Jonah VII (Asleep)
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
Happy New Year
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
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
Jonah (Part III)
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
Transaction-Based Giving
I was sitting in with the youth of our church last Wednesday, and listened to a great teaching about giving from John our youth director. Great job! John made an extraordinary point about how we have wrongly looked at giving.
Our society is a transaction based society. Say I go to the store to get milk. I have to give the cashier money in order to have that milk. If I want to have electricity, I have to pay my electric bill. There is a transaction that must take place. An exchange takes place for services and goods. Unfortunately, this is what giving has come to for most people. “If I want to be in right standing with God and the church, I have to give” (I am obligated). Or, you may be on the “If I give, God has to bless me” side that makes God the obligator to bless because I gave my offering (God is obligated). Both of these schools of thoughts have some truth in them, but both have wrong heart motives.
There is a side that people miss in both of these schools of thought. In the “I am obligated” camp. You have many of the most consistant givers in the church. They give every Sunday or every other Sunday like clockwork. The problem is that is all they will do. No more, no less. They are not moved by the suffering of others. They see a need and will refer to the check they gave last Sunday. These folks say when a need is presented in the church ” what are they doing with my check?” These people miss the whole point of what giving is all about. You can be consistant and still have a selfish, dirty, uncompassionate heart. Consistancy in this believer’s life only means they are disciplined with thier giving. It doesn’t take a giving heart to give. Religion is the God of this believer, cause the Jesus of the bible was moved with compassion for the lost, the poor, and the needy. If you only give to maintain a right standing in church or with God, then you are not in right standing cause this the heart that God is looking for:
Isaiah 58:6-7
6)“Is not this the fast that I choose:
to loose the bonds of wickedness,
to undo the straps of the yoke,
to let the oppressed go free,
and to break every yoke?
7)Is it not to share your bread with the hungry
and bring the homeless poor into your house;
when you see the naked, to cover him,
and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?
The “God is obligated” camp is equally jacked up. To throw your money in the offering plate and expect God to give you money back is like throwing your money in the stock market and because you invested it, you think you are obligated to make money. This is definitely not the case. I am not saying that God cannot bless us on this Earth. He wants to bless us, but most of His blessings come in ways we can’t describe or won’t be fully understood till we see Him face to face. This inaccuracy of scripture being taught only feeds our self-centered nature, which needs no help, waging war against what God wants us to do. God is not a vending machine! God is moved by a heart that says whether God does anything more for me than what He has already done, I will glorify Him with everything that He has blessed me with. That is the kind of heart that God will bless, not the one who thinks that God is obligated. God doesn’t owe you any more than what He has already done.
God help us destroy these mindsets! Let us have a heart to help others without a thought for ourselves and glorify You alone!
Kevin
Loved by God II
As I began to read His Word and ask Him to reveal Himself to me, He began to reveal to me His purpose for why we were here. I realized according to the scriptures, that God’s plan was not some cosmic chaotic mess that it seemed. God is the master planner. His will cannot be denied. He is All Soveriegn and All-Powerful! For God to be these things, He would have to have a plan so detailed it could not be comprehended totally by our natural understanding! Jesus tried to reveal some of that plan to Nicodemus:
John 3
3)Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” 4)Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” 5)Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6) That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is Spirit. 7) Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ 8) The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
Verse 8 really stands out here (not just because I underlined it). Jesus compares the process that God chooses those to whom He has decided to the moving of the wind. I like to take this scripture and transpose “the Spirit of God” into where you see “the wind” cause He is describing the Spirit of God as “the wind”.
Just as the Holy Spirit hovered over the waters of the deep in Genesis 1, even today, He moves across this world drawing those to Himself that He has chosen before the foundations of the Earth were laid!
Ephesians 1
3) Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 4) even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love 5) he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, 6) to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. 7) In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, 8)which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight 9) making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ 10)as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.
There are so many more scriptures I could share about this, but back to my story.
I began to realize that God’s love was not determined upon whether or not I did certain things, but was given freely because I was chosen by God. I was taught for a long time that salvation was based on my actions (not that we have a free license to go out and do whatever we want with no consequence). I had to a pray a prayer to get saved, had to not drink or smoke, read my bible, pray regularly, give my tithe, and I was good to go. I did good on the smoking and drinking stuff cause I had no desire to do either, but I struggled with prayer,reading, and still have some attitudes and things I have to work on. Many well intentioned men would use condemnation to get me back in line which only really worked for short periods of time.
What I have come to learn is that I am free and you are free to seek Him! There is no long list of prerequisites to be saved or be in right standing with Him! Jesus already did everything that was required and we have an opportunity to experience the love of the God of the universe with no restrictions, no bounderies, no limits! Is that not incredible?! The burden of your salvation was carried on that cross and we are free!! Free to love Him and be loved with no strings attached! It’s this love that moves me to read so we can know Him better. It’s this love that should move us to spend time in prayer, fellowship, and worship!
Hebrews 10:21-23
21)and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22)let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. 23) Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.
We are so loved by Him! I hope you get a revelation of what He has done for you!. Thanks for reading.
Kevin
After His Heart
I have heard a lot of messages over the past several months, on how God is after our hearts. I know this is true in my own life cause He has dealt with me on a lot of things that He wants to change in me. He is aggressively after the hearts of those He has chosen to call His children. His grace is irresistable and is love knows no boundry! He is not interested in your participation in religion, your “good” deeds, or how many scriptures you have memorized. He is after a heart that is fully His. He will attack every idol in our lives, everything that you hold higher in importance than Him.
Knowing that our Lord is in pursuit of our hearts, my question is are you pursuing after His heart?
Deuteronomy 4:29 (English Standard Version)
29) But from there you will seek the LORD your God and you will find him, if you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul.
2 Kings 23:25
25) Before him there was no king like him, who turned to the LORD with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might, according to all the Law of Moses, nor did any like him arise after him.
God wants to be pursued. God wants to be sought after. He wants us to seek His face and not just His hand (yeah, I know it’s an overused phrase, but it’s true). He wants us to have relationship with Him! I wonder how much sooner those things we struggle with in our lives would be a thing of the past if we would run to Him as He is pursuing us? I wonder if we struggle with things for such a long time is because we are trying to “hide” those things from Him, just like Adam and Eve tried to hide from God in the garden. At some point, everything must bow it’s knee in submission to Jesus Christ.
Isaiah 45:23
23) By myself I have sworn;
from my mouth has gone out in righteousness
a word that shall not return:
’To me every knee shall bow,
every tongue shall swear allegiance.’
This scripture is not just talking about judgement day. Everything that has a place in our lives greater than Christ must be submitted to Him. There is no other god before Him. What an act of love to actively lay down those things that stand between us and Him!
I know that some things are easier than others. There are some things that we can’t do in our strength. We need Him. It is His power that gives us the power to change!
Philippians 2:12-13
12Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, 13for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure
Let’s not just be pursued by God, but let us pursue Him with the same passion that He is pursuing us until all things are subjected to Him. He truly is all and holds, everything we need.
Kevin
Where Is It?
Hebrews 4:13-15 (English Standard Version)
14) Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15) For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.
Where is it?
What I am talking about is the confession of your faith. Where is it? As I have said many times, I was raised in church. I have noticed a steep decline in seeing public confessions of faith in Christ, in our churches today. Most people today wouldn’t even know that they are sitting with, working with, even hanging out with a Christ-follower! This is wrong. I’m not suggesting you wear Christian t-shirts or put fish symbols and “turn or burn” bumper stickers on your vehicles. What I want to know is where is your confession? When is the last time you shared with someone how God has changed your life? When is the last time you told someone that you are a Christ-Follower?
Your confession was never meant to be a private thing. Your confession is powerful, not just for others to hear, but for yourself!
Romans 10:16-18
16) But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” 17) So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.
Other people’s faith is strengthened and challenged by your confession. Your faith is strengthened when you confess His goodness and mercy and grace. It is not a point of shame, but of glorious worship!
Don’t be ashamed to share your testimony with others
Kevin
Special Day!
Today marks two years that I have been married to my best friend. Her love for me and her passion for God have been such an inspiration to me. She has been such an encouragement to be everything that God has called me to be.
Proverbs 18:22 (English Standard Version)
22He who finds a wife finds a good thing
and obtains favor from the LORD.
Happy Anniversary My Love!
Kevin
The Pitfall of Worldliness
1 John 2:15-16 (English Standard Version)
15) Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16) For all that is in the world— the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions—is not from the Father but is from the world.
James 4:1-3
1) What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? 2) You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. 3) You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.
In my last post, I talked about how God wants to give to us abundantly above all we can ask or think (Eph 3:20). I was sitting here thinking “why is it so above what we can ask or think?” He spoke to me very clearly and said ” we are too busy chasing after the things of this world and spend little time pursuing those things that are eternal.” The world has permeated the church like a thick fog that blinds and hinders from seeing things from God’s point of view. It keeps us chasing after our desires like the dog who chases the car but never catches it. It wears us out and consumes our energy till we have nothing left to pursue God with.
What is worldliness? Worldliness is the pusuit of trying to fulfill our needs, desires, and passions outside of the way Christ laid out for us in His Word. For example, when we are going through a rough time, we should turn to God in prayer and meditation of His Word. Many times that is not what most people do. Many turn to something (food, pornography, sex, drugs, alcohol, make others miserable, isolation) to “medicate” the negative feelings they are feeling. There are those who feel like they need to wear the trendiest clothes to feel good about themselves. There are those who will compromise their faith to fit in with a group of people. There are those who will say what they need to say to be accepted or to prove that they are what they believe God has called them to be. Whatever brings you validation outside of who you are in Christ Jesus is worldly, a substitute, a fraud.
The problem (especially in America) is that we are pursuers of pleasure. We want to do things that make us feel good. We fight hard to avoid situations that will bring discomfort of any kind. We want to be warm and filled and not be bothered with things like our character. We don’t want to change cause it is easier to stay the same. Unfortunately, this does not go in line with what the scriptures teach us. The “I’m ok, you’re ok” heresy that has been taught from America’s pulpits have produced a lazy, apathetic, unteachable, ungrateful, religious system that has emasculated Jesus into some type of Savior that noone fears, respects, or believes that He would actually want them to change. To these folks Jesus is no more than a heavenly “sugar -daddy ” that is around to give us what we want, when we want it, and how we want it.
Jesus taught a gospel that is not for the faint of heart. He said that you would face various trials and tribulations ( Matt 5:11-12). Jesus said if you love Him, you will obey His commands (John 14:15). Jesus said that apart from Him you can bear no fruit (John 15:5). He also said that in this world you will have tribulation (John 16:33). This is not a pretty gospel. Jesus said that people would hate His believers and believe they were doing God a favor by killing us (John 16:1-3). There are believers who are experiencing this kind of persecution even now in different parts of the world while we get mad if we can’t WiFi at Starbucks. Give me a break! Persecution is not getting cut off in traffic cause you think it’s due to the fish symbol on your SUV or cause you are asked to turn down your worship music at work! We need to learn what it means to take up our cross and follow Jesus (Luke 9:23)!
2 Corinthians 6:16-18
16What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said,
“I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them,
and I will be their God,
and they shall be my people.
17) Therefore go out from their midst,
and be separate from them, says the Lord,
and touch no unclean thing;
then I will welcome you,
18) and I will be a father to you,
and you shall be sons and daughters to me,
says the Lord Almighty.”
God is calling His people to come out from the among the world and be separate. This is not talking about being separate from people who don’t know Christ, but to be separate from the world in what our hearts pursue and desire. He desires us to pursue Him with all our hearts, minds, and strength. He desires to be our consuming passion. The Father desires to mold and shape us into the image of His Son Jesus. This is not always pleasant and pleasurable. We need to be pruned and trimmed so we can bear fruit that is eternal and incorruptable. Will you turn from seeking for what will please you and instead seek after His heart and find out what you can do to please your Heavenly Father? He is worthy of so much more than we have given Him.
Kevin
True Abundance
Ephesians 3 (English Standard Version)
20) Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, 21) to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
I think sometimes that this is a tough pill to swallow. You look at your checkbook and it’s empty. You look at the calendar and there’s way too much time between now and the next paycheck. You look at the state of your marriage and there seems to be no hope. You see your kids acting as if they were spawned from Satan himself. The car is broken and you have no idea how you are going to get it fixed.
It’s times like these that make it hard to have faith. It’s times like these that make you throw up your hands in surrender. Your done. You quit. It’s over. Finished. “Take me home God, I’m of no use to You here!”
I know, I’ve said and done all these at one point or another, and on more than one occasion. There are times I am still tempted. I would be a liar if I said otherwise, but at some point something has to change on the inside of us. Something on the inside of us has to say “enough”!
Let me give you an example. I have seen zero in my checking more than once in my lifetime. One day, I was school shopping, cause kids need clothes for school. I knew that it was going to put us close to zero. Well, I saw this shirt that I liked and God told me he wanted me to get the shirt and give it to someone else! My first thought, naturally, is that if I’m going to spend my last few bucks getting a shirt I liked, it was going to be for me! My second was that I need to hold on to that money cause I was going to need it. God wanted to teach me a principle. This was a test, a test of the “are you going to be obedient and trust God system.” I decided to obey God. I felt like something changed inside of me. I felt defiant. I felt like I just walked up to the bully on the playground and spit in his face, and knocked his lights out! I felt like I gave the spirit of lack a superman punch to the temple. It felt good.
Let me just say it didn’t change the fact that I was broke, but it did change my mind-set, and that was worth more than it’s weight in gold! The freedom I felt didn’t fill my tummy much the rest of the week, but something very powerful happened that day. I’m sure some of you thought I was going to say that someone gave me money, or someone handed me the keys to a Rolls Royce or something. (Haha) I got something far more important; abundantly above what I would have thought to ask for! If I would have had a choice, I would have asked for money. What was imparted was better!
according to the power at work within us
God is trying to do a deeper work in us than money, or wealth, or cars could ever do. He is imparting His very nature inside of us. Things that neither moth, or rust, or decay could ever destroy. Things that are eternal, incorruptable, and immovable.
Romans 8:20-22
20) For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope 21) that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22) For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now.
God is trying to birth something in you greater than anything you can measure by weights and rulers. He is transforming our corrupted ways and thinking into the likeness of His Son Jesus. He wants to pour out His gifts of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and self-control in you and through you. Let His Spirit lead you into true abundance that only comes from an obedient and willing heart.
Kevin
Is It I?
Matthew 26
20) When it was evening, he reclined at table with the twelve. 21) And as they were eating, he said, “Truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me.” 22) And they were very sorrowful and began to say to him one after another, “Is it I, Lord?” 23) He answered, “He who has dipped his hand in the dish with me will betray me. 24) The Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that man if he had not been born.” 25) Judas, who would betray him, answered, “Is it I, Rabbi?” He said to him, “You have said so.”
I’ve always found it interesting that Judas asks this question, considering Jesus knew it was him. Besides it being God’s will, and that Jesus had to fulfill the prophecies of the Old Testament before He died, it blows my mind that someone who lived with Jesus and followed Him for the last 3 years would betray Him. We look at Judas as the ultimate betrayer. His name is cursed even to this day. Do you know anyone named Judas? There is no greater name that stirs up thoughts of betrayal than his. Even as Christ- Followers we look upon him with contempt and disgust.
Then I look in the mirror……….
I look at a guy who has failed him so many times, and so many ways. I may not have sold my Savior out for silver, but how many times have betrayed Him in my heart and turned away and did my own thing? How many times have I made other things God instead of Him? How many bad decisions have I made that has made Him look so much less than who He truly and rightfully is? How arrogant are you to think we have right to place judgement on Judas? The Bible says to remove the log from our own eye so we may be able to remove the speck from our brother’s. (Matt 7:5)
It is by His divine love and grace that we can live in forgiveness and mercy. Without the sacrifice that Jesus paid, we are all Judas; no hope, no forgiveness, no Savior. We remain our own god in which we have no power to deliver ourselves from our sins, our fears, and our past. We are doomed to live a life of regret of what could have been and the reality of what it truly is.
Is it I?
Yes.
Kevin
The Pitfall of Folly
1 Samuel 4 (English Standard Version)
Now Israel went out to battle against the Philistines. They encamped at Ebenezer, and the Philistines encamped at Aphek. 2)The Philistines drew up in line against Israel, and when the battle spread, Israel was defeated by the Philistines, who killed about four thousand men on the field of battle. 3) And when the troops came to the camp, the elders of Israel said, “Why has the LORD defeated us today before the Philistines? Let us bring the ark of the covenant of the LORD here from Shiloh, that it may come among us and save us from the power of our enemies.” 4) So the people sent to Shiloh and brought from there the ark of the covenant of the LORD of hosts, who is enthroned on the cherubim. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God………………..
10) So the Philistines fought, and Israel was defeated, and they fled, every man to his home. And there was a very great slaughter, for there fell of Israel thirty thousand foot soldiers. 11)And the ark of God was captured, and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, died.
This is such a crazy story. These elders should have been fired, or stoned to death or something. With elders like these, who needs enemies? Here we have Israel who just suffered a defeat at the hands of the Philistines. They immediately came to the conclusion that God was not happy with Israel about something. Did the elders repent or seek God to find out what the problem was? No, of course not! That would have made too much sense. Is that not like us? We can see there are problems and yet we find other reasons for why bad things happen in our lives, or why we aren’t where we want to be spiritually, or why our marriages are a mess, or our kids don’t listen. After all, isn’t it someone else’s fault? This is folly in all its glory!
Just like in this story, the folly of the elders not looking at themselves led to even greater folly. I sincerely believe if those elders had sought the Lord and looked at what they were doing, they would have repented of whatever they were doing, and thirty-thousand men would not have had to die, and the ark of the covenant would not have been captured, and they would have had the victory. Instead of doing this, they decide to dishonor God all the more by taking the ark, the very prescense of God, possibly not even carried on the shoulders of the priests (which is required by the Law of Moses), accompanied by the two sons of the high priest Eli, whom the prophet Samuel prophesied God would punish for blaspheming God!
There are things that aren’t blatant sin, but they are not good decisions. These actions are folly, or foolishness. For example, a person is diagnosed with high blood pressure. The doctor prescribes medicine to help control it. The person decides not to take it cause they don’t like taking pills. That is folly, or foolishness. There are those who have been corrected about certain things they are doing at work by bosses, things at home by spouses, things in their spiritual lives at church and yet rather than listen, they choose to continue doing what they are doing. The book of Proverbs says a lot about folly:
Proverbs 26:11 (English Standard Version)
11) Like a dog that returns to his vomit
is a fool who repeats his folly
Proverbs 5:23
23) He dies for lack of discipline,
and because of his great folly he is led astray.
Proverbs 17:12
12) Let a man meet a she-bear robbed of her cubs
rather than a fool in his folly.
Folly is a lot like sin. It can be just as much of a bondage as sin. It can be a never-ending cycle that can destroy your life!! If you trust in Christ, and you are a part of a local body of believers, He has placed people in your life to help you recognize the folly and sin in your life. What you choose to do in response is a choice you have to make. Many will turn right back to their folly, like the dog returns to its vomit.
Proverbs 19:3
3When a man’s folly brings his way to ruin,
his heart rages against the LORD.
Unchecked folly will lead to bitterness toward God. Despite the fact that God has warned you and tried to reveal your folly to you, there are those who will blame God for the problems in their life. They will blame their families, They will blame their friends, but in the end, the only one to blame is ourselves. We are responsible for our actions. Fools will never look in a mirror, will never be accountable, will never repent or turn away from our folly.
Not everyone is living in sin, but everyone has behaviors, habits, and things in their life that need to be exposed that we need to repent and turn away from. The question is whether or not you will alow God to expose and help you to turn away from your folly. We all have to ask ourselves that question.
Kevin
What I am Learning Right Now
There will be no deep theological insights in this post. Maybe. Lol!
1) Apart from the grace of God, I am lost and there is no good in me. (Humility)
2) I need His grace and forgiveness every day.
3) I need to forgive and show grace every day to others.
4) To forgive myself
5) To rejoice in the victories and accomplishments of others
6) To do all things as unto God. No matter how big or small.
7) To confront my fears. After all, to be apart from the body is to be with the Lord. Lol!
8) Patience is NOT a virtue. It is a necessity.
9) Being a good husband and father requires selflessness and I am still selfish at times.
10) Failures are mandatory for success.
Kevin
Sovereignty of God
I was reading a posting from John Piper today titled “Don’t Waste Your Cancer” . It just blows my mind the trust that he has in Christ despite the fact that he has cancer, and that God allowed him to have it for God’s purpose and plan.
My brain has a hard time wrapping itself around that thought sometimes. I was raised with the Good God Bad Devil point of view. God doesn’t cause bad things to happen, that’s just Satan. When my mother was diagnosed with cancer, everyone said it was the devil trying to “take her out”.
I went along with this line of thinking till I had prayed all I could pray, I did all I knew to do, I rebuked satan as many times as I could, and she still was not getting better. There was a point where I had to concede that God had no plan on saving her life and for some reason, He saw it fit that she had to go through what she went through. It was ultimately His will!
We have been fed a load of crap from men with good intentions that have no clue (not that I have the corner on God or claim to understand His ways) about what His sovereign will is all about. Jesus came to save us, He did not necessarily come to give you lots of money, (not that that is a bad thing) or give you a life without trials and tribulation. He did not come to make “everything better”. He came because you were lost in your sin. You needed a Savior. Jesus came and suffered. He even told His disciples that they would face various trials and tribulations. He said you will suffer for My namesake. You will be beaten, persecuted, mocked, and killed. He also said that He would be with us as we are in the middle of these things. A far cry from the your blessing is right around the corner teaching that has gone around. Do I think He wants to bless us? Listen, He has already blessed us with the most precious gift. He has bestowed on us every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. The work is done. You are blessed! You are His child! He is your Father! Your fate is eternally sealed with Him!
Obey His Word and you will be blessed, but don’t obey to be blessed. You may need to read that a couple more times to get it.
Ultimately, I chose to believe that she was predestined to go through the things she went through to show the unbelieving that in the midst of suffering and pain, one’s faith can be just as strong, if not stronger then when everything is hunky dory. She was a shining example of faith in the face of impossible odds.
Let us worship Him with our lives as we conform ourselves to His will and His plan for our lives. Let us not waste our lives pursuing blessings, but let us allow Him to shine within us as we obey Him, no matter where we are, or what place He has put us.
Kevin
Peniel (Face to Face)
Genesis 32:30
So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, saying, “For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life has been delivered.”
Face to face with God.
I have had so many visions and dreams of You in a splendor that I know my mind can do no justice to. I can see the angels like flashes of lightning around the great white throne. As You speak, a sound more powerful and majestic than anything produced by human or human means that penetrates into the very spirit! That creates galaxies out of nothing!
It’s easy to have that picture of You. What I struggled and sometimes still do is seeing You and I, face to face, like man speaks to His friend. Standing before the most perfect person, the most powerful being in the universe, who can hold 7 stars in His hand. Who made something out of nothing. The One who breathed my spirit into my body and created my life! Yet now, You stand before me, face to face. The culmination of my whole life, my existance standing before me. The reason I was created, to fellowship with You, to be Your friend, Your child. Your ultimate creation fulfilling it’s ultimate purpose. What an incredible thing! I can’t get my mind around it. What seems so complex sometimes, is really so simple.
Although my spirit abides in your prescense . One day I will stand before You. Truly face-to-face as a man speaks to his friend. Till that day I will yearn for You, my God, my Father, my Friend.
Till the day You come again.
Kevin
Enabling or Empowering?
This blog is a journey of things that God is teaching me. Having said that, I would like to share about enabling and empowerment.
Ephesians 4:11-14
11)And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, 12) to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13)until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, 14)so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.
In this passage of scripture, we see God gave apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds, and teachers to equip the saints and help them to grow into a level of maturity in their lives and their walk with God. They are called to empower people so they can go out and live the life that God has called them to live with confidence and an assurance.
A pitfall can come when we do not empower, but we enable people to not have to grow up, and not have to take responsibility for their actions. I have heard churchfolk say (myself included) “Brother, I need a Word from the Lord!!” or “I need you to pray for me. I stubbed my toe.”Let me just say that I believe in lifting up each other in prayer, and I also believe that God speaks to people. The problem is when we as leaders don’t use these times to empower those entrusted to us, and instead we just do for them what they can do for themselves. When someone needs a Word from God, are we using these times to instruct them how to pray, and read their bibles? When someone has stubbed their toe, are we instructing them how to pray for themselves and slap a band-aid on it?
This is for those of you who are not in leadership. At some point in your walk with Christ, you should be able to walk in some confidence as a Christian. There are some things that take longer than others to overcome but you should be maturing in your faith so you can help others. If you are not growing in your faith then you need to ask yourself and God why and what you need to do. If you aren’t scared of what you might hear, ask a pastor, source group leader, or elder. They want to see you grow and help you. They will tell you the truth in love. Sometimes the truth hurts, but it will set you free!
Leaders, if your people can’t even pray for themselves when they stub their toe, we haven’t done our job. If God put people in our charge, then we should be teaching people how to pray for themselves. I have no problem praying and standing with anyone, but if they haven’t even attempted to pray for themselves, I have a problem with that. This is enabling. This is not equipping. This is creating an unhealthy dependence that will cripple people and stunt their spiritual growth possibly for the rest of their lives!
Once again, let me reiterate the fact that there will be times when we need someone stronger in faith and authority at times. We were never meant to walk alone. We should always have at least one person we can lean on when we are getting our noses bloodied by the enemy that will cry with us and fight with us and for us when we can’t stand anymore.
Let us instruct those who need help, so they are empowered to stand with boldness and authority the next time that struggle faces them, so they can have the faith in God to stand when all hell breaks loose! Let’s help those who are struggling and give them tools to be overcomers so they can help themselves and others.
Kevin
To the One I Love
How could I go without talking about the sexiest mom out there! She is a good mom, a great woman of God, and my best friend. Yes, I am talking about my wife. You are an amazing person for loving me and my 3 girls. You took me and my girls into your heart and words can’t express how much that means to me.
I love you so much Dawn!!!
Happy Mother’s Day!!
Kevin
Toxic People
This isn’t really a bible teaching, but I just wanted to share some wisdom God has given me. Hopefully it will help you.
A couple of years ago, I went through a painful situation(disagreement) with someone. I struggled for a while with the feelings of hurt, rejection, and separation from this person. I wanted their support during a very happy time in my life and they chose not to. I still have not had any communication with this person since. I hope one day that God will restore that relationship.
God has been bringing to my rememberance many experiences, many not so pleasant, to reveal why I had to go through these situations. Many were experiences of rejection by those I wanted to have relationship with. After all, we all want to be liked. We all want to have friends. We want to have people that we can celebrate our accomplishments and triumphs with us. The desire was innately put into us by our creator. We can’t help it.
The problem is when the people whom we want that from are toxic. They keep at arms length. They laugh at you in your failures. They make it their mission in life to steal the joy that God has placed within you. Their criticism is not constructive. They will never be happy with anything you do. For many that may be a spouse, parent or a realitive. For some, maybe a pastor, teacher, mentor, coach, etc.
In my case, I had to make a very hard decision. I had to stop pursuing that person’s relationship. There are those that may not agree with that. The Bible does say: Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.(Hebrews 12:14). This does not mean that you have to continue to be around people that do not have your best intentions at heart.
What I have found is that God has brought many people into my life that have been an encouragement to me. He has blessed me with great people in my life who have helped me grow more than I have most of my adult life!
No matter how hard we try, there will be those who will never act the way you would like them to. That’s why it is important to surround yourself with those who care about you, and will support you despite what the nay sayers say. We may not be able to get all of those people out of our life but we can surround ourselves with people who can counter those toxic people and speak good things in your life.
K
PS: One small thing I do want to say is that I am not saying that if your spouse is toxic you should go out and get a divorce. You need to find a Christian counselor that you can both trust, who will be objective. Nothing I have said in this post should be construed as me telling anyone to go out and get a divorce.
Random Thoughts
-Third week of “BC” series was incredible! If you didn’t come to service Sunday, you missed an incredible Word! You can go to www.journeychurchnow.com and there is a link for the podcast.
-Powerful staff meeting last Thursday. God is still messing me up from it. In a good way of course!
-It was crazy windy here Saturday. Took the kids to the park to fly kites. Thought the kites were going to get ripped apart!
-Went to Connor’s flag football game. It’s a joke when:
1) You don’t check a kid’s age to make sure they are eligible to play. Some boys look a lot bigger and older than they claim to be.
2) They let kids that all play on a tackle team together, stay together and play against kids that don’t and you end up with an undefeated team at the end of the year cause they just pound the mess out off the little guys.
3) No checks and balances to make it more competitve. This allows 15 year olds that look like they are on steroids play against 12 year olds who are half their height.
All right, I’m done ranting about it. For now.
-Refuge had a night of playing manhunt and pizza. Wished I would have stayed and played too! Kids had a great time!
-Having a meeting with all of our Guest Services volunteers after second service Sunday. Praying that God moves in a powerful way in our team.
-Don’t forget to pray for your pastors, leaders, your local church, and the global church.
-We are going to have a powerful Source Group meeting Fridaynight at 7PM. You won’t want to miss it!
-I am so thankful for Jesus Christ and His irresistable grace and His unfathomable mercy!
God Bless
Kevin
Thursday Thoughts
My wife and I were talking the other day. We were using the words “common sense” and “common courtesy”. In the end of our conversation, we came to the conclusion that sense and courtesy has become less common these days. It seems like this is getting worse. Paul warned Timothy and he warns us:
2: 1) But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. 2) For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3) heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, 4) treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5) having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power.
Does this not fit our society to a tee? Of course I know that every generation previously thought that the society they lived in fit into this scripture. The farther we move away from the fall of Adam and Eve, we can see men’s tendency to do that which is evil in His eyes has grown greater and greater. Men have shown almost brazen courage in their rebellion towards God. Mankind laughs in the face of God and dares Him to do something. The scriptures explain why man becomes more and more evil:
Romans 1:28)And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. 29) They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, 30)slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31)foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32)Though they know God’s decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.
While things get worse in this world, I praise God that there are those who are predestined: to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— 6to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. 7In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace 8that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. 9And he[d] made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, 10to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment—to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ. (Ephesians 1:5-10)
Thank the Holy Spirit who is drawing those who are His by His irresistable grace and mercy! I am thankful that He shows us our totally depravity, but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)
I am thankful for the hope these scriptures bring me . How about you?
Kevin
Rightly Handling the Word of Truth IV
2 Timothy 2:15) Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.
I said I would have the most important question today. I only have one, but it is the most important So let’s get into them without further delay.
5) What is your motivation ? What drives you to share the Word of God? Do you do it cause your daddy was a preacher? Do you do it for the strokes you get from those that listen to you after you preach? Lot’s of people do it for this reason. Do you do it cause someone told you should do it? Is it truly your heart? There are lots of people who do things because they feel like they have to. Sharing the Living, Breathing Word of God should not be one of them! Our number one reason for communicating, and rightly handling the Word of Truth should be love!
1 Corinthians 13
1) If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2)And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3) If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.
4) Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5)or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6)it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7) Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
If we love, we won’t have to manipulate people with the scriptures. If we love, we will respect God’s Word cause we would never want to mishandle or misinterpret what His Word says. If we love, we will search the scriptures diligently to be sure that WE are walking upright before Him! If we love, we will temper our frustrations with mercy before we speak. If we love, God will draw those to you that need to hear what you have to say. If you love, you won’t need any special gimmicks to get people to listen and understand you.
The Word of God is alive and powerful! When communicated by a person full of love and conviction, it can pierce the hardest heart, heal the deepest hurt, it can bring life where there is death! It can bring hope to the hopeless, grace to the fallen, and strength to the weary! It can convict of sin, reveal God’s desire for relationship with us, and show us our purpose in life! Why would we share God’s Word for any other reason?
Kevin
Rightly Handling the Word of Truth II
1) Do you use the Bible every time you are communicating biblical principles? If you don’t, then why not?
The amount you use of God’s Word in your communication will determine how much the people who hear you value it. This is powerful! Read that again! People will not value the Word if you do not use it as the foundation on which you build everything you communicate. When you do not use the Word as your foundation, you can be easily deceived and you have no basis for anything you say. The scripture we have been breaking down says to”present yourself to God as one approved”. How can you present biblical principles without the Bible? Psalms 119:105 states:Your word is a lamp to my feet
and a light to my path. Joshua 1:8 states: This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.
I rest my case on this point.
2) When you prophesy, or when you hear a prophesy, does the prophesy line up with scripture?
For an example, you are told by God that you should prophesy over this person that they should start an orphanage. Then you think you hear from God that everyone in the room should cluck and peck the ground like chickens and God will perform a miracle. Ok, we have two words. One is from God, one is not. Would God call someone to start an orphanage? Sure He would! James 1:27 says: Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. As long as the person who is called bears witness(or is in agreement) with what you are saying and the person called to start an orphanage isn’t a child molester, we can be pretty sure that this is a Word from God. However, besides the health issues and embarrassment factor of pecking the ground and clucking, which are enough to bring the word into question, there is no biblical precedent for anyone in the bible being told to act like animals in order for God to heal someone. Second of all, according to scripture, if someone is sick: James 5:14)Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15)And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. There is no biblical precedent for clucking and pecking, but for the anointing of oil and prayer, so we can both from a physical and biblical standpoint judge that that word was not from the Lord.
I have a couple more questions for you next post.
Kevin
Are You Born Again?
I got this statistic from the Barna Group website. They are a Christian research company .They have done some pretty extensive studies. Check this out:
Where do I begin? This one bothered me the most out of all the ones I read. You might ask why. I had someone ask me about a year ago a similar question. I was asked if I thought that Christianity is the only path to salvation. I told them that believing in Jesus Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection and turning away from their sin is the only way to heaven. They were shocked!
I am amazed at how biblical truth has been so distorted in this day and age where we have people, even believers in Christ, that believe that there could be another way to get to heaven! Peeling back another layer, there are those who believe in Christ that don’t believe that the Bible is our ultimate authority as a believer! So not only do we have to convince the unbeliever that they need Christ, we have to convince people who think they are going to heaven that they are not!!
Maybe I have stirred some folks out there. I hope I did. I hope I make you think. Have you asked forgiveness of your sin? Have you professed your faith in Christ? Do you believe that His blood cleanses you from your sin? Do you believe Christ was born of a virgin? Do you believe that He died, rose again, and is seated at the Father’s right hand? If you answered no to any of these questions, then you do not know Christ and you are most likely, not born again (unless maybe you are on your deathbed and there is no time to explain their importance) . These truths are so intertwined that the absence of one negates the others.
The Bible never says that if you are a good person, you will go to heaven. I hate to break it to you. The Bible says that there are those who do great things in Christ’s name that He will say to them ” I never knew you.”
I hope you don’t see a judgemental Christian talking here. I hope you don’t see someone judging. I do hope you see someone who wants to see you in heaven. I hope you see a person that doesn’t want you to gamble away your eternal destiny based on a personal belief rather than a belief in the Word of God says. Please take some time to ask yourself: “Am I Really Born Again?”
Kevin
