What's your excuse?

Don’t excuse yourself by saying, “Look, we didn’t know.”For God understands all hearts, and he sees you.He who guards your soul knows you knew.He will repay all people as their actions deserve. - Proverbs 24:12

WARNING:  Don't keep reading if you don't want to be held accountable for the things I'm about to say.  Once you read this, you will know...

We seem to always find ways to ignore certain parts of the Bible.  Things that Jesus commanded that we brush of as not pertaining to us.  Have you ever uttered any of these phrases:

• I'm not called to do that.
• Everyone has their area of ministry, and that's not mine.
• I don't have the money.
• I don't have the time.
• Someday I will ...

The list goes on....

We all like to pass the buck.  It's someone else's responsibility, I don't know who's but it's not mine.  Or, someday when I have the money I'll ________.  Fill in the blank.  We want to wait for God to bless us or wait until we know God better to start doing His work.  Tell me what kind of faith does that require?  Philip Yancey says it like this:

“I do not get to know God, then do his will; I get to know him more deeply by doing his will.”

So the question is, what is it that we are supposed to be doing?  We are supposed to be going into the whole world and preaching the gospel to everyone.  We are supposed to do as Paul told the Corinthians and become all things to all people so that BY ALL MEANS we may save some.  (1 Corinthians 9:22)  We are supposed to be taking care of the widows, orphans and homeless (James 1:27).

If there is one thing that I've been learning recently it is this:  Everything I have belongs to God, nothing is mine.  Everything that I have is provided by God, He is Jehovah Jireh, my provider.  So, if nothing belongs to me and He provides it all, then when He asks us to give our money or our time or our talents to someone else, it should be easy, it's easy to give away someone else's money and since He is the provider, then it is easy to believe that He will provide for our needs even though we've just given away the very thing that could have met those needs...  God blesses the ones to are willing to give it all away.

There is plenty of work to do, and time is short.  our churches have become huge stadiums where all the Jesus fans go on Sunday to cheer him on.  But the moment there is some sacrifice or discomfort, we're out.

So I ask you, what is your excuse for ignoring God's work?

What's so important in your life, what comfort are you holding so desperately to?

Your House? Your Car? Your TV? Your favorite restaurant?  Your Christmas presents?  Your vacation?

God knows you "deserve" all of these things right? But don't worry, God will understand one day when he asks us why we didn't take care of the homeless man down the street because we had to pay $86 this month to the cable company so we could watch the latest episode of our favorite show.

 Did you know that even the poorest Americans are richer than 80% of the rest of the world?  Kind of puts things in perspective...

Let's play with a few numbers...

Let's say the average movie theater has 20 screens and each theater holds on the low side 200 people.  The cost for a regular adult ticket around here is $9, and let's say each screen shows 2 movies between 7PM and Midnight.  So every 2 hours the theater moves 4000 people through at $9 a ticket, that's 8000 tickets for a good night or $72,000!   Oh and let's not forget the popcorn and drinks, that adds what? another $15 per person, lets say half of the people get a refreshment: So that's another $60,000.  $132,000!  Let's also say that the average cost of an international adoption is $30,000.  Congratulations, collectively, your night of entertainment just caused 4 orphans to remain captive in an orphanage, but I'm sure God understands that you deserved to see that movie.

Feel guilty yet?  You should, I do.

Let's also consider an average church of 1000 members.  I'm sure each member can part with $30 one week.  1000 people at $30 = $30,000.  You know those medical bills that you fellow church member is struggling to pay for?  One body, one week, no more bills.  But don't worry, I'm sure God will understand that you needed to go out to eat after church instead of making your own meal.

Feel guilty yet?  You should, I do.

What excuse will you give God when he asks why to traded this...

for this...

or this...

for this...

Feel guilty yet?  You should, I do.

Am I saying that its wrong to go to a movie or eat out?  absolutely not!, but God's work should not be compromised for these luxuries that we "deserve".  what kind of sacrifice is it if we have everything and give nothing.  If we give freely and help when we know help is needed, God will bless us with these things that we enjoy, but we have got our priorities mixed up.  We are entertaining ourselves to death and not doing any of God's work.

So, I ask the question again.  What's your excuse?  What's your excuse for ignoring God's work when you "know" that it needs done?

Well, I warned you... now you know, and now you will stand before God without excuse and answer for your action, or inaction as the case may be.

Go, and do some God work.

This is how we've come to understand and experience love: Christ sacrificed his life for us. This is why we ought to live sacrificially for our fellow believers, and not just be out for ourselves. If you see some brother or sister in need and have the means to do something about it but turn a cold shoulder and do nothing, what happens to God's love? It disappears. And you made it disappear. - 1 John 3:16-17

Adoption is not an afterthought

But when the time arrived that was set by God the Father, God sent his Son, born among us of a woman, born under the conditions of the law so that he might redeem those of us who have been kidnapped by the law. Thus we have been set free to experience our rightful heritage. You can tell for sure that you are now fully adopted as his own children because God sent the Spirit of his Son into our lives crying out, "Papa! Father!" Doesn't that privilege of intimate conversation with God make it plain that you are not a slave, but a child? And if you are a child, you're also an heir, with complete access to the inheritance. - Galatians 4:4-7

<rant>

I'm coming to realize that the church in America considers adoption to be an afterthought to all of the other programs that it supports.  This is backward thinking.  THE reason that Jesus came to planet earth was so that we can be adopted as God's sons, joint heirs with Jesus.  I don't think that we truly grasp this concept.  We have been ADOPTED by God.  This is why caring for the fatherless is so important to God, WE are the fatherless, the spiritually fatherless.  WE have been adopted by God himself with a huge price tag. Jesus paid the ransom with His life in order to free us from our orphanage, called sin.

Wake up church and realize that adoption is not something nice that God wants us to do to earn extra points.  Adoption is THE point.  When we take care of the fatherless and needy here on earth, it's as if we are doing this for Jesus himself.  The Bible says that if we don't take care of the needy, the poor, the fatherless, the widows, that we are "goats" and he will say he never knew us.  Why should God acknowledge us if we refuse to do for others what He has done for us?

I'm very disappointed at the church's attitude, we're missing the point.   I think a lot of "Christians" will be shocked to find out one day that they ignored the heart of the great commission.  "Go into all the world and preach the good news."  What's the good news?  God paid the price so we can be adopted as His sons!  the good news is not that we can live a happier life because the great genie will grant you all of your wishes...  What a horrible state the church is in..  Selfish Christianity is what it is... what's in it for me?  The church isn't filled with Christ Followers, it's filled with fans...

</rant>

Fan or Follower?

I don't think this video needs any help....

Good vs. Evil?

Now we do speak wisdom among the mature, but not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are perishing. Instead we speak the wisdom of God, hidden in a mystery, that God determined before the ages for our glory. None of the rulers of this age understood it. If they had known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.  - 1 Corinthians 2:6-8

It never really occurred to me until recently that good vs. evil, yin and yang, well ... they really aren't.

We've been duped into thinking that the laws of physics apply to this "battle" between good and evil.  That law that is very true in this physical world that "For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction" just doesn't apply to the spirit world.

The verse above gives some great insight into the limitations of satan.  This verse makes it very clear that although he has access to the scriptures, he doesn't understand them.  Which makes perfect sense when you think about it because he doesn't have the Holy Spirit to reveal the scripture to him as he studies it.  Christ's sacrifice was very much foretold in the scriptures but satan didn't see it.  If he had seen it he would never have guided the steps of Judas to betray Jesus, he would never have caused the Jewish people to want to crucify Him.  Satan's actions made no sense unless he didn't know about the sacrifice.

Satan simply didn't know God's plan. He can't predict the future.  He is a created being, NOT equal to the Creator!  He does know that he will be defeated in the end, he knows he doesn't win against God, so why is he trying so hard?

I don't believe that he is fighting to win.  It's more like a 3 year old who can't have their way:  They go kicking and screaming all the way to their defeat.  Satan isn't trying to win, he can't. He is trying to take down as many of the creatures that God loves so much with him because he knows that is the only way he can hurt God.

Satan wants us to believe that good vs. evil is an equal fight because it makes it sound like he's got a fighting chance against the Creator.  He's been orchestrating lies that slowly, we as a human race have come to accept as fact.

We need to examine very closely the lies that we are believing that satan has been feeding us and we're buying it!  It's why we're instructed in 1 Thessalonians 5:21 to "examine all things; hold fast to what is good.
Stay away from every form of evil."

We need to shake free from the lies we've been believing because once we realize that God is the only one who is in control of EVERYTHING then we can live a life without fear, we can listen to the promptings of His Spirit and act in confidence that what he asks will not bring us into harm but will accomplish His will.  

Even satan himself helped God accomplish His will for His son, so why are we so reluctant to do His will?  It's not an equal battle, and we are on the winning side!  YOU CAN'T LOSE!

If God was a programmer...

I was bored and wondered what Creation would look like as code (sudo-code of course).

 1: //Day 1
 2: 
 3: Earth _myCreation = new Earth();
 4: 
 5: Water formless = new Water();
 6: 
 7: _myCreation.Add(formless); // Need to fill the space for now.
 8: 
 9: Light day = new Light();
10: Darkness night = new Darkness();
11: 
12: _myCreation.Add(day);
13: _myCreation.Add(night);
14: 
15: sleep(8640000); // wait until tomorrow
16: 
17: //Day 2
18: 
19: Sky heavens = new Sky(); // This will separate the water from the sky above
20: heavens.Location = Locations.Above; 
21: 
22: _myCreation[formless].Add(heavens);
23: 
24: sleep(8640000); // wait until tomorrow
25: 
26: //Day 3
27: 
28: Land dryGround = new Land();
29: 
30: _myCreation[formless].Add(dryGround); //To separate the waters
31: 
32: _myCreation[formless].Name = "seas"; //Thought of a better name for this
33: 
34: Vegetation plants = new Vegetation();
35: 
36: _myCreation[seas].dryGround.Add(plants);
37: 
38: sleep(8640000); // wait until tomorrow
39: 
40: //Day 4
41: 
42: Sun dayLight = new Sun();
43: Moon nightLight = new Moon();
44: Stars heavenlySigns = new Stars();
45: 
46: _myCreation[day].Add(dayLight);
47: 
48: _myCreation[night].Add(nightLight);
49: _myCreation[night].Add(heavenlySigns);
50: 
51: sleep(8640000); // wait until tomorrow
52: 
53: //Day 5
54: 
55: SkyCreatures birds = new SkyCreatures();
56: 
57: _myCreation[seas].heavens.Add(birds);
58: birds.Multiply();
59: 
60: SeaCreatures fish = new SeaCreatures();
61: 
62: _myCreation[seas].Add(fish);
63: fish.Multiply();
64: 
65: sleep(8640000); // wait until tomorrow
66: 
67: //Day 6
68: 
69: LandCreatures livestock = new LandCreatures();
70: 
71: _myCreation[seas].dryGround.Add(livestock);
72: 
73: //Here's the best part:
74: 
75: Mankind humans = God.CloneLikeness();
76: 
77: _myCreation.Add(humans);
78: 
79: sleep(8640000); // wait until tomorrow
80: 
81: //Day 7
82: 
83: God.SetAwayStatus ("Resting");

The Power of Testimony

So I threw myself down at his feet to worship him, but he said, “Do not do this! I am only a fellow servant with you and your brothers who hold to the testimony about Jesus. Worship God, for the testimony about Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.” - Revelation 19:10

It's funny how sometimes we tend to overlook the book of Revelation.  Maybe it's because we are scared of it or maybe we just think that we can't understand what it's trying to say.  Who knows, but as part of God's word, it is no doubt important.

This verse, particularly that last part that I have in bold, was brought to my attention during a class that I have started taking on Wednesday nights at church.  The class is called: "The Testimony of Jesus"

There is so much buried in this verse that the teachers of this class have some great insight into.  It helps us to understand the position that Jesus left us with when he left this planet:

So Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. Just as the Father has sent me, I also send you.” And after he said this, he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit." - John 20:21-22

Wait a minute, He did what?  He breathed on them?!?  Let's back up a minute and define a few words here...

Spirit (Pneuma) - Breath, like a breeze or blast of air.

Prophecy - Either speaks of a future event or changes the present. 

Keep in mind that our English-translations are a best effort at coming up with words to describe the Greek meaning (or Hebrew in the case of the old testament).

You see, this is why James was so adamant about taming the tongue.  What you speak has the power to change the atmosphere around you, for good or for bad.  Why is this?  Let me explain.

The Testimony:

     In the old testament the Testimony was the Ark of the Covenant.  Why was it called the testimony?  Because it was God's testimony to man during this time, it represented who He is and gave them a tangible way of seeing who God is.  This was accomplished by what God had them place in the Ark and what those items represented:

1. The ten commandments - Word of God
2. Manna - The Bread of Life
3. Arron's Staff - The Power of God

Ok, so here is where this gets cool.  When Jesus came to Earth, He became God's testimony here.  Let's dig:

1. Word of God - The Word became flesh
2. The Bread of Life - Jesus said: I Am the Bread of Life
3. The Power of God - Jesus Said: All power is given to Him

You see, in the old testament the Ark was the dwelling place of God here on Earth.  In the new testament Jesus was God dwelling among us!  He is the word of God, the bread of life and the power of God: God's testimony to man about Himself.

But wait, there's more!  

The one who believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself; the one who does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has testified concerning his Son. - 1 John 5:10

This Testimony (the Word, Life, and Power) is transferred to us when we believe in Jesus (did you catch that?  The same testimony that was in the Ark and embodied in Jesus is inside of you and I!).  So now just as Jesus breathed the Spirit on the disciples and the Spirit moved, we have been given this same power simply by speaking the testimony of Jesus and our personal testimony about Jesus.

How awesome is this truth about how the spoken word breathes forth the Spirit of God!

• When God created the world he spoke.  God was breathing forth the Spirit who moved on the Earth and creation came to being.
• When God created man, He breathed life into him.
• On the day of pentecost, there was the sound of a mighty wind (breath) and it changed the atmosphere in the room.  

You can't see the Spirit, but you can see the evidence of the Spirit moving and we can give testimony to that evidence because we are witnesses!

I leave you with this video that reiterates the points that I'm trying to make here and also gives witness to the power in a testimony.  Don't ever stop telling people what God has done!

Save the Whales!

‎"We can either let the world teach our kids how to save baby whales, or we can teach them how to save souls. The choice is ours!" - Becky Fischer

It's funny how a little quote can set off a firestorm.  An acquaintance on facebook posted this quote and one of the first responses was:  Can't we do both?

Of course I had to respond.  We should let God take care of the whales, and we should focus on the souls.  Maybe not in those exact words, but close.

This person (alumni of the Assembly of God Theological Seminary to boot) starts arguing with me about how we should "save the whales" because we were put here to take care of the earth citing Genesis 1:28 (not directly but this is what he alluded to) as Biblical proof.

God blessed them and saidt to them, “Be fruitful and multiply! Fill the earth and subdue it! Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and every creature that moves on the ground.” - Genesis 1:28

First of all, this verse in itself simply means that we are to use what God gave us to our advantage.  Yes, we need to be good stewards and not abuse what has been given to us, but if we need oil for lamps or whatever whale might be used for then that is fine because everything on the planet has been given for our advantage.

Second, It sounds completely ridiculous to say that we should go and spend millions of dollars to save a whale that doesn't need to be saved in the first place when there are plenty of hungry people and fatherless orphans out there in the world that could benefit from those resources.

These ideas that we have about "Saving the planet" are relatively new in human history.  I don't think that our planet needs our help to sustain life.  It was designed by God himself to be self sufficient, nothing we can do can make Earth rotate any differently, everything on this planet has built in mechanisms for renewing resources and sustaining life.

Instead of wasting our time "Saving" a planet that doesn't need saved, perhaps we can pay more attention to what our job is here, especially being in the 11th hour:

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with yous always, to the end of the age.” - Matthew 28:19-20

Pure and undefiled religion beforet God the Fathert is this: to care for orphans and widows in their misfortune and to keep oneself unstained by the world. - James 1:27