I'll Pass on the Suffering...thanks anyways.

Have you ever noticed that we as Christian's are quick to point out that such and such an actor/actress is or has become a Christian...

...or such and such the sports star is a Christian...

...or so and so the rich business man is a Christian...

...Why do we do this?

...Why does this seem to grab more attention than...so and so the garbageman is a Christian?

Now, if we do this in order to show the world that the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ reaches to all peoples...poor and rich...unknown and famous...then this is a good thing...

But sometimes this may not be the reason...and here is where we need to beware.

Sometimes we can get sucked into the health, wealth and prosperity gospel without really realizing it.

We bring in the baseball star...who makes millions...BUT...hey he loves Jesus too!

We hear of the movie star who is famous, rich...and HEY...they are Christians too!

And this business man...he is filthy rich...but looky over here...he follows Jesus too!

The subtle message can be...my life used to be miserable...a wash out...and then I met Jesus and everything became great...just look at my life...at my prosperity.

The trap is that people who hear that message may come to the invitation to follow Jesus...but not really to follow Jesus...but to follow the lifestyle that Jesus gives His followers...

But Jesus said that a servant will not be greater than his master...if the world hates me...then it will also hate you...

There is no such thing as a crossless Christianity...the cross was an instrument of suffering and death.

Look at the words of the Apostle Paul...a man who once was famous, rich, powerful...and then became an outcast, a criminal, beaten as an outcast...losing everything...

"For to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake, having the same conflict which you saw in me and now hear is in me."

The Jealous Husband

The man looked out the window, down into the garden below.

What he saw filled his heart with two overwhelming passions...grief and rage.

Below stood his beloved wife...warmly in the arms of another man's embrace.

The kiss was long...greedy.

The husband stood, he knew he had to fight for his wife's affections...

His beloved bride had contracted a serious, terminal illness...and only He, the husband had the means [knowledge and finances] to daily make the medicine to keep her from death.

The problem?

His bride did not believe him...she thought his stories of an illness was only an elaborate hoax...a form of trickery to keep her from other men.

The wife saw her husband's jealousy as an incredible weakness...he was so pathetic.

Little did she know...that her husband did not fight off and send a running all her suiters for his ego...for his ultimate benefit.

Oh no.

The huband truly loved his wife...he knew that if he allowed her what her unfaithful heart desired...

...if he allowed her to run off with another...

...then he would be allowing her to run off to her doom...

...because he was her only cure...he was her only source of health and life...whether she understood it or not.

...so...he would continue to fight for her...and if needs be...TO DIE FOR HER.

Consumer Driven Church

We live in a society that is driven...consumer driven.

It all has to do with that "supply and demand" philosophy.

If people want it...then demand goes up...so does the price.

If people don't want it...then the demand is low...price drops.

Businesses that survive know this principle and live by it.

Everything is focused on the consumer.

Unfortunately this philosophy of life has entered the church.

There are churches who cater exclusively to the consumer...

Somewhere along the line they have forgotten that church is all about worshiping Jesus...and not all about the whims and desires of man.

God has given us His word...revealing who He is and what is pleasing to Him.

People sometimes will go and do their church shopping...not for what they can contribute to the church...but instead what does the church have to offer me...

come on guys...impress me with your programs...so that I can come...use all your time and energy and talents...and then maybe...just maybe...I might throw a few dollars in offering plate.

So...in the end...we want the best of both worlds...we only want the consumer church when it comes to all it has to offer us...we quickly drop this view of the church when it comes to the actual consumer part of the deal...because this would presuppose us actually parting with our money...and many Christian's do not view the church as worthy of that type of purchase.

Happy Anniversary...14 years!!

The Lord has blessed me with a wonderful treasure...this treasure's name is Bonita, my best friend in life...my wonderful wife.

I love you Bonita...you are the best!

Thank you for 14 wonderful years...may God bless us with a life time together.

Everyone Without Bias May Sit Down

Did you notice it?

If you are observant...you'll notice that everyone is still standing.

What's the catch? The catch is that some people try to convince you that they are actually sitting...while their bodies are erect...and no chair is in site.

We are often told that we can't trust Christian's in history, or science, or any other field that interprets evidence...because they are biased...duh!

...of course we are biased...everyone is!

Jesus Christ makes absolute authority claims over all areas of life...

He proclaimed to be God...and as God He is master over our thoughts, words, sex life, finances...EVERYTHING!!

This means that the unbelieving historian or scientist is very biased...at present he is calling the shots in the bedroom, or at the bank...and if he wants to keep it that way then he is going to have to interpret historical or scientific evidence in such a way that keeps Jesus off the throne of the universe.

Gideon...all over again.

When Gideon cut down his cultures idol...he did it at night...in secrecy.

Detroit cut down our cultures idol...at night...but before the eyes of millions of worshippers.

But for all your worshippers...don't worry...this idol has the amazing power to grow again.

By next year it will be raise to full stature...ready to receive all your time, energy and money...or in other words...ready to receive your undivided worship...lol

Loving God

We went to Bonita's moms church this morning, the pastor preached from Deut 6...about loving God with all your heart, soul, and strength. It was a good message. How does this love show itself? When someone or something is your greatest treasure...your greatest desire...then this manifests itself in your whole life...how you speak, what you make priorities, what your shape your life around. God commands us to teach our children about Him...from the time we wake up...until the time we go to bed.

We hear this and think... "man that is pretty fanatical"...

When we think this we reveal our true hearts condition....

...its impossible to point our children to Jesus in all of life...in all of creation...when we don't think or see Jesus there to begin with.

How can we make Jesus our children's all consuming passion...when He isn't our all consuming passion?

Real answer-- We can't.

Our answer-- Let's get ourselves a really cool, hip, energetic youth pastor...we can then push all of our responsibility upon him...even though he isn't with our children from the time they wake up until the time they go to bed...oh well...its better then nothing...and its also better then the alternative...

...the alternative being that we as parents need to change our lives...re-prioritize our lists of what is important in life and what isn't.

There is nothing wrong with churches having youth pastors to help parents...but it is wrong for churches to hire youth pastors TO REPLACE parents who have abdicated their God given responsibilities.

We can't tell our kids to love God...we must show them.