Feel the change...

What role does the Bible play in growing our faith?


So I had a friend of mine who was really struggling in a particular area of his life. He felt like for every step he took forward, he fell back another two. Even though he knew that what he was doing was wrong, he kept falling into the same old trap. One night he asked me, "Am I the only one who's ever felt like this?"

In answer I emailed this scripture from the book of Romans chapter 7 verses 18-19, "18 I know there is nothing good in my sinful nature. I want to do what is good, but I can't. 19 I don't do the good things I want to do. I keep on doing the evil things I don't want to do."

In this particular passage, the Apostle Paul is wrestling with his sinful nature and he expresses a common frustration. Who hasn't sat back after a particularly bad decision and wondered why we knowingly embraced a choice that led to death? All of us have been there.

Now the point of this story isn't to excuse my friend's behavior. What he did was wrong, no two ways about it. But by reading
about the struggle Paul endured two thousand years ago, my friend was able to gain some perspective, dust himself off, and try again. Paul also ends his painful deliberations on a victorious note. In verses 24-25, Paul says, "24 What a terrible failure I am! Who will save me from this sin that brings death to my body? 25 I give thanks to God. He will do it through Jesus Christ our Lord."

Often times we look at the writers of the Bible as superhuman beings whose every thought was whispered to them by God. But sometimes, in my darkest moments, I find comfort in the fact that the Bible is a collection of stories about people. People who sometimes succeeded in pleasing God and sometimes failed miserably. People who were just like me.

Pick up your Bible and read a couple of verses. You might be surprised at who you find staring back from the pages.


- Don

Pivotal Circumstance...

I knew it was coming, all the signs pointed to it and I had already looked at our budget and knew we would be OK for a little while, but as I was walking toward the meeting room I wondered if everything was really going to be OK. And as the words hung in the air I almost couldn't believe what I was hearing... "Due to the recent lack of sales company wide we are eliminating several of the Contractors and unfortunately you are one of them." I returned to my desk and quickly let my wife know that my days were numbered.

We can't always see our circumstances coming, but they often have the same affect. Whether it is a loss of a job, death of a friend, health problem, etc. the circumstances leave us dazed and disoriented for a moment before we realize we have a choice to make...

Do I trust God in-spite of what I am experiencing and feeling? Or do I start to question God's intentions and take matters into my own hands?

Well for me I found my prayer life elevate as I tried to seek God and see what He might be be doing... I wasn't at all happy about the situation I found myself in. I felt like that job was exactly where God wanted me to be for a season. Then I was relieved of my contract 5 months early and I found myself questioning the timing, but through it all I trusted and sought God.

My pivotal circumstance turned out to be one that altered the course of my life and now as I look back on it I wonder if I would be on this journey I now find myself in? I wonder if this is what it took for God to get me to leverage my life for His?

What circumstance are you facing?
Do you trust God in-spite of what you are feeling or do you find yourself questioning God's intentions?
Will you allow God to leverage your circumstance for His glory?

I'd love to hear your thoughts...


- Rainey

Feel The Power!

“Give God the first minutes of your day.”

Normally this isn’t too much of a stretch for me. As an aspiring writer, my alarm clock starts chiming at 4:50 so I can spend time moving a chapter a little farther down the road, editing a magazine article, or tinkering with a short story before work. Until this week. Until I signed a little pledge card Sunday morning and dropped it in the offering plate. Until I spent Sunday and Monday nights coughing and Tuesday night staring at the ceiling while the digital clock on the nightstand next to me counted down the minutes until sunrise.

Funny how that works, isn’t it? Because when the alarm started beeping this morning, the question running through my head wasn’t “I’m so tired, how am I going to make it through the day?” or even “What am I worried about that I couldn’t sleep last night?” No, the question battering the inside of my skull at 4:50 this morning wasn’t so politically correct. It went something like this, “Why am I doing this? Do I really think God is going to show up?”

Wow. Amazing how your thoughts crystallize after three nights without sleeping. How about it LifePoint? Am I the only one struggling to get up this week, secretly wondering if God is really going to show up? Is anybody who agreed to start giving God their first dollars this month, now having second thoughts? Is anybody else wondering whether they will really hear from God if they fast a Starbucks latte?

Or am I the only one?

As I read this post, I start to think that maybe I’m asking the wrong question. When I wrote my name on that card Sunday morning, I don’t remember seeing a box for God to check or a line where he could sign. I don’t remember hearing him say that he was in on this deal at all. Because when we get right down to it, the question that I should be asking isn’t “God, are you really going to show up if I get out of bed?” but, “Don, are you really going to be obedient even if you don’t know whether or not God will show up?”

The author of the New Testament book of Hebrews says in Chapter 11 verse 1 that “faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” Sure enough to make decisions based on what we know God wants us to do even when we aren’t confident of the results. Faith isn’t something you stumble into, but it might require stumbling out of bed at 4:50 in the morning.

Is anybody with me?

- Don

Trust

"I'm willing step out in Faith-I just want to know that's what you want
me to do."

I wrote that line in one of my prayer journals during a time
when I was intensely seeking God's plan for my life. I remember that
when I uttered that prayer to God the thought seemed perfectly logical,
noble even. Here I was, willingly telling my Father that I'd be happy
to follow his directions-if he'd just light the road ahead with a
burning bush or two.

You see a relationship with God, more so than any other
relationship, is based on trust. We can't see God, or feel him, and
most of the time when he speaks, he doesn't use an audible voice
accompanied by an earthquake or a celestial spotlight. But in order to
experience him, we have to make the intentional decision to trust our
lives to someone we've never physically met.

Which brings me back to the line from my prayer journal. On
Sunday, Andy said, "None of us will ever stumble into Faith. Faith
isn't going to just happen." Another pastor friend of mine expressed
similar sentiments when he said, "I think a lot of people look for God
to work first, then step out in Faith. Some of the dramatic works of
God in the Bible were like that...but by far the normal pattern is that
God's people make choices to serve him using wisdom they've gained from
the Bible, godly friends, mentors, and life experiences."

Both of these friends were trying to tell me that life with God
can only be lived through trust and that the decision to trust must be
made in Faith. Faith that God has a story for my life if I'll just
reach out and grab it.

So what about you? Do you trust Him or are you still just
stumbling along? Imagine what your life could look like if you'd just
muster the courage to take that first step. Join me-let's experience
this together.

- Don

* Andy said that the story of the Bible is a story of trust. How
does trust play into your relationship with God?
* Can you think of a time when God did something amazing in your
life once you decided to trust him? Share it.

Play to win...

"Come, follow me and I will make you fishers of men." Matthew 4:19.

If you're like me, then you'd probably rather sit through a root
canal then purposefully share your faith with someone. The thought of
going up to a friend, or even worse a stranger, and attempting to
distill the entire Bible into a thirty second conversation centered
around sin, the four spiritual laws, some kind of bridge, and maybe the
Roman Road leaves me feeling a queasy. And maybe it should.

If you read the account of Jesus calling his first disciples in
the Gospel of Matthew 4:19, you'll see that he approaches things a
little differently. When Jesus invited two brothers, Peter and Andrew,
to join his ministry, he made it abundantly clear that they would be
leaving their old lives behind. But at the same time, Jesus couched his
invitation in terms that they would understand. He could just as easily
have invited them to become healers of men, or shepherds of men, or
teachers of men, but he didn't. Jesus told the brothers that he would
teach them to become fishers of men. Why? Because Peter and Andrew
were fishermen and Jesus knew that they would instantly understand his
message.

So how does that apply to us? Pastor and evangelist Tony Evans
once explained the process of sharing your faith by comparing the action
to a Dallas Cowboys fan talking about football. Tony stated that a
Cowboys fan doesn't have to try to work the subject of football into a
conversation. Since the fan is already passionate about football, he
talks about the Cowboys naturally without worrying about what he'll say
or how he'll say it. Tony's point is that if we are truly passionate
about something, talking about it will come easily.

Just like the fisherman who first related to Christ through
their life experiences, I've found that I share my faith most
effectively when I focus less on New Testament theology and more on what
God has done in my life. When I think of how good my Father has been to
me, I naturally want to share this story with others. Not as a
theologian or Biblical scholar, but as a simple, passionate fan who
can't wait to tell his friends the Good News.

So what about it? Are you ready to follow and fish or are you
still standing on the beach? Hurting people, desperate to hear a
positive story, surround you. Tell them yours.

- Don

* Tony Evans talked about sharing your passions with friends with
the expectation that your relationship with Christ will be one of those
passions. What if it's not? On Sunday, Andy said that God wants to
replace your indifference with passion. Will you let him? Tell me
about it.

* In the same teaching I referenced above, Tony Evans suggested
praying this prayer every morning: "God, I ask you to give me the
opportunity to share my faith with someone today, the wisdom to
recognize that opportunity when it comes, and the courage to act on it."
Pray that prayer for the next week and tell me what happens when you do.

The Church...

"You go to church, right? What's that like?"

Who hasn't fielded this question from a co-worker or friend?
When someone asks me about church, I normally reply by giving them
Wyandott's location, the time our Celebration starts, and a quick
endorsement of Brandon's singing or Andy's teaching. But does this
response really answer their question?

In the Gospel of Luke chapter ten, verses one through four, we
find Jesus in the middle of forming the church. He's on the eve of his
crucifixion and has even told his disciples that he's about to be
betrayed, but they don't understand him. You'd think that this would be
the part of the Bible where Jesus tells his followers how to conduct
church after he's gone. You know, the answers to important questions
like: How long should the service last? Do we take communion with wine
or grape juice? Which translation of the Bible do we use?

But if you read those verses in Luke, you'll see that Jesus
didn't waste any of the precious time he had left on earth talking about
a building or detailing the format of a Sunday morning service.
Instead, he turned the focus of his followers outward. He paired them
up, pointed them toward the surrounding towns, and said, "Go, tell them
about me." That's it.

So maybe the next time I get a church question, I should answer
by talking about my wife's missions trip to Mexico, my awesome Reset
group, the Friday morning men's breakfast, or Tim Anderson's latest
Outreach. Because those are the activities that define us as a
church-not where we gather on Sundays.

* Share your church story with someone this week and post the
results of your conversation to our blog. I dare you.

* Is your church story only about a building and an hour on Sunday
mornings? Step out of your comfort zone and tell me what happens next.




Don Bentley

Prayer...

I think Mc Hammer said it best... "You've got to pray just to make it today".

In all seriousness I'm learning that prayer is the anchor of our faith. If I'm honest I can also say in the same breath I have much growing to do in this area. What I mean by that is my life doesn't reflect the truth I just made. My life doesn't reflect the truth of prayer anchoring my faith. I believe it to be true, my story is full of times where prayer has not only influenced me but also completely changed an aspect of my life. Without prayer I know I wouldn't be where I am today... Yet my life doesn't reflect this truth.

Let me clarify... I don't have a "dynamic" prayer life, I don't discipline myself enough to spend X number of minutes/hours with God, I don't find myself on my knees crying out to God. But I should...

For the past few months I feel like God is calling me to Him. I feel like God wants my prayer life to be "dynamic". I feel as if my relationship with God could be so much more than it is and I'm the one that is missing out.

I'm not saying I don't pray... I'm saying I don't make it a point to spend time with just God. I'm not talking about while I'm in the car or right before bed... I'm talking about time with God with no distractions...

What about you? How does your life stand up to the truth of prayer being an anchor of our faith? What does your prayer life look like?

What might you be missing out on?

I'd love to hear your thoughts...

Love

John 3:18 "Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does
not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in
the name of God's one and only son."

Absolute, gut-wrenching terror. That's what I felt as I looked around
our empty family room, searching for my mom and brother. The
furniture and other familiar objects surrounding me loomed ominously
to my eleven-year-old eyes, and my heart thundered against my chest.
Our church had been showing a graphic movie series depicting the lives
of people left behind after Jesus' second coming. Once again, I'd
convinced myself that the absence of my family signified that I'd
missed the rapture. I knew that I'd become a Christ follower during a
Sunday night service years earlier, but the memory of cheating on the
previous day's math assignment weighed heavily on my conscience. Had
I waited too long to ask God's forgiveness for that sin? Was I now
destined to spend the next seven years trying to stay one step ahead
of the antichrist's soldiers?

The comforting echo of my mother's footsteps as she climbed the stairs
from our basement put my fears to rest. For now. Flush with relief,
I ran to my room, confessed my sin and prayed the sinner's prayer yet
again. For a couple of days I felt all right, secure in my knowledge
that God still loved me. But I knew that sooner or later I'd say or
do something I shouldn't and experience a fresh wave of terror at the
sight of an empty room.

This cycle went on for years. Every time I'd mess up, I was certain
that this time God would refuse to take me back. This time, he'd draw
the line and say, "Son, I think I've been about as patient as anyone
could expect a father to be. We had a good run, you and me, but this
time, you're on your own."

My version of God consisted of an old man dressed in white robes who
kept a clipboard at his side, always ready to mark down my latest
infraction. If I could remember my sins in time, and beg his
forgiveness, he'd scratch out my mistake and I'd be ok. At least for
a while. But I knew in my heart that God always stood ready to add
another transgression to my ever-growing list.

Was my caricature of God accurate? According to the Gospel of John,
absolutely not. You see, John 3:18 reads, "Whoever believes in him
(Jesus) is not condemned, but whoever does not believe in him stands
condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one
and only son."

According to that verse, even though I would continue to mess up,
because I believed in Jesus, and had surrendered my life to him, I
could no longer be condemned. Period. End of story. For the longest
time, my human mind couldn't process that simple truth. Who really
loves that way? Who can honestly look someone in the eye and say, "No
matter how you hurt me, no matter how your actions embarrass me, no
matter what you say about me, I will still love you. In me, there is
no condemnation."

Think I'm making this up? Check out what the Apostle Paul had to say
in Romans 8:1 "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who
are in Christ Jesus because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit
of life set me free from the law of sin and death."

Kind of Resets your definition of love, doesn't it?

- Don

* Andy said that sometimes this truth is hard for us to accept
because we don't always see this type of absurd love modeled in our
families. Have you ever seen someone in your family model absurd
love? Tell me about it.

* In the Robb Bell video we watched Sunday, Robb said that the son
thinks, "I'm found out. I'm guilty." All the while, the Father is
saying, "There's nothing you could ever do that would make me love you
less." That may be one of the hardest truths in scripture to
understand. Have you ever had to come to terms with this truth in
your life? How?

Surrender...

"Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me". (Luke 9:23)

I'm not sure we truly understand the implications of this verse. I mean if we just read it we can't even understand it... To become a disciple means to learn to be like Jesus. That is a really simple definition to a really BIG ask... Because the second part of that verse asks us to "take up our cross daily and follow Him".

Our cross... What does that even mean? One of my commentaries makes this point; "To bear the cross means to accept the rejection of the world for turning to Jesus and following Him. Discipleship involves a death is like a crucifixion". Even that can be misunderstood, especially in our country, I mean we aren't "against/rejecting" Jesus so how does that apply to us?

The truth is following Jesus is living a life very different from the way our country attempts to have us live. We live in a "I want it now, I earned it, look out for yourself, etc" mentality. Yet Jesus asks us to put our selfish desires aside and seeking His desires.

I mentioned before that Discipleship involves a death like a crucifixion, which is often a slow death. This is why we need to make the decision daily to pick up our cross and follow the one who died for us. It shouldn't be a surprise that Jesus would ask the same of us. Because when we decide to die to ourselves, Jesus tells us that we can really start living...

The question is will you do it? Will you make the decision to seek God with all your heart, mind and soul? Will you seek him with everything you have? Because let's be honest we often do this for the things we want in life so why wouldn't we do it for the one who sacrificed it all for us?

Fair...

So if God is love how can He be unfair? It doesn't seem like those two things can co-exist. I mean we are raised to play fair or to play by the rules, but when we read the Gospel Luke we see that Jesus didn't play by the rules... I don't know about you but when I first connected with this truth I'm not sure I liked it, but after looking closer I sure am glad Jesus doesn't play by the rules.

What I learned was that my disbelief that Jesus doesn't play by the rules really comes from my "assumption" that He should. I know for me it is really easy to think what makes me feel good or what makes me happy is or should be true of my faith. I mean is it really to much to ask to treat people fairly? Isn't that all the other son wanted in the story of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32)?

My problem is typically when I read that story I identify myself with the lost son and I get great joy from that story, but what about the other son? What about the son who stayed and worked, the one who picked up the slack from the son who wanted all his money now only to squander the money... Then and only then did he realize that he had nowhere to turn, nowhere to go except to go back home and at best, in his mind, be a "hired servant".

Well the story takes a turn... The father sees his son and accepts him back, throws a party and allows his son back into the family like before. That is a beautiful picture of grace... See the son didn't deserve it, he squandered it all and his brother is the one who was "doing what was expected".

So who are you in the story? Are you the lost son squandering what you have or are you the son that is doing what you are "expected" to do? Either way Jesus tells us He loves us and He is extending grace to both. So if your to "good" son Jesus asks you to extend grace to your brother...

It isn't what he deserves, but is it what he needs... Sounds familiar doesn't it? It sounds a lot like what Jesus does for us... He gives us grace and accepts us into His family, His love is so great that He loves us right where we are... But He loves us enough not to leave us there.

Assumptions...

Mr. Rogers with a beard. Sheppard dude. Longhaired, halo
wearing peacenik. White robed, soft-spoken pushover. Helpless,
broken man hanging on a cross.

Say the word Jesus and see what pictures pop into your head. Do
the images resemble any of the descriptive phrases I've listed above?
Probably. But does that make them true?

The new series we're undergoing as a church, Reset, challenges
us to abandon our assumptions and discover who Jesus really is all over
again. How about these phrases:

Divider.
Activist.
Revolutionary.
Crusader for social justice.

Are we still talking about the same guy?

That's just it, isn't it? If we were really honest with
ourselves, then we'd have to admit that each of us harbors a unique
version of Jesus built from a combination of cultural assumptions,
intellect, and past experiences. Our own, personal, Jesus.
Would the real Jesus please stand up?

Fortunately, we've got something more than just stained glass
pictures or cheesy movies to introduce us to our savior. Read the New
Testament book of Luke, join a Reset group, and have the guts to check
your assumptions at the door. Come with us as we discover Jesus all
over again.

- Don

* Picture Jesus and his disciples standing together. Do you see a
bunch of construction workers on a coffee break, or a theology professor
and his grad students sitting in the faculty lounge? Why?

* Would you agree that most iconic images of Jesus feature some
version of an effeminate man surrounded by lambs or children? Does that
sound like the guy who trampled on the social taboos of his day while
insulting the members of the cultural elite? How do you reconcile those
images?

* I can sum up my preconceived notions of Jesus with one
word-boring. But how do you think a person as nonthreatening and bland
as we've made Jesus could convince twelve men to leave their livelihoods
and families to follow him to their deaths?

Community

He called us his Three Horsemen. BP, Kelsey and I were three of his five Troop Commanders, great friends, and brothers in arms. Our Squadron Commander knew that he could count on us to together accomplish any mission that we couldn’t complete individually. Our relationship made the Squadron stronger, but more than that, our friendship made each of us stronger.

Like anyone deployed away from his family and loved ones for a year, I endured some dark times in Afghanistan. But the friendship and trust I placed in my fellow Horsemen helped see me through those moments. On countless days existing on little sleep while spending long hours in the cockpit, the sound of my friends’ voices checking in over the radio often brought a smile to my face. Knowing that they were in the air with me provided a feeling of security during uncertain times.

I can recall one mission in particular that went terribly wrong. While lost in the maelstrom of chaos that poets call the fog of war, the one stalwart I clung to was the conviction that if I too were shot down, Kelsey would come for me. I knew this without Kelsey ever voicing this sentiment, because if the situation were reversed, I knew that I would come for him.

The bond between the three of us didn’t develop in Afghanistan—we were a community before we deployed. Our wives were friends, our children played together and we ate dinner at each other’s houses. We’d invested the time and effort to develop our community prior to Afghanistan, so that when I needed friends the most, I already had a family to support me.

So what about you? Do you have a community that supports you? If not, do you ask God why he hasn’t sent anyone into your life? Maybe you should be asking him to point you towards someone who needs your time and energy in their life. Sooner or later all of us will face a trial like Afghanistan.

Don’t face yours alone. Take a step towards someone today.

-Don

• Is your small group a band of brothers or just a bible study? What can you do to grow authentic community in your small group?
• Andy said, “Christian life is designed to be a team sport.” Are you part of a team? Why not?
• React to this statement: Our faith in God is personal but never private. Who have you invited to share in your personal relationship with God?

Intimacy

Intimacy... It isn't a word that is used everyday, yet it is a word that describes something we were created to experience. When God created man there was an intimate relationship where Adam and God talked openly, honestly and freely. When God realized that man needed another companion and created Eve there too was an intimate relationship between Eve and God and between Adam and Eve. So we can see from the very begining what type of relationship we were created to have with each other and with God.

That is the easy part... Knowing how we were created. The hard part is living it!

Although Intimacy is often hard to describe, it is easy to spot. Children do this relatively well, they don't know how to do relationships any different. They naturally have the time for there parents, they haven't learned how to pretend to be someone they aren't and although it is difficult to say they are "committed" to the success of their parents, they do tend to "submit" to the will of their parents.

I know for me it is often difficult to abide by those three principles in most of my relationship, especially with God. They seem pretty simple; Time/Vulnerability/Commitment. But when the rubber meets the road, well I typically don't get anywhere to quickly.

I'm guessing the same is true for you... I'm guessing like me you make excuses as to why we don't make time for the people we care about and why we don't make time for God. "I'm too busy with School, I have to practice, I'm so busy with ____ (Fill in the blank)". When we really put that in perspective it seems like a really silly excuse... We are basically saying "God I don't have time for you because I have more important things to do". Meanwhile God waits...

God makes time for us, but often don't make the time for God. And time is really where it all starts. It is difficult to be vulnerable with someone, to let them into your life if we aren't dedicating time to them. It is difficult to Commit yourself to someone, to help them become successful without setting time for them. It is hard to get to know anyone with out spending time with them...

The question is... Where are you spending your time? What are you getting to know? Who or what is getting to know you? What are you committed to?

I'm guessing it isn't God... Meanwhile God waits... God waits and He knocks (Rev 3:20), will you let Him in?

* Have you set time for God today?
* Will you trust God and let Him know you for who you really are?
* Will you commit yourself to God and trust God will do the same to you?

Helping People Take Their Next Step With God...

I love our Mission statement... Really I mean it! "Helping People Take Their Next Step With God"

There is so much that I love about our Mission statement. First off it invokes this idea of never arriving at the finish line, that we all have room to grow, we all have steps to take in our Spiritual Journey. Secondly I love the visual; Imagine yourself on a walk, but not just any walk. A walk with God... That is a pretty powerful visual!

I don't know what it is, but there is something special about walks. I mean when my wife and I take walks we seem to talk about things that we don't normally talk about. It is like life slows down and the normal "business of life" isn't present while we are walking, we reconnect with each other. Now imagine yourself on walk with Jesus like that!

So the question is what is your next step? Where is that God is calling you to go? Maybe it is just being open to what God might be saying, maybe it is simply continuing to come to Student Ministry every week, maybe it is praying for your friends who aren't coming to Church or don't know God, maybe it is finding quite time with God and just listening... I'm not sure what it is, but I do know you have a next step.

I'd love to hear what your next step is...

What are you doing here?

So Elijah calls on God to light a fire in front of hundreds of people and shows them that they are worshiping the wrong god, then he gets word that Ahab's wife wants him dead and he runs. He runs and hides in a cave where God asks a very interesting question "What are you doing here Elijah?" (1 Kings 19)

We were only married a few years and I bowled 2 or 3 times a week and I found myself going out with the boys 1 or 2 times a week, and I wasn't spending a whole lot of time with my wife. I was becoming more and more selfish and when I would look into the mirror I didn't like the man I was becoming. I was worried about where this would lead and who I would hurt along the way, then something happened...

I remember it like it was yesterday... I was on my home from bowling and like all other nights I was talking to Janna on the way home and all the sudden I had this feeling. Looking back I realize it was God chasing me and to this day I wonder how different life would have turned out if I hadn't acted on it. And now I know this feeling was God asking me "what are you doing here Andy?"

I decided to act on the feeling and simply said to Janna "I think we should start going to Church". This was a huge step because I wasn't sure how Janna would react, because we had never even talked about Church, well other than which Church we were going to get married in. To my surprise Janna said she had been thinking about it as well.

I look back on my life and see many times where God has asked me that question and to be honest when I'm in the moment I often miss God's question. I miss it because I'm usually to caught up in myself and what might happen to even think to check in with God.

So here I was driving in my car asking Janna about going to Church, all the while God was asking me "what are you doing here Andy?" The truth is, like most times when God asks this question... I had no idea what I was doing there. What I do know is when I live life trying to please me it doesn't work. When I try to change "tomorrow's" with my own thoughts and worries I often find myself in places I have no business being...

So if your reading this and you find yourself agreeing to some of these points, I'd love to hear them. Post a comment and let us know. If you're reading this and find yourself in a place you have no business being, then stop what you are doing and Seek God! Pray right now for God to come and when He asks you "what are you doing here?" be honest... Because He already knows...

Switching Sides...

Worry is a preoccupation about tomorrow...

There is tremendous irony in worry and I love irony. See the irony is that when we worry about tomorrow we aren't living in today, we aren't living in the moment. It is as if we are in a room with our closest friends and they are involved in great conversation, but you are to busy with your thoughts about what could be and/or what might not be. Then the next day comes and "that thing" you were preoccupied about is finally here and you find yourself wondering and thinking about the conversation your friends were having... See the irony is when we worry about tomorrow we miss what is going on right in front of us today.

So what can we do about it? How can we live life differently? Well the Bible tells us in Matthew 6:33 "seek first His kingdom and His righteousness..."

Hmmm.... Seek first God? Sounds easy doesn't it? Just seek God and let everything else take care of itself. Sure I can do that... Then life happens...

About a month ago I went to the dentist to get a normal cleaning and while they were cleaning they found a freckle on my bottom lip and asked how long it has been there, to which I responded "I have no idea". I thought it was odd that they would ask me about a tiny little freckle and immediately I went to the worst possible outcome... Cancer! Man is this a sign of cancer? Are they going to have to remove some of my lip? How will that affect my looks? How will people look at me? Will this affect my communication ability? What about my family? These are just some of the many thoughts that went through my mind.

I wish I could tell you that was it, but then the dentist decided to look closer and found a dark spot under my tongue and asked me how long that had been there. Guess what my answer was... Yep you guessed... "I have no idea". So again my thoughts went to the worst possible things all over again. The dentist decided to refer me to an expert and have him check it out. So here I am just trying to keep my teeth healthy and I leave with thoughts of some type of cancer and now I have to wait until the appointment with the specialist to get any reprieve from my own thoughts...

This is being preoccupied with tomorrow and when we do this we tend to blow up the thing we are worrying about much bigger than it really is and when we do this rarely, if ever, is God apart of those thoughts. This was certainly true for me. My thoughts went to all these things that could happen and nowhere did I have God in the equation... Isn't that interesting?

How about you? When you blow up your worries is God there with you? When you have the outcomes all played out in your mind, many if not most of which aren't positive, is God there with you? I'll assume that is a no. So we worry about the tomorrow's that we can't change and in doing so we take our mind and our eyes off of God...

Seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness the Bible tells us. That my friends is hard to do when we are preoccupied with tomorrow...

From the early days of me becoming a Christ follower I have felt the call to get into Ministry and for several of those years I wondered if what I felt was really what God wanted for me. Then about 4 years ago I decided it was, I decided that God had called me into Ministry and I rearranged my priorities to put myself in position to fulfill this new found dream... What does this have to do with the dentist and seeking God first??? Well I had to accept that God has called me into Ministry and no matter the outcome of my freckle and dark spot under my tongue, God knows what is best.


It turned out that my freckle isn't anything I should worry about and the dark spot under my tongue is a build up of blood vessels and could be taken out or left alone. For now it will be left alone with no preoccupation about tomorrow... The question is "What are your freckles and dark spots that you have deemed cancer in your own mind?" Once we can figure that out and realize that God isn't there with us it will help us realize we aren't seeking His Kingdom first.


Andy

Birds of the air...

"Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in birds, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?" Matthew 6:26

I wouldn't call myself a worrier...I do a pretty good job of keeping things in perspective, but that isn't to say that I don't worry. The reality is I do.

I worry mostly about things dealing with my wife and kids... Will Abi grow up to be a confident woman passionate for God? Will Morgan let go of her dreams and play it safe? Will she pursue God at a young age, unlike me? Will my wife have a healthy pregnancy and will the birth go as planned with no complications? Will Carson Palmer fully recover from his elbow injury?

Some of you worry much more than I and others don't find yourself worrying at all, so when you read about the birds in the air you don't really think anything. I just read another blog about this (www.lifepointvineyard.blogspot.com) and he makes a great point about the birds of the air:

"Have you ever watched birds? They're busy from sunup to sundown, looking for worms, building their nest, doing whatever it is birds do."

He goes on to make the point that birds give 100% each day to their lives and then go to sleep at night content in the knowledge that they've done all that they could do.

Have you done all you can do today?

There are many days I answer that question with a no, but I'm learning to ask myself a different question...

Instead of waiting until the end of the day, I'm starting to ask myself when I start the day, "Am I going to do all I can today?"

It is the same question rephrased, but it has very different implications. By asking it in the morning it sets the day with the end in mind, so now when I when I ask myself if I have done everything I can I know that I started the day with that in mind.

What can you do to help you do everything you can today?

I'd love to hear your stories and/or thoughts...


Andy