This is the nature of our enemy. How do you combat it? How do we make our hearts “bad ground” for the seed of bitterness to flourish and grow?
1) Self- Examination- we need to ask ourselves the questions we don’t want to answer. It’s not easy but an honest self-exam will keep the things we need to work on in front of us so they don’t sneak up on us from behind.
2) Prayer- If we have a relationship with God, He will give us the strength and vision to see those things and bring those hurts and offenses to Him before they have a chance to take root. The Lord’s prayer says to “forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us” .
3) Be Accountable- If there is a Godly person you can trust, stay accountable for the things that are going on in your life. They can help you stay on the path away from bitterness.
If you have let the root of bitterness creep into your life or if you need prayer, I would be glad to pray with you. Don’t let bitterness destroy your life. Be mindful and guard your heart.
Kevin
Root of Bitterness
Galatians 5:19) Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20) idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21) envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
I did a series recently called “Who is Pulling the Strings?”. It was essentially about spiritual warfare. I talked about the works of the flesh and how when we continue to practice those things, we open a door for the demonic to come in and take control of our lives. The root of bitterness is such an important issue that I felt like it almost warranted it’s own series by itself, but i will try to put it one post. Let’s take a quick look at a passage from the book of Hebrews. It is a book in the New Testament for those of you who may not know where to look:
Hebrews 12:15) See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled
The problem with roots is that you cannot see them. How many of you have sat and watched a seed fall from a weed, fall to the ground, get covered by dirt, and grow roots? I would venture to say none of you have. It is a a very unnoticable process. You don’t know you have a weed until the plant has taken root and has grown to a point that it is noticable and troublsome.
This is the same with bitterness. The offense is not always as “in your face” as someone just coming out and wronging you to your face. In many, if not most cases, bitterness creeps in and you don’t know it’s there until it has been nutured to a point it manifests itself outwardly.
To Be Continued…..
Kevin
Christmas in Review
I guess it wouldn’t be the holiday season without talking about my Christmas. Here are a few thoughts:
- It was nice to see the smiles on my children’s faces as they opened their presents. They really liked what they got. I enjoyed taking pictures with the camera my in-laws got me for Christmas! Thank You!!! Maybe I will post some pics later.
- I got the X-Box 360 I had waited for so long to get! Yeah!
- Ate too much turkey and ham (burp).
- Went to some great Christmas parties last weekend. Had a good time hanging out with some great people!
- The Christmas services at Journey were incredible!
- Glad its over. Ready for 2009. It’s going to be incredible! Challenging, but incredible!!
Hope all of you enjoyed your Christmas!
Kevin
Studying the Bible
I had a buddy ask me recently about how I study the Bible. As I shared with him, it made me reflect and think of how the way and the why I study has changed tremendously!
I was raised in church, but it wasn’t till I was about 17 years old that I truly made the decision that I was going to follow Christ. Not for my parents, or anyone else but I truly made the decision that I wanted to live my life for God and He revealed to me that He wanted to have a relationship with me.
This began my journey into God’s Word. I wanted to know God so bad I devoured the Bible. I mean I read through the whole thing a few times, I listened to tapes, and I read books out the wazoo. I could quote scripture better than many twice my age. I could tell you where to find almost anything in the Bible. I am not exaggerating.
You might think that is incredible. Looking back it was. I had incredible knowledge beyond my years, but that knowledge didn’t bring the spiritual transformation and maturity I so greatly lacked. The knowledge led to spiritual pride. I thought I knew it all. I thought I knew what I needed. What I really needed was a good, swift kick in my toosh! It took many years of humbling situations to bring me to the point that I am at now. I thought I needed to be fed. What I really needed was someone to say “I can see that God has His hand on you. Let me help show you the path. It won’t be easy. You might not like everything I have to say, but I will do everything I can to help.” and be willing to listen (Something I wouldn’t have been willing to do years ago)
My study used to be what I could learn from the Bible. It has become more of a “what is God saying to me through these scriptures?” My Bible learning has become more of a part of my relationship with Him, rather than another opportunity to gain more knowledge. It has taken time and experiences to get the Word that I had in my brain to get to my heart. I actually took a break from the Bible to work on my relationship with God. (I don’t recommend this for everyone) I knew what the Bible said about Him but I didn’t know Him like I really wanted to. Each new day I understand more and less about Him.
As I have gotten older, I realize the things that I thought were important are not so important anymore. I used to argue doctrine and scripture. I don’t have the time or energy to fight with folks about it. It’s a waste of the precious time we have to minister to the gospel to those who will hear it. If you don’t like what I say or want to argue don’t bother. People are going to hell while Christians waste time fighting about the stupidest crap I have ever heard. You want to argue about the rapture? I could care less. I am here, right now, with a comission to reach those whom He has called me to reach with the gospel. You can take your petty arguments and put em where the sun don’t shine!
Let’s all start our Bible study with “Love the Lord with all your heart, mind, and strength” and “Love your neighbor as yourself” . When we have that down, maybe we are ready to learn the “deeper” things of God. I don’t know about you but I am still working on those those two.
Kevin
Leaving it All on the Field
I love watching football. There is nothing better than seeing one player just knock the mess out of another player, even if it is one of your players. Those guys play so hard! They hold nothing back, and they put it all on the line for 60 minutes. When they are done, they say that they left it all on the field. Meaning, they gave that 60 minutes every bit of energy, emotion, heart and soul they possibly could. They are spent!
How many of us can say we left it all on the field in regards to our relatioship with God? We poured out every bit of love, devotion, and passion for Him that we possibly could. How many times do we live passionless lives while folks in the world go out and party like it’s 1999? We give Him a few minutes of our time a day and maybe a couple of hours on Sunday but they are given with no more passion than we have when we get up for work. It’s not right. God deserves every ounce of life and breath I have to give. He lived a life of passion. He left it all on the field. Can we do no less?
This drives me nuts sometimes.
Kevin
What Methods of Contact do You Find Most Effective?
I am an organizer. If I see something really out of place or I see something that could make things more efficient or make things easier, I am one of those who thinks of those things. A lot. Kids keep me from being compulsive about it cause God knows they are all slobs! Lol!
Being the type of person I am, I like to find the fastest, most effective way to do things, this includes communication. I was wondering, what is the best way to get ahold of you to contact you or get information to you? (Phone? Email? Twitter? ect?)
I look forward to your responses.
Kevin
Ministry Burnout
I know and have known many who are have told me that they are “burned out” on minstry and really need a break.
I want to preface what I am going to say before I get myself in trouble. I strongly believe that people should take vacations, take time with family away from church, and just relax. We need it to recharge our bodies and it gives us a chance to step back and see where we are and where we are going.
Now that I have that out of the way, I have one question for those of you who claim to be burned-out: “Are you burned-out, or has your relationship with Christ burned-out?” Christ-Followers should serve out of the overflow of our relationship with Him. If we try to serve Him cause we should, then we are doing it for the wrong reason. Some serve to hide the fact that their relationship with Him is lacking. It’s harder to question someone who is “busy” all the time.
Let’s make sure that we don’t mistake busyness with a relationship with Christ. It can be easy to do. The thing is that we need to be able to recognize it and act upon it. If ministry is keeping you from spending time with Him, then you need to stop, hand it to someone else for a period of time, and just get to know Him again. There is noone, no ministry, there is nothing worth doing that will end up costing you your soul.
In closing, I want to leave you with this scripture. This is God speaking to one of His churches:
Revelation 2:3) I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name’s sake, and you have not grown weary. 4) But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. 5) Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent.
Peace,
Kevin
Are You Trying to Pull the Strings?
I just finished a series called “Who is Pulling the Strings?” After finishing the series, and after Sunday’s message at Journey, I pose this question: Are you trying to pull the strings? Have you set yourself as god of your life? I am talking to Christians here. There are many who may not be manipulated by demonic forces but just as dangerous is when we as Christ-Followers put our desires, needs and agendas before Christ. It’s called idolatry.
There are those who preach a prosperity gospel that is so insulting to the magnificence that is God Almighty. There are those who would preach that God is someone we can manipulate into doing our will. If we push the right buttons, we can get God to cough up our every wish because “He wants to bless us.” I am not saying He doesn’t want to bless us. What I am saying is if we serve Him to get something from Him, we are in a bad place. God is not mocked. He is Holy. He will reward everyone according to thier deeds. You better remember that He sees the heart. He sees the motive.
He may give you want because you bug Him constantly, but it may not be what He wanted to give you. This is why we need to check the motivation of our hearts. There are things that I wish I never would’ve asked for! I got them all right! It was a mess!
Are you trying to pull the strings? It is time to let God be the Lord of your life. It is time to place your life in His hands and let Him mold you into what He has called you to be. Humble your hearts before the Lord and He will raise you up, He will bless you, and He will give you the desires of your heart and it will be so much more than you could ever make happen. Trust Him.
Kevin
Who is Pulling the Strings? Part 6
Influence: the act or power of producing an effect without apparent exertion of force or direct exercise of command.
Manipulation: to control or play upon by artful, unfair, or insidious means especially to one’s own advantage.
Ephesians 4:22) You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23)to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24) and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. 25) Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body. 26) “In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, 27) and do not give the devil a foothold.
Ok, so you have been reading these posts and have come to realize that maybe you haven’t been “pulling the strings.” Maybe you have come to understand that you need to make some changes in your life. “How do I get free from this crap?” you may ask.
1) Like the scripture says, you have to “not give the devil a foothold.” If you want to stop waking up in some stranger’s bed after being out partying and getting drunk, you need to stop going to the bar. You may need to find some new friends. You may even have family that are encouraging you to do things that are wrong. You have to remove yourself from places, situations, or people that encourage the behavior you do not want to exhibit.
2) You need to replace the activities that you were doing with things that will encourage your spiritual growth. Reading the bible is the most powerful weapon against the influence of evil people and the manipulation of the devil. It is part of what is called “renewing your mind”. You are replacing the crud that has filled your mind and influenced your actions so God can speak to you and help you make good decisions. People think you have to run around rebuking the devil. No, just try filling your mind with the bible and what God says and you will begin to see a change in your life!
3) Find people that you can be open and honest with and they can be open and honest with you. Accountability is a great way to keep you on the right path. I don’t know where I would be if I didn’t have people that could speak the truth to me. Having people to encourage and push me to grow in my faith has helped me grow more than in the times I didn’t have anyone.
These are some basic ways of combatting the devil. Not quite as “spiritually deep” as I’m sure most people would like to hear, but there are folks who want to hear deep teaching that can’t even do these things. So chew on this for a while, you might find it will impact your life more than teachings on angel feathers and gold dust.
Peace,
Kevin
Who is Pulling the Strings Part 5
Influence: the act or power of producing an effect without apparent exertion of force or direct exercise of command.
Manipulation: to control or play upon by artful, unfair, or insidious means especially to one’s own advantage.
Galatians 5:19)Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20)idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21)envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
We have 3 enemies of our souls: the devil, the world, our flesh. In my opinion, I would say that our flesh is probably the most prominent and powerful of the things that war against our walk with God. I don’t know many people who don’t manifest at least some of these things at one point or another. There are some you wouldn’t even know they sin and there are those who take some of these to a whole nutha level! Paul pointed these out on purpose.
He called them works of the flesh. He understood that there was a difference between the works of the devil and works of the flesh.
I John3:8) Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil
Most people don’t run around doing the things that Paul listed on a daily basis. Those times we mess up and we act on one of these things, these are the acts of the flesh. There are some who do live a lifestyle of one or more of these things. The scripture clearly says that those who “practice” these things are acting under the devil’s direct influence. Alcoholism is one example. One drink is not going to lead to a life of drunkenness, but when the enemy of our soul is involved, it has lead alcoholics to places that they never thought they would go. I could go into many more examples but for the brevity of this post I won’t.
The point in these posts is to raise your awareness. Self-examination is beneficial in everyone’s life but for a Christ-Follower it is crucial if we want to live a life that pleases Him.
More to come…..
Kevin
Who is Pulling the Strings Part 4
Influence: the act or power of producing an effect without apparent exertion of force or direct exercise of command.
Manipulation: to control or play upon by artful, unfair, or insidious means especially to one’s own advantage.
Manipulation is not always inspired by the demonic but it is no less wrong or evil. This happens a lot in marriage. You can get to know your spouse so well you know what things affect them and the ways it affects them. You know what sets off your spouse. You know what your spouse desires most. Knowing these things is supposed to better your relationship. However, these things can be used in an unhealthy manner. Mental abuse is nothing more than manipulation. Spouses berate the other to make them do what they want them to do. It is so sick that a spouse would take the sacred gift of their spouses’ heart and twist it and manipulate the person they are supposed to love like Christ loved the church, but it happens. Men telling their their wives they need to lose weight so they never feel attractive. Women who withhold sex to teach their husbands a lesson or until they do what they want.
These are forms of manipulation and are demonic and evil. Couples have to be very careful to not let bitterness creep into their marriage. A conscious effort must be made or just as subtly as a commercial ad we barely glimpse over compels us to buy something, so can a word said in the wrong way, can set a marriage on a course it was never meant to go.
To be continued…
Kevin
If You Don’t Have a Heart for People Don’t Click on the Link Below
If you get past the title, you may not be as religious as you once thought:
Great post.
Next part of my series coming in a little while.
Kevin
Who is Pulling the Strings? Part 3
Influence: the act or power of producing an effect without apparent exertion of force or direct exercise of command.
Manipulation: to control or play upon by artful, unfair, or insidious means especially to one’s own advantage.
Manipulation is huge. We have companies that spend billions and billions of dollars to get you to drink their soda, where their jeans, eat their cereal, even use their body sprays! You have advertisers that will try to convince you that if you use their body spray, you have girls jumping your bones. Sorry, not going to happen. The point is to plant a seed in your mind. If they can get you to try it, just to see, they have succeeded. This is how the enemy gains access to our minds, by planting a seed.
It doesn’t have to be a giant demon telling you to sin, it’s so subtle you may not even realize that you have been affected till later on. It could be something so simple as seeing someone attractive that “you can’t get out of your head”. That turns into lust and you act out in any of a myriad of ways which I won’t get into. You own your mind. You ever wonder why you couldn’t get image out of your head? It is a good chance that it is not you bringing back to your rememberance but by the demonic. It starts simple, but can get out of control very quickly. I believe many extreme cases of compulsive behavior are seeded in something supernatural rather than natural. Pastor Mark Driscoll said something very simple but very practical. He said that you should question anything that says “you” are no good. “You” are a failure. Do you think in the third person? Not me. Usually if I am thinking I say “what a bone-head I am!” not “what a bone-head you are!” It’s subtle and deceptive but we need to learn to discern between our own inner voice and the voice of a deceiver.
To be continued…
Kevin
This Video Messed Me Up Bad!
This just blew my freaking mind! Let me know what you think:
Wow!
Kevin
Who is Pulling the Strings? Part 2
Influence: the act or power of producing an effect without apparent exertion of force or direct exercise of command.
Manipulation: to control or play upon by artful, unfair, or insidious means especially to one’s own advantage.
Influence is a great gift. Some people are naturally blessed with a magnetic personality, for others, it takes a long process of building trust and relationship. Some leaders don’t even have to say a word, and people will instinctively react to what that person wants and carry out that unspoken command. As much of a mad-man Hitler was, he influenced a whole country to believe that Germans were genetically greater than any other race or person. His influence brought nearly an entire planet to war and the after-shocks of his hatred for the Jews still resides in many corners of the world. This type of influence is a perfect example of influence being demonically inspired. Jim Jones had a demonically inspired influence that caused people to drink the poisoned kool-aid without a thought of the fact that “gee, this stuff tastes weird!”
Influence can be a lot more subtle. Thats when we get into the area of manipulation. We will talk about that next time.
Peace,
Kevin
