Terminator Salvation Lesson

Recently the movie Terminator Salvation was on tv. Having read in some publication that it had some redeeming points in it I set the dvr to watch at a later time. I'm not even sure if I have even seen any of the Terminator movies, but I did know what the plot line was. As I watched the ovie there was a scene where Marcus (who had killed some people in his past) said to the girl," I'm not a good guy." To which she responded," You are, you just don't know it yet."



Often we make the mistake of defining ourselves by our past mistakes. Sometimes we even let others define us by our past mistakes. One of the wonderful truths we learn from reading the Bible is that we all have pasts that we aren't proud of. Why is that wonderful? Because once we realize the reality of that truth the pressure is off to try and be perfect. When we realize that truth we can move on with our lives. Not in a," hey nothing I did in the past matters" attitude, but in a "now that I know no one is perfect what do I do now" attitude. We don't have to let our past define us.

In all of us is a desire to make the right choices in life. We may not do it, we may ignore the voice, but the desire is still there. It may have been many years since we did what we knew what we were supposed to do. We may have a habit that we know isn't good for us, yet we keep doing it over and over. You may be like Marcus in Terminator Salvation and think," I'm not a good guy (or girl)."

You may have messed up, but you still were made in the image of God. There is something in you that wants to do good. You can, but you can't do it in your own strength (you probably know that by now). So why not ask Jesus for help? He's not shocked at your past. In fact, He paid the price for our sins.

The man who wrote most of the New Testament was a man named Paul who had in his past persecuted the church. He sent Christians to prison. But He came into contact with Jesus and his life changed. If ever there was a guy who could say of himself, 'I'm not a good person' it would be Paul. But Jesus changed all of that. Read how Paul describes it:

I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because He considered me faithful, putting me into service, 13 even though I was formerly a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent aggressor. Yet I was shown mercy because I acted ignorantly in unbelief ; 14 and the grace of our Lord was more than abundant, with the faith and love which are found in Christ Jesus. 15It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all. 16Yet for this reason I found mercy, so that in me as the foremost, Jesus Christ might demonstrate His perfect patience as an example for those who would believe in Him for eternal life.   1st Timothy 1:12-16

If Jesus did it for Paul, He can do it for others. He has done it for others. There was good for Paul, he just didn't know it. Don't let your past define you. You aren't the mistakes you have made with your life. You were created in the image of God. Find freedom and forgiveness in Jesus and watch what He can do for your life. There can be good in your life, you just don't know it yet.

Troy

When facing a challenge what are my eyes fixed on?

I am so fortunate, God has allowed me to pastor a wonderful group of people. The other day while I was praying over the various needs in people's lives I began to focus on the challenge. Some have challenges that have been going on a long time with no end in sight, some are fairly recent but  still devastating. As I was praying and asking God not only to answer and help change the situation, but also to help all those involved to stay strong. I began to focus on the challenges of each situation. In the midst of thinking of the challenges a verse came to my mind.

fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. Hebrews 12:2-3

I knew in an instant that it was one of those "God moments". Though I was praying, I was focusing on the various challenges. (Anybody else ever do that?) God was letting me know that I needed to "fix my eyes on Jesus".

When we are faced with challenges sometimes we run from them, sometimes we try to forget them, but they don't go away. We may even pray about them, but in the middle of praying become more focused on the challenge than the One who can help in the midst of the challenge.

Some, when facing a challenge try to forget the problem and just pray. I don't think that is correct (just my humble opinion). We can't run and just pray. I think the Bible shows us that we acknowledge our problem yet keep our eye fixed on Jesus.

Time and time again in the Bible when someone encountered a problem they would acknowleddge it, they may even be fearful, but they would take it to God in prayer.

Faced with a challenge? Remember, don't just focus on the problem there is God whose name is Jesus who is with us in the midst of the challenge. May we remember to acknowledge the problem, but fix our eyes on Him.

Troy

Don't Be Afraid To Dream

Did you know that it doesn't cost anything to dream? Yet we don't find the time to do it. If you think back over your life, most of the special moments we have experienced started by just daring to dream. What is remakable to me is that most of the big moments went beyond my intitial dreaming. Tina Turner said," You don't always reach a dream in the way you first see it. When you get there, it's a different dream, but it's still a dream."

Our Heavenly Father has created us with unique gifts and talents. As we discover them, we begin to get more comfortable with them and we begin to dream. Granted, if you are going to dream you must prepare yourself for disappointments and setbacks. But the key is don't give up.Trust that God is preparing you. There is a story told in the Book of Genesis in the Bible about a man named Joseph. You can read his story in Genesis 37-50. I would encourage you to read it if you are not familiar with the story. He had a dream from God for his life. All didn't go smoothly, but God was faithful.

Concentration camp survivor Corrie Ten Boom observed, "Every experience God gives us, every person He brings into our lives, is the perfect preparation for the future that only He can see." I have found this to be true for all of us.

A.R. Bernard says," It takes courage to dream big dreams. You will discover that courage when you do three things: accept the past, trust God to manage the future, and make the most of the time He has given you today."

So don't be afraid to dream. God will refine them,and in the end you will find that the dream that came to pass was a part of God's plan for you.

With God's power working in us,God can do much, much more than anything we can ask or imagine.
Ephesians 3:20

Troy

Fathers and Sons and Baseball Games

Anyone who knows me know I am a die-hard Cubs fan. I bleed Cubbie blue and I'm not afraid to admit it. I also truly love the game of baseball. There are a few times during the week when I will wear a Cubs jersey. Initially I wore them just because I am a Cubs fan. What I found out though, was that it was a conversation starter. I can't tell you how many people have stopped me while wearing a baseball jersey and shared with me some story about baseball.It can be at the grocery store, the library, even a book store. It's not just Cubs fans. I remember a person who was originally from Brooklyn talking to me about the Dodgers. I had an older gentleman who was a Cardinals fan pull out a World Series ticket from 1985 and say to me,"here let me show you this since I know you've never seen one." Just endless stories. That's not including all the Cubs fans who are still waiting.

Most of the stories I hear from people have a common theme. Of all the stories they could share with me, most of them are stories that go back to their childhood and going to games with their dads. I am talking 75 or 80 year old men. Most tell me a few stories, but the ones that they linger on are the one's when they were between 5-20 years of age and going to a game with their dad. I love listening to them because the men get a twinkle in their eye and a smile on their face. I have been astonished over the years as I hear the stories because of the usual pattern of the conversation. They start out telling me what team they like and then it automatically goes to their youth. If the story goes long enough then it goes to them taking their kids and their grandkids to a game. I could also share stories of daughters and fathers.

My first game with my dad was the Cubs against the San Francisco Giants. It was around 1971, we sat on the first base side down by the Giants bullpen. The Giants had a pitcher by the name of Elias Sosa and everyone around us kept yelling,"Sosa, Sosa" all game long.

My dad and I didn't see the Cubs win a game until 2003. That's right, from 1971 until 2003 the Cubs lost every game that we went to.We got close around 1989 against the Dodgers. The Cubs were ahead going into the top of the 9th, but the Dodgers rallied and tied the game. The Cubs eventually lost in 15 innings. Ironcally, it was the Cubs beating the Giants which was the first time we saw the Cubs win.

In our family there is the story of two of my uncles and my grandpa up at Wrigley during the 1945 World Series. My uncles wanted to go in, but my grandpa uttered these famous words,"I'll take you the next time they are in the World Series." My uncles are still waiting.

After 2003, my dad and I got on a roll and the Cubs have begun to win just about every game we have been to since then.

Probably the most memorable time for me with my dad at a Cubs game was when he turned 65. His birthday is in July, but in April I called Wrigley field and got it arranged to have my dad's birthday acknowledged on the scoreboard. I will always remember the look on his face when I told him to look at the scoreboard when it came on. I remember him telling me later,"that was weird because I recognized the name but I couldn't think of who it was because you aren't expectng to see your name on the scoreboard at Wrigley Field." The Cubs beat the Reds that night.

There is more that I could share, but I guess that to me going to a baseball game with your dad is one of those graces that God lets us experience in this life. I thank God for all the wonderful memories of being at a game with my dad. It's something that remains with us all our lives. The memory is always there. And even at age 75 or 80 you still get a twinkle in your eye and smile on your face when you remember going to a ballgame with your dad.

Troy

Spiritual Makeover

Remember the show "Extreme Home Makeover"? The show was about how a crew would come in and build a family a new home. Generally the family had gone through some tough times. When the crew would come in, they would send the family away on a mini vacation. The crew would then get down to work to give the home a makeover. When they were done they would bring the family back and show them what they had done to their home. There were lots of tears and smiles all at the same time.

It was a great show in that it showed people helping others. The show was an hour long. When it was over you were happy for the people who were helped.

Now here is where watching television and real life collide. Though the show was an hour long, it took longer than an hour to do a makeover on the house. I know you are probably thinking,"of course, we know that Troy." I mention it though because you would be surprised at how many of us realize that it takes a long time to accomplish something when it involves others, but when it is our lives we wonder, "why is this taking so long?"

Isn't it true? We want things to happen quicker than right now for us. Deep down we know life doesn't work this way, but we tend to forget when it is our life.

On extreme home makeover we only get a glimpse at the people working on the house. We don't get to see all that they have to do. Nobody wants to watch someone hammer away on a hammer for thirty minutes or some of the other stuff that is required. So we get a condensed version of all the work that goes into the extreme home makeover.

Now when it comes to our spiritual transformation or "makeover", we want it to happen quicker than right now. We also want others to change just as quick. We don't want to have to deal with the messy stuff. We don't want the monotony of the everyday stuff. We want quick, we want exciting. We want it all to be done within an hour just like we see on tv.

Spiritual transformation doesn't work like that. It can be slow, monotonous and messy. But if you take your time, you will one day look back and be amazed at how God has been changing you.

There are a few things that you can do daily that will help your transformation process. Actually, there is no growth in your transformation process without these.



1. Read your Bible: This is the way we grow spiritually. You learn about God, you learn about Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. You begin to learn what pleases God, what doesn't. You will be amazed at how the Holy Spirit will bring some verse to your mind as you are dealing with something in your life. Remember to read not just for information, but also for transformation. We can know a lot of facts or be able to quote many verses, but if we aren't applying them to our lives what's the purpose?
As a guitar instructor I am amazed at how many students don't practice and then wonder why they aren't getting better. Well, the same could be said of our spiritual growth. Many don't take time to read their Bibles consistently and then wonder why they aren't growing spiritually. Remember, God will do His part. He will bring about transformation as we follow the ways that He has given us for it to happen.

2. Pray: Talk to God. At first it will be you asking Him for stuff, which is ok. As you grow, it will turn into a conversation. He will respond, expect Him to. You will begin to learn how He communicates with you. Prayer is showing our dependance on Him. I don't want to say too much about it, other than the old Nike slogan "just do it".

There are many other spiritual "disciplines" that we can do to help us experience God more, but whether we are just starting out on our journey or been on it for many years, you can't get away from reading your Bible and praying.

You can experience a spiritual makeover, but remember it takes time. Trust that God is at work in your life.

For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.
Philippians 1:6

Troy


1.

Your Story Isn't Over

I enjoy a good movie or a good book just like the rest of you. Many times there are good ones, but you can see the end coming and how it all will play out a mile away. Every now and then you get a good movie or book that has a surprise twist that you never saw coming. Many of us enjoy those type of books or movies. You know what is interesting though? We usually don't enjoy it as much when it is our own lives that it is happening to. We like stability and knowing how things are going to turn out ahead of time when it comes to our lives. Yet, the danger of this is that we can get in a rut. And if you haven't been having a life that is what you have wanted, you may begin to think, "I guess this is all there is".

When I was 10 I had my life all figured out. I was going to play major league baseball until I was 40. I would then retire and manage a major league team until I was 60. At age 60 I would become the commissioner of major league baseball.

By the time I was 15 all my plans had changed. I was now going to be a rock star of some sort. I started playing the guitar at 13 and I was playing in a couple of bands. I had the bug.

As of this writing I am 45 and pastoring a church and I have been involved in ministry for about 15 years.

I still enjoy watching baseball and all the statistics that go with it. I am still a musician. But I am pretty sure that my life is not going to turn out like I thought it was going to when I was 10 or 15 years old. And you know what? I'm ok with that. I am enjoying life.

As I look back now, I can see where God was preparing me for what I am doing now. At the time though I didn't see it coming.

When I see pictures that people post on facebook of when they were younger I sometime think to myself,"I wonder what their dreams were at that age?"

Life is full of twists and turns. There is an old saying that says,"If you want to make God laugh, tell Him your plans." I think most if not all of us can relate to that. We all thought earlier in our lives that life would be one way, but as we have grown older it hasn't all turned out like we thought.

Hopefully, it has turned out better than you had imagined. But for those of you who may be feeling a little down right now about life, just remember-your story isn't over yet.

You were created with a purpose and a plan. Whatever that purpose or plan is not just about you, but is also part of a bigger story. Don't be surprised by the twists and turns your life may take. They may be leading you to the place where your dreams come true. Your story isn't over yet.

Don't ever think that your life could never change. God has always been in the business of changing lives and situations. Why not begin to follow Jesus with your life and see where it leads. God has created us and He knows the longings in our hearts. He does His part to lead us to those things that will bring fulfillment in our lives. Sometimes we follow His lead, sometimes we don't. But remember, He hasn't given up on you just because you took a few wrong turns. Your story isn't over.

Saul of Tarsus was a man who would go out and murder Christians, years later he would become the Apostle Paul and write many of the books in the New Testament. His story wasn't over.

Moses killed a man and then went into hiding. Years later he would be the man chosen by God to lead His people out of Egyptian slavery. His story wasn't over.

Joseph was thrown into a pit by his brothers. He was taken captive. He was sold. He was lied about.  He was thrown into prison for a crime he didn't commit. He was forgetten. He ended up years later being the second most powerful person in Egypt. His story wasn't over.

Your story isn't over yet either. Why not let God lead the way and see what He does with your life?God is at work in your life right now. You may not see it or you may not understand, but remember, your story isn't over yet.

Man's steps are ordained by the LORD, How then can man understand his way ?
Proverbs 20:24

Many plans are in a man's heart, But the counsel of the LORD will stand.
Proverbs 19:21

Troy

Is He Really Talking About Poop?

Where no oxen are, the manger is clean, But much revenue comes by the strength of the ox. 
Proverbs 14:4


This is a classic verse from the Book of Proverbs. It has so much truth to it. I have to remind myself of this proverb when things get difficult, or don't go the way that I would prefer.

What is the writer of the proverb trying to say? Well, here is how I interpret it. First of all we have to think of the times the proverb was written and the customs and culture of the day. Most of the wealth was aquired from your animals etc...

The first part is telling us if you have a clean manger, you probably don't have any oxen. But the second part of the verse is telling us if you want revenue you need oxen. So it's your choice, if you want a clean manger don't have any oxen, but if you want revenue you will need oxen which also leads to a dirty manger.

Let's think about our lives now and our times and situations. Here is how I interpret the proverb. "If you want to accomplish something you will have to deal with poop". Think with me- you need "oxen" to accomplish something. Part of having "oxen" is knowing they come with poop. That is what makes the manger dirty.

Basically there hasn't been much that we have accomplished in life without having some "poop" attatched with it. It seems we are always looking for a "poop" free situation, but there aren't too many of them.

So the next time you are having to deal with "poop" in your life remember it is a part of life. Remember if there is something you are wanting to accomplish you will probably have to deal with some "poop" to see it get accomplished. If you or I want a "poop" free life we probably won't accomplish all the things we would like to in life.

You and I are not alone in life when it comes to having to deal with the truth of this proverb. Just think of all the people in the Bible and their situations and you will see that many, if not all of them had to deal with the truth of this proverb.

Let us also remember that we have a God who will help us to deal with all the "poop" of life. The key is remembering to ask of His help instead of just trying to deal with it on our own.

Troy

Prayer

I don't understand all the intricacies about prayer, but I have found out  that prayer works. I am no expert at prayer, but I have found that prayer works. I have experienced events in my life and in the lives of others that I believe were the result of prayer.

Oftentimes when we are in a bind we do just about everything to fix the situation except pray. We worry, manipulate and get angry yet don't pray. I know I have.

Sometimes we throw up a half hearted prayer. We sometimes treat prayer like rubbing a rabbits foot or some other superstition.

Prayer really is about being in conversation with God. When we converse with others we speak, they speak back. We get signals from the other person as we are talking with them. I have found this to be true when it comes to prayer.

I have found that if you have a sincere heart, God will work with you in your prayer life. You don't have to know much, just be willing to be taught by God. He will begin to guide your prayers. Sometimes we may not be getting an answer to prayer and God will speak to us about changing something in our life. That's the type of occasion where we get to see how badly we want that prayer answered.

I don't claim to know why some prayers get answered and some seem like they don't, but I know prayer works. I don't know why some prayers get answered quickly and others take a long time, but I know prayer works. I have prayed for people on the verge of death, some have lived, yet some have died. I don't understand why, but I know prayer works.

Finally, think of the people you deal with. They may get angry with you, but you can still pray for them. You may know someone going through a rough time and yet when you have tried to share with them about following Jesus wth their lives they become angry. Guess what? You can still pray for them.
You may have people who don't want to hear about Jesus, but you can still pray for them.

Never underestimate the power of prayer. I have seen it change people and situations. We can never spend enough time praying.

Troy

I Believe... Now What ? Pt. 2

Most of us can remember when we first started following Jesus with our lives. It was refreshing, exhilirating, and basically your life is turned upside down, or downside up. There is something amazing that happens to someone when they finally get the revelation that God loves them more than they can imagine. That wonderful feeling of being forgiven and cleansed from all past sins. You had heard people talk about it, but now you are actually experiencing it yourself. It is an amazing time. It's like you have just stepped into a new world that you had only heard about and doubted that it existed.

The part where I find many followers of Jesus struggling is with the "now what'? What I mean is that we are taught to go to church regularly, we are taught to pray, we are taught to read our Bibles. We are taught to let go of our old ways that brought harm to our lives. We are also taught to tell others about the life they can experience by following Jesus. We are also taught the wonderful truth that after we die we will go to heaven to live forever with Jesus.

The "now what" has to do with, what do I do when I'm not doing the things I was taught? I mean beyond all that was mentioned in the above paragraph. What about work, a career, family, relaxation, vacation, etc...  When I'm not doing the "religious" stuff what am I to do?

If I don't feel a "call " into ministry then what? Do my giftings, talent and knowledge matter? Am I just living, waiting to die and go to heaven?

This is how many feel after they get going in their "Christian walk".  One of the reasons I believe we can feel this way is because too much emphasis can be placed on getting someone to "believe". By that I mean intitial conversion. Somtimes we can emphasize that so much with the idea that once you "believe" you can now go to heaven that we don't help people with the "in between" time.

I have come to find that the "in between" time is for transformation. Some may call it discipleship. Some may call it becoming more Christ like. But if you don't have this,  your life will seem to be  just like a process of believe and then  wait to die and go to heaven.

The good news is that there is more than just believe and wait to die and go to heaven. In the next post I will look at ways the transformation process happens. What God does and what we do. But in reality it is all grace. All a gift of God. It appears we are doing something, but whatever we do is because of His grace in allowing us the ability to be able to do it.

Troy

I Beleve...Now What?

In my personal library at home I would have to say 2nd to books on prayer, I have more books on the topic of how to behave as a follower of Jesus. I have accumulated them over the years to help me live as a follower of Jesus and to help others. Basically it is trying to help with myself and others with the question, I believe... now what do I do?

 I had so many questions, and I continue to find others with questions. Are there a set of rules to follow? Can I do this or that as a Christian? Will I just start living like like Jesus? Why can't I stop some of my old habits? How good is good enough? The questions go on and on...

I would like to over a series of blog posts keep returning to this question. I by no means have all the answers. I continue to learn myself. But I do believe after many years of trying to follow Jesus with my life, I have learned a few things that I would like to share.

For simplicity sake let's say there are two camps. Of course, it isn't this easy or broad, but for argument's sake let's just go this route. On one side we have people who believe that there are a list of rules that we are given to obey as followers of Christ and we should obey them. In the other camp are those who quote Paul the Apostle and say," Christ is the end of the Law". It may take us awhile to figure out how to live as Jesus wants us to, we may make many mistakes along the way, but eventually we get there. Any of these two camps sound familiar?

Camp A believes there are rules for us to keep whether we like it or not. Camp B doesn't want to be hypocritical, so they think we should be authentic. Part of being authentic is that we are going to mess up as we "discover" the life we should live.

Camp A thinks that those in camp B are moral relativists, no black and white, just grey. Those in camp B think that those in camp A are legalists. Those who live by everything the Law says and push that belief on others without showing mercy like Jesus did with sinners.

Which camp would you say you identify with more?
Which camp have you encountered at church?

What I find is that both camps are really just trying to help us to become followers of Jesus and experience the life that He has intended for us.

Let's look at another issue. What am I here for? That is a question most human beings eventually ask themselves. It is also a question you will return to after you begin to follow Jesus with your life. We go through our lives not following Jesus and we ask the question What am I here for? Then we find out it is to serve God and live the life that He has prepared for us. But after that realization comes, we ask the question again, because now we want to know how do I live that out? We also wonder, do I just wait to die so I can go to heaven? What do I do with my life? How do I live it out between now and when I go to heaven?

Essentially what I am saying is that after we believe, we ask ourselves two questions, many times without knowing we are asking these two questions.
How do I live my life out between now and the time I die?
How do I make moral choices  now that I am a follower of Jesus?

I don't want to try to sell you on my view (actually I wonder if I have a view). But I would like to make us aware of some various views and explore these questions. I would like to help you explore those questions more in depth. The reason being, those two questions will be a part of your life now that you are a follower of Jesus. It all can begin with a simple question, I believe, now what?

Troy

How Quickly Things Can Change In Life

We don't know what he did except that he was a thief of some sort. Whatever it was, it was ruled that it was worthy of death. He is sentenced to die along with two others. As the day progresses, he along with the other thief who has been sentenced to die insult the other man sentenced to die. In fact, many in the crowd are insulting this other man who is not charged with being a thief.

I have had the opportunity to play music at many correctional centers, prisons if you will in my life. For the most part, the residents behave well and even helped us with carrying our equipment and wanting to talk with us. But, I will always remember the first prison I played at. Why? One reason is that I was around 15 or 16 years old and as we were setting up our equipment  to play outside in the yard, there was a small building somewhat close to where we were going to play. Inside the small building, though we couldn't see who was in there, we could here who was in there. What we heard was just filth coming from these men's mouths who were in that building. I don't know if it was directed at us or not. The guards told us just to keep walking to where we were supposed to set up. But even from where we set up we could still hear them cursing at us. I know they weren't directly mad at us, they were just made at the world.

I mention that story because when you get around people mad at the world, mad at their circumstances, they all basically start acting the same. I imagine those two thieves being like the inmates that I encountered at that first prison I played at. They were mad at life, mad at their situation, and they just take it out on whoever is around them. These thieves start yelling insults at this other man sentenced to die along with them.

As the day progresses, something interesting is taking place. The third person sentenced to die that day isn't acting like the other two. He isn't striking back and insulting the other two who are insulting Him. That would be a natural reaction. You are getting ready to die and you aren't going to let someone get the best of you as you leave this Earth. He also isn't striking back at the crowd insulting Him.In fact,  He hasn't said anything against the people who are helping to kill Him. What you do hear Him say is,"Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing."


 All the two thieves know is that this Man has claimed to be the Christ. Of course, earlier in the day they don't believe it.We aren't told when, we aren't told how, but at some point during that day one of the thieves sentenced to die realizes there is something different about this third man sentenced to die. He is not acting like everyone who has been in that situation acts. He is not defending Himself to those insulting Him. He is not taking one last opportunity to lash out at people and this world before He dies.

As their lives are drawing nearer to death one of the thieves makes one last ditch effort to save himself. He doesn't believe that this other man is the Christ. But maybe he figures," hey, what if He is, He can get me out of this situation." The thief is just thinking of himself. But as we read what follows, it isn't this man's life that is going to be rescued, but the other thief's life that will be rescued. Not from this experience, not from this death, but from eternal death.

One of the criminals who were hanged there was hurling abuse at Him, saying, "Are You not the Christ ? Save Yourself and us!" 40 But the other answered, and rebuking him said, "Do you not even fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation ? 41 "And we indeed are suffering justly, for we are receiving what we deserve for our deeds ; but this man has done nothing wrong." 42 And he was saying, "Jesus, remember me when You come in Your kingdom !" 43 And He said to him, "Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise."
Luke 23:39-43

He had been on this Earth for approximatley 33 years. He had spent the last 3 showing who He truly was. Teaching about God's Kingdom, healing the sick, showing kindness, forgiving, and yet at this point about the only one who understands who He truly is, is this convicted criminal. The disciples? Outside of John none of them are here. Peter? Some hours earlier he had denied that he even knew Jesus. Not once, but 3 times. The crowds  who were shouting,"Hosanna" a week earlier? They were yelling," Crucify Him" a few hours ago. The religious leaders? They are insulting Him. They are telling Him if that He really is the Christ then prove it by coming down from the cross.

At the end, it's this convicted criminal who gets it. He sees who Jesus truly is. In the end, we once again see God's heart. Here is a man who probably had spent much of his life in crime. A man who society had given up on. A man who had probably years earlier given up on himself. But One hadn't given up on him, and that was Jesus.

We get another chance to see that it doesn't matter what we have done in the past. If we truly recognize Jesus for who He truly is we can spend eternity with Him. Your past doesn't have to define your future.

This thief starts out his day knowing that he is going to die. During the day he is insulting Jesus along with everyone else. Later on, he realizes who Jesus truly is. Before the day is over, he is in paradise with Jesus. How quickly things can change in life.

Troy

When We Are Feeling Sorry For Ourselves (a lesson from C.S. Lewis and Narnia)

Over the past year I have been rereading C.S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia series. I was first introduced to The Lion Witch and Wardrobe in a Children's Literature class in college. I remember enjoying that book as a fairly new follower of Christ with all the allegory.

Currently I am reading The Horse and His Boy. I won't go into all the details of the book, but for those of you who are not familiar with the series let me give you a very quick background. There is a place called Narnia and there is a Lion named Aslan who is a Christ like figure. There are diffeent characters in the book but, Narnia and Aslan remain constant.

As I was reading chapter 11 today, I was again reminded of Lewis' wonderful way that he could put spiritual truth in a "children's book".What I would like to do is relate what I was reading to our lives.

 There is a boy named Shasta who is feeling sorry for himself. We have all been there I'm sure. We feel like the world is against us. That nothing is going right and nobody cares about our situation. When we are feeling like this we think of everything that has gone wrong in our lives, even since we were kids. This is what Shasta is feeling like. At this point Shasta is crying because he is feeling sorry for himself, but then he senses a presence. Lewis puts it like this:
It darted into his mind that he had heard long ago that there were giants in these Northern countries. He bit his lip in terror. But now that he really had something to cry about, he stopped crying.

Eventually Shasta starts having a conversation with this presence. He doesn't know what this presence is, but he begins telling it all of his troubles, and how things have gone bad for him. He also tells this presence how lions had been chasing him etc...

The presence lets Shasta know that he was the Lion that was in all these different episodes of his life:
I was the lion who forced you to join Aravis. I was the cat who comforted you among the houses of the dead. I was the lion who drove the jackals from you while you slept. I was the lion who gave the Horses the new strength of fear for the last mile so that you should reach King Lune in time. And I was the lion you do not remember who pushed the boat in which you lay, a child near death, so that it came to shore where a man sat, wakeful at midnight, to receive you.

Again you have to remember that in Lewis' Narnia series, the lion Aslan is a picture of Jesus. In this passage we are being reminded that Jesus has always been with us. Think over your life, Jesus has been there with you through it all. He has been orchestrating it to get you to this point of your life. Though you and I may have only seen bad in the past, what we fail to see so often is that Jesus is leading us to something that He has planned for our good. Sometimes that involves difficulty. But remember what is going in our lives isn't just happening by chance. There is purpose behind it. I agree that it doesn't always make sense to us. We are just human and we don't always understand God's ways. But make no mistake, He was there in your past, He is with you right now, and He will be with you in your future.

After his encounter with Aslan, Lewis describes what Shasta feels:
Shasta was no longer afraid that the Voice belonged to something that would eat him, nor that it was the voice of a ghost. But a new and different sort of trembling came over him. Yet he felt glad too.

When we encounter Jesus in our lives isn't this what happens. We know He has the power to destroy us if He desired to do so. We know that He would have every right to pronounce judgment on us if He desired. But we realize that He isn't going to. And a new and different sort of trembling comes over us. But it isn't a negative fear but a positive fear. A reverence if you will, what the Bible refers to as "fear of the Lord".

As Shasta finally sees Aslan and His glory, here is what happens:
But after one glance at the Lion's face he slipped out of the saddle and fell at its feet. He couldn't say anything, and he knew he needn't say anything.
The High King above all kings stooped toward him......He lifted his face and their eyes met.

Some day those who have followed Jesus will see Him and what will we be able to do in response to seeing Him? Probably like Shasta nothing but fall at His feet like Shasta did with Aslan.

If you have never read The Chronicles of Narnia series I would encourage you to do so.Though geared towards children, countless adults enjoy these stories. If you have read the series, let me encourage you to go back and reread them as I have. Though I have enjoyed the movies made so far in the series, they don't come close to depicting what you experience when you read the books.

Finally, the next time we are feeling sorry for ourselves, let us remember that Jesus is there with us in our situation.

Troy

Infected

Well it finally happened. I got my first computer virus. After all these years, I was finally infected. The worse part for me was the fact that I didn't have my stuff backed up, and yet I couldn't just reformat the computer because I needed the stuff that was on my laptop. All my church work was on there, not to mention my strat-o-matic baseball games. I am in the last week of a replay of the 1971 season and Hank Aaron has broken Roger Maris' record. I have an assembled team of my own from the 2009 season and Cliff Lee is 13-0 at the All Star break. Not to mention all of the other season I have played and keeping all the stats. The strat-o-matic forum is waiting to see how my two current seasons are going to finish. (strat o matic is my stress reliever. It is my nothing box for those who are familiar with Mark Gungor) In all seriousness all the church stuff from the past year is the stuff I didn't want to lose.

So I had to make a trip to Best Buy to see if the geek squad could get rid of the virus and yet save all my data. Thankfully they said yes it would be possible. All I would need to do was give them $300. Well I was stuck with no other choice so I said ok. A $300 mistake.

You may be wondering how I contacted the virus. This is the frustrating part, for had it been any other day I would not have hit the link. Recently I purchased a Blu Ray of an old western. But the audio was out of synch. I did some research and found that this title had that problem and that it was better to contact Warner Brothers to get them to send a replacement. I contacted Warner Brothers and they sent me a fed ex envelope to send the defective disc in and then they would send me the new one. As I woke up yesterday I was thinking of how it had been a few weeks since I sent off the disc and was thinking this week I will probably get the new one. As I checked my email there was one that said it was from Fed Ex and that that it could not deliver my package and that I needed to click on the link to get the info..... so I clicked, and the rest is history. If I had just thought for a second before clicking I would have thought through how Fed Ex would not have my email address. Warner Brothers does but not Fed Ex. If I would have just had thought it through I would have been able to remind myself that when something in the past couldn't be delivered there was a message left on my door. But no, I had just been thinking about the disc coming and I clicked. A $300 mistake.

Obviously I didn;t write this to bore you with how I got a computer virus. I like to look at the every day things that happen to us and see how those things can relate to our relationship and living life with God.

The big coorelation that I see is that, everything was just right for me to get the virus. What I mean is that had I not been expecting a package from Fed Ex I would have deleted that email instantly. It wouldn't have meant anything to me. I have seen that this is how the enemy works in our lives. He is very cunning, very deceitful, he sets us up waiting for the right moment. He is good at it, he has been able to trick us all our lives. He doesn't necessarily do things that are so obvious, because he knows we wouldn't fall for it. But he is very sneaky, waiting for the right moment to bring the temptation. And then .......we are infected. It looks right, it feels right, it's what we are looking for, but it is a setup.

Next, my computer contracted a virus but there were people who could help. My computer does not have to live with the virus. You and I have made mistakes and picked up bad habits, wrong thinking, we have a nature that is at war with God, etc.... but we don't have to stay that way. There is someone who can fix us, and His Name is Jesus. The Bible says,"The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil." 1 John 3:8b

Finally, it cost me $300 to get rid of the virus and save my files etc... When it comes to our lives, our sin, it doesn't cost us to get fixed, it cost Jesus His life. Even though we made the mistake, even though we knew better, even though we are the ones infected with sin, yet Jesus was willing to give His life so that we could be fixed. We can receive the grace He offers if we would just accept it.

Remember you don't have to stay the way you are. Jesus can help. Call out to Him. He is real and He will help. Not always the way we think would be best, but He can and will help. We don't have to live our lives infected.

Troy

Did You Do It?

Did you do it? Did you do something that you shouldn’t have? Did you not do something that you should have?


Did you do it? Did you think a thought you shouldn’t have? Did you react the wrong way? Did you open your mouth when you should have kept it shut? Did you keep it shut when you should have opened it?

Did you do it? Did you look at what you shouldn’t have? Did you not look at what you should have?

Did you judge, indulge, make wrong choices etc…?


How are you feeling? Discouraged, worthless, defeated, condemned, guilty?


Did you do it?

Did you confess it to Jesus?

Did you ask for forgiveness?

Did you remember that He forgives?

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
1 John 1:9

Did you remind yourself that there is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus?

Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. 3 For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, 4 so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit
Romans 8:1-4

Did you remind yourself that He is faithful?

If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself.
2nd Timothy 2:13

Did you remind yourself that you are victorious through Jesus Christ?

But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place
2nd Corinthians 2:14

We can’t take sin lightly, but we also can’t allow it to paralyze us and keep us stuck in the past. We don’t have to be defined by our failures when there is a Savior who offers forgiveness for our past, power to overcome what keeps holding us back and the opportunity to move forward in life. Remember Jesus went to the cross for us and rose again with all power and authority. Did you do it?

Troy

Life Can Get Tough, But God Is Still With You

Throughout all of human history, the voice of God resounds with absolute assurance: "I am with you."
Richard Foster

I sure do enjoy it when things go smoothly. I love it when I hear a song and I think I have it figured out before I even pick up the guitar to learn it and when I go to learn it, the chords are as I thought. I love it when there is a challenge and a thought comes to me as to how to resolve it, and when I follow that action, it does work out.

If only life were that smooth all the time. It seems every time I go to download some new program for the computer I missed a step, or I don't have some type of software that is needed. It just never goes smoothly.

Of course, there are more serious issues than those that we have to face in life. When we face those really troubling issues and there is no fix, or it doesn't seem like anything is changing, we can begin to doubt God even being there with us.

Sadly, there have been many who have come to the conclusion that God isn't there for them ,or after praying and seeing no result, or it turns out worse, people can come to believe that God isn't real.

When life is falling apart it is not always easy to believe that God is there for you, but He is. The enemy of our soul wants us to believe that God doesn't care, or that He isn't there, but He is.

Facing a challenging time right now? He is there.
Life isn't getting any easier? He is there.
People are telling you to give up on God? He is there.
Thoughts inside your head telling you nothing is ever going to change? He is there.

The Bible is full of stories of people going through tough times and God having to remind them that He was with them.

To Issac on the move: "Do not be afraid, for I am with you and will bless you" (Genesis 26:24).

To Jacob escaping from the wrath of his brother: " I am with you and keep you wherever you go" (Genesis 28:15).

To Joshua, the man who follow Moses as the next leader : "I will be with you as I was with Moses" (Joshua 3:7)

... And the list goes on:

1st Chronicles 17:2

Isaiah 41:9,10

Jeremiah 1:7,8

Matthew 28:20

Acts 18:9,10

We could mention more.

 Richard Foster says,"Across thousands of years, with wave upon wave of names and faces and recurring events, the Bible threads God's patient words of love and faithfulness: I am with you."
 
 
Troy

Struggle

In our North American context, failure and struggle are often viewed as problems, jagged detours on what is supposed to be the smooth, straight road of life. It's a distinctly Western phenomenon, but one that subtly impacts our Christian perceptions.  Chuck DeGroat


For some reason, those of us who follow Jesus have bought into the above statement at one time or another in our life of following Jesus. Sadly, many stay in the mindset of the above quote.There are those who have come to find out that even though you are a  follower of Jesus your life will still have struggle. But even then those people can fall back into the above mindset, if the struggle goes on too long.

What makes it so hard for us to accept that struggle is a part of life? Why do we think that if we begin to follow Jesus with our lives that there should be no more struggle? If we fail to see that struggle is a part of life we will come up with all kinds of untrue explanations. Worse yet, we will have to hear the opinions of those who don't believe there should be any struggle in the Christian life.

See if you have heard any of these statements before;
"There must be some sin in your life"
"I'm not saying you are possesed, but you may have an evil spirit oppressing you"
"You just aren't exercising enough faith to get out of your situation"
"If you were more committed to Jesus, this wouldn't be going on in your life'
"This is probably a generational curse passed down from your great, great, great grandparents"
The list could go on and on.

Now let me say, I believe all of the above statements can happen in a person's life and be the reason as to why they are experiencing struggle. But I believe as followers of Jesus, that we aren't to just throw out ideas like these and go down our "list" on someone. Imagine the damage you could do to a person who is really struggling with something and then you just throw out one of the above statements without really knowing the person's situation. You could make the situation worse. Sadly, many want to feel as though they are "spiritual" and will throw out the above solutions quickly, rather then taking the time to get to know the person and their situation.

I think at the root of the situation is that we are uncomfortable with struggle. Obviously we don't like it in our lives, but we are also uncomfortable in seeing it in someone else's life. So we try to come up with a quick fix.

I was reading recently in the Book of Acts where the apostle Paul was telling the people that even though the Prophets, the Books of Moses, etc... had been read regularly in the synagouges, yet the people didn't recognize who Jesus was when He came and they had Him crucified. Think about that, they had been reading for hundereds of years about a Messiah to come, and when He came they didn't recognize Him.

Well, those of us who are followers of Jesus have the Bible to read. Isn't it interesting that in just about every story in the Bible, and in just about every person who we get some detail about their lives, there is struggle. Think of it, Abraham, Joseph, David, Peter, Paul, and the list could go on and on. All of them had struggles and not all of those struggles were the result of them doing something "wrong". Yet, we somehow can believe that there is something not right about experiencing struggle even though everyone in the Bible experienced it. Aren't we just like the people that Paul spoke about in Acts, just in a different way?

We have difficulty with struggle many times because at the heart of the matter, we think we can control God. When struggle comes we have to realize that we aren't in control. If times are good we look at what we are doing, our actions, and we think we have somehow found a way to please God and with that some way in that we are controlling Him. But, when struggle comes we have a hard time excepting it because we haven't changed our actions, so our thought process is why did the struggle come? Which then can lead to the realization that we aren't in control, which means we aren't in control of God. We would never admit it, but deep down many of our actions are ways of trying to see if we can manipulate God. We want to find God on our terms, but He wants it on His terms.

Struggle is a part of life. For some reason we have trouble with this truth. Struggle is going to come even when you are living a life that is pleasing to God. Sometimes the struggle is a result of wrong actions on our part. When we realize what we have done that was wrong, let's adjust our lives accordingly. Struggle can be the result of the enemy,of our souls, at those times we have to rely on God and fight. Remember though, not every struggle is the result of you or I or some other person doing something wrong. Let us not be hasty in jumping to wrong conclusions. It can lead to more harm than good.

 After they had preached the gospel to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra and to  Iconium and to Antioch, strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith,and saying, "Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God."
 Acts 14:21,22


 Many are the afflictions of the righteous, But the LORD delivers him out of them all.
 Psalm 34:19

Troy

Musings from John 15:12-17

This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you.

John 15:12

I love verses that show us how much God loves us, I'm sure you do to. They are encouraging and it is amazing to think of how much Jesus loves us.

In this verse Jesus is teaching us, or should I say commanding us to love others just as He has loved us. Ouch!!!! I don't know what you think, but this is one of those verses that is hard to live out. But let's remember, Jesus commanded it, so it must be possible in some way. Let's love others the way Jesus loved us. And yes, that includes those who we feel are unloveable.
 
 
Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.

John 15:13

Jesus continues to develop the thought on commanding us to love others as He has loved us. Jesus shows us the ultimate way to show this love. Though we may never be called to "lay down our lives" we can still lay down or lay aside our agendas, our expectations, our plans, for our friends. Let us remember that Jesus showed us His great love for us by laying down His life for us.


You are My friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you.

John 15:14,15

Probably at least once in our lives we have referred to someone as our friend to try and impress someone. When it comes to Jesus, I am not surprised that I want to call Him friend. What amazes me, is that He calls us His friends.

Jesus teaches us in these verses that He wants us to do what He commands. Jesus also revealed to the disciples the things the Father was telling Jesus. Today the Holy Spirit reveals to us what God is saying.

Let's go out today remembering that Jesus call us friends. As we here from the Holy Spirit, let's obey Jesus' commands.
 
 
You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give it to you.

John 15:16

Let us think on one truth from this verse; you and I were chosen by Jesus. I can grasp me... wanting to choose Him, I cannot grasp Him wanting to choose me. Yet He did choose us. Ready for another mind blowing thought ? He didn't wait for us to be "worthy" or "good enough" to choose us. He chose us as we were. He also teaches us that He appointed us to go and bear fruit with our lives, and that that fruit would remain. As we abide in Him and our lives bear fruit we will begin to know what is on God's heart and when we ask for it in Jesus' name it will be given.

Although all you may see of yourself is your faults and failures, remember, you were chosen by Jesus!!!
 
 
This I command you, that you love one another.

John 15:17

This is the second time in John 15 that Jesus has commanded to love one another. Jesus had said in John 13:35," By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another". Loving others shows the world Christlikeness. The world has seen people saying they believe certain truths, they have seen people be "religious", but nothing impacts or makes an impression on someone like love. The Apostle Paul said in 1st Corinthians 13 that without love we are nothing.

Let's follow the example and command of Jesus and love each other. And when it gets really hard to do let's ask Jesus for His power to be able to love others because we can't do it in our own strength.
 
Troy