Take Up Your Cross

Luke 9 says "Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self?"

We need to pick up our cross daily. It's not a one time thing. We don't just put our cross necklace, or WWJD bracelet on and call it good. We sin every day, and we are here to bring worship to God every day, so every day needs to be treated as something new. Every day we have the opportunity to worship by choosing to give that day to the Lord by sacrificing our selfish desires and choosing to pursue His desires.

If we're not pursuing the Lord's desires, we're losing. We may end up in a big house, with fancy cars with dinner dates at fancy restaurants, but if we turned away from God to gain it, then we're losing our life. We're choosing earthly pleasure over the reward of eternal life in Heaven. It's hard to grasp eternity and how glorious Heaven will be, so some people will turn away from God to enjoy what the world has to offer to them now, but they will be forfeiting themselves to an eternity in Hell.

Chosen out of a Crowd

We're in an era of mega churches. The Hartford Institute shows that there are over 1,300 non-Catholic churches in the United States with a weekly attendance larger than 1,000 people. The Yoido Full Gospel Church in South Korea claims more than 830,000 members. That's an extremely large number of people who all read the same book and follow the same Lord. At my church, I'm one out of thousands. Based on studies, I'm one out of close to a million people in my state that go to church on the weekend. More reasonably, I'm probably one of 100's of thousands of people that go, since there's studies that show people exaggerate how often they attend church.

Biblical historians assume there were probably close to 2 million Israelites who crossed the desert with Moses. There's some argument about the translations of the original text, but regardless of the actual amount, it was a very large amount. How did God choose Moses? In our churches, our country, or even our religion, how do we get the opportunity from God to serve Him in a large capacity. I think a majority of that answer is humility, but I think there's some information in Luke 8 as well.

Jesus had returned home to a welcome party and was immediately met by a man who had requested Jesus come to his house to help heal his daughter. Luke 8:42 says "As Jesus was on His way, the crowds almost crushed Him." There were so many people surrounding Jesus and touching Jesus that He was being pushed in on all sides, feeling crushed!

Here's the cool part - As Jesus was walking through this crowd, which I picture as the area right under the stage of a major concert, a woman who had been bleeding for years touches His cloak. Most likely, simultaneously with about 4-10 other people as He felt Himself getting crushed by people on all sides, YET He asks His disciples who just touched Him!!

Imagine walking through a mosh pit at the front of a concert with a friend and they grab you and ask you if you know who just touched them. First of all, I would think my friend was crazy and had possibly accidentally taken some drugs. Then, I would most likely ignore their very strange question and pretend it never happened. That question would just be too ridiculous for me to come up with an answer.

Peter must have trusted Jesus a little more, because He gives Him a real answer and tells Him that He's being pushed on all sides by people. Jesus responds, "Someone touched me; I know that power has gone out from me."

Now, recognize that Jesus has been traveling around healing people for a while. The word has spread and most of these people surrounding Him are probably there trying to get some sort of healing or wisdom. I think of this crowd as the one at one of these churches, or maybe even the entire church body. Why was it that when all of these people were there with faith that Jesus could do something to help them, it was the faith this woman had that caused her to receive healing without Jesus even acknowledging her presence until after He had healed her?! Lots of the other people touching Jesus are probably hoping for the same thing. They are approaching Him, expecting a healing or hoping for some sort of miracle in their lives, but the only power we know Jesus feel leave Him was when this one, very specific, woman touches Him.

I want to be that woman in my faith. Not that I want to stand out in public or do miraculous things that the world hears about, but I want to have such a strong faith in God that He chooses me to use. When there are so many other people attending church and worshiping God, I want my faith to stand out as strong. I want my faith in the power of Christ to be the faith that moves mountains and the faith that just believes in His power without needing to ever see it.

A Peace of Faith

I've been worrying a lot lately. I look into the future and there doesn't appear to be much promise there right now. I have some hopes and dreams for it, but I can't seem to make the dots connect to get there.

It was really good to read Luke tonight, and read through the story of Jesus rebuking the storm that came onto their ship as He was sleeping.

The disciples recognized a storm was coming and got really worried, and cried out for Jesus. They even went and woke Him from His sleep to let Him know they were all going to drown!

Jesus just woke up and told the storm to chill out, and it DID! Then asked the disciples where their faith was?

If I trust in the plan Jesus has, and the power that He has that lives in me through His Holy Spirit, then what is there to fear? What should I worry about if He already knows my future?

I trust that God's going  to lead me to where He wants me to be as long as I follow Him in the direction that He leads. The time to worry is when I'm not following where God is leading... that's when giant fish come and swallow you and spit you out on the beach! I'd rather just show up at the beach on my own!

Hide it Under a Bushel?

Luke 8 revisits the Parable of the seed that gets scattered on the ground, but then discusses how a lamp is not hidden when lit, but it's put on a light stand for everyone to see. The Holy Spirit is our light. It's not God's will for us to hide that or let it grow dim. He asks for us to live our lives in a way that allows everyone around us to see the Holy Spirit working and living in us. 

One of the biggest ways I've worked to do this in my life is to be more than honest about my activities and my beliefs. It's still very hard for me to just throw Jesus into a conversation, but if someone asks me what I'm doing on Wednesday and Friday nights, or Sunday mornings, I'm going to use that as an opportunity to tell them exactly what I'm doing! If someone just mentions doing something on Sunday, I make sure to let them know I will be busy at church in the morning. If someone asks me to do something Wednesday, I don't just tell them I'm busy, but I let them know I volunteer at my church's youth group, so they know what my priorities are. 

I don't want to hide what I believe, because it has the power to save. I may not be the best at drawing attention to my light from those who aren't looking, but I'm growing more and more comfortable with letting it shine as bright as I possibly can when people give me the opportunity to throw it into a conversation. 

I can't force people to read this blog, but I can make sure that I'm writing truth for anyone who may come to read it. Take the opportunities God gives you to let your light shine!

Possessing Our Land

I used to dream about living full time on a yacht so I could experience the majesty of the ocean every day. Once that passed I dreamed about living in a remote cabin in the woods where adventure was in my backyard and I could fish in any lake I wanted. My dreams often involved only me and pretty isolated locations.

Although I don't see that I would have ever pursued those dreams, I had written them off as things that may just need to wait until Heaven because my faith in God means I'm on earth for a purpose aside from self pleasure. Jesus didn't die and tell His disciples, go forth and enjoy your lives to the best of your ability. He didn't say, go forth and pursue pleasure in every way possible. He told them to go forth and make disciples of all nations.

How was I supposed to do that if I lived apart from all people?

As I've been reading through the Israelite's journey in finding their new home, my eyes have been opened to a lot of Scripture that never really hit me before, as I am also on a journey to make this new location my home. So, when I read Numbers 32, and saw how the Reubenites and Gadites approached Moses to ask if they could possess land that was not in the currently understood region of the Promised Land, it grabbed my attention. Everyone had been under the impression that the Promised Land was west of the Jordan, but these nations had seen land that they thought would be good for them so approached Moses to ask if they could settle east of the Jordan instead.

The problem here is that they are part of Israel, and God had meant for them to fight along the other tribes to take over the nations that were currently living throughout the Promised Land. So, Moses response was that it would be okay for them to possess the land west of the Jordan River, as long as they accompanied the rest of the tribes into Israel to fight for the rest of the land.

As I relate that to where God has us right now, I pull out that God is okay with where we choose to live and what we choose to do with some of our time, but that we still have to be available for our purpose. Although, we may not know what our future purpose is, we need to make sure that when it becomes known, that we are willing to put time and effort into it. I can have a big family and a farm in the mountains, but if I'm called to minister to a situation or people group in downtown Denver, I need to be willing to cross the interstate.

Gold and Pigs

I think I've mentioned before, but my daily readings are a little different than what I've done in the past. I read a little bit of the Old Testament, a little new, some of Psalms, and some of Proverbs every day. It's great, because by reading the other pieces at the same time it keeps me from needing to read 3 chapters in a row of Leviticus or Numbers... although, as I've shared over the past couple weeks, both of those books have some solid stuff in them!

It's been hard to get very much out of Proverbs this way, because I only get to read a verse or two at a time. Today was Proverbs 11:22. "Like a gold ring in a pig's snout is a beautiful woman who shows no discretion."

There's been a huge movement over the last couple decades for women to not be viewed as objects. The problem with the fight is that some women are like the gold ring in the pig's snout and aren't fighting, but instead are letting themselves be the objects. 

It's so important as a woman to know that you are loved by God. That He's a Father that loves and cares for His children. Those feelings of love don't have to come from other men. God is strong, He loves you, and He has great things to say about you! As a gold ring, let God's rays of sun shine and reflect off of you. Don't let desire or men in today's society convince you that your ring belongs in the pig slop... God has His own plan for you. 

Where God Sends Us

I've been on quite a few mission's trips, and spent time praying about every single one of them. I remember talking to multiple people on various occasions about deciphering where and when God might want me to go in my ministry. More than once the response I got was, "What are you asking for? God has already told us to go out to the nations and this is your opportunity."

It never really felt like the right response, so I prayed through it every time anyway. So, tonight when I read Luke 4:25-27, it hit me that there was a reason I felt the need to pray. God's timing is not always our timing. Jesus was wise enough as a child to start is His ministry, but God had Him wait until He was 30 years old. 

Jesus says this in Luke, "I assure you that there were many widows in Israel in Elijah's time, when the sky was shut for three and a half years and there was a severe famine throughout the land. Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to a widow in Zarephath in the region of Sidon. And there were many in Israel with leprosy in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was cleansed - only Naaman the Syrian."

Similarly, although we are surrounded by people who need Jesus right where we're at, He may be asking us and leading us to bring Jesus to people somewhere else. 

Even the right thing, at the wrong time, is the wrong thing. The right thing, in the wrong place, is the wrong thing. The only way we can know the right time and the right place is through discerning the Lord's guidance in the situation. 

What the Bible tells me about my Ancestors

Usually when I get to a genealogy in the Bible, I skim it over making sure I'm not missing any specific text and don't bother reading all of the names. I don't have enough Biblical knowledge to be able to connect most of them to anyone I've read about elsewhere in the Bible, so I just make sure I don't miss any context clues that might connect someone to a different story and then move on. I'm sure in those times a lot of people were more familiar with the families represented in some genealogies, but I get lost after the twelve tribes.

Today I decided to read through it though! It wasn't easy to skip when my whole reading out of Luke 3 today was the list of Jesus' ancestors, so I decided to read through it and see what names I recognized. Matthew had written a similar list, and there are some differences. It may be that one traces back through Mary or maybe no one really cared to know Joseph's lineage until Jesus showed up. Even with today's technology, I know it would be tough for me to go back more than 4 generations!

Many would actually point to the fact that many women in that day would remarry after their husbands died, and that the differences are due to Joseph's father possibly being in that category.

Regardless, there is a difference, but they both come together in the same place - King David. What got my attention in Luke that isn't taken into account in Matthew is the genealogy before Abraham. I believe that I'm most likely a descendant of Abraham, but if I'm not, I'm definitely a descendant of Noah. There aren't really many other choices since he was the father of the only other men who were on his boat during the flood.

A few names stuck out to me before Noah. Noah's grandfather was Methusaleh - who lived 969 years!!! He was ready to go home to the Lord. It's hard to believe that he didn't die wiser than Solomon. I definitely would have been asking him for advice anytime something came up. He was probably a great hunter/gatherer.

Noah's great-grandfather - Enoch. Enoch and Elijah were the only two people mentioned in the Bible that didn't die, but were instead just taken into Heaven.

I've thought previously about how cool it is that Abraham and Isaac may be my ancestors, but to know that the oldest man who ever lived, and a man that was so loved by God that he was taken into Heaven without dying are my ancestors is pretty special!

The Fruit of a Tree

John the Baptist came and started teaching the crowds about the Lord right before Jesus started His ministry. Some people were getting confused and thinking that John was the Messiah. He was pretty close because they were cousins! Mary actually visited John's mom Elizabeth while they were both pregnant and John jumped in her stomach at the presence of Jesus. At this time, John was attracting very large crowds of people, and they all wanted to get baptized by him, although he lets them know someone greater than he is coming to baptize them with fire and the Holy Spirit.

At one point John calls them a brood of vipers and asks them why they're coming to him. They tell him they want to be baptized, but John is a little leery so he gives them a little warning. In Luke 3, John warns all the people getting baptized that a true repentance leads to a tree that produces fruit.

The sensitivity of some churches today has led to baptisms without instruction. I hope that this is not leading people into a false sense of salvation, because clearly there is more to repentance and salvation than a baptism by water.

We are all trees. All planted by one Father in Heaven. Throughout our lives, we have the opportunity to take in good nutrients, water and sun in order to bear fruit. But, the only nutrients capable of bearing fruit come from the Lord. Those who do not commit themselves to God, have no ability to bear fruit. John tells the men that if they do not bear fruit their tree will be cut down. That means their life will be ended. There is no use in the Kingdom for a tree that does not bear fruit.

John is then asked some questions by individuals wondering what they need to do to produce fruit. The general response, prior to Jesus saying it Himself.... Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and mind, and love your neighbor as yourself.

A Talking Donkey

I've mentioned before how interested I am in the things that are not typically seen. I wonder what is going on around me with the angels and demons. How often attacks are fought off, and how easily I let them in. I wonder if I always have angels protecting me or if I'm alone at times. I wonder if I ask for more angelic presence, if God grants it. 

I think about angels when I'm singing worship songs and imagine them dancing around the throne of God, but I really wish I could see it. 

Then there are times when I end up being late for something because I couldn't find my keys, or something else keeps me from leaving on time, then I see an accident on my route to wherever I'm going and I question whether God had caused me to be late for protection. 

Balaam had a similar experience in Numbers 22 as he was riding his donkey to go see Balak. Balak had requested that Balaam come and curse the Israelites for him so that they would not be able to attack him and his people. God had told Balaam that He would not be cursing the Israelites, but directed him to go see Balak anyway since he had asked persistently. I guess God wanted to remind Balaam that he needed to only tell Balak whatever words He had given to him, so He sends an angel to block Balaam's path. The donkey sees the angel and tries to stop, but Balaam beats his donkey multiple times as he was not able to see the angel. 

At this point, God opens the mouth of the donkey! "What have I done to make you beat me these three times?"

Either Balaam is Dr. Doolittle or there were some details left out of the Bible, because I'm pretty sure I would have needed to start the conversation with questions about how my donkey had learned how to talk. Balaam just jumps right in though with a response, "You have made a fool of me. If I had my sword in hand, I would kill you right now!"

The dialogue continues a little bit, but then God opens Balaam's eyes so that he can see the angel. Balaam suddenly realizes that his donkey isn't crazy and that he should not have been beating it expecting it to act differently.

I think there are probably times when I think everything is going all wrong, when really God is ordaining them to go all right. I just want to have faith that everything that happens to me outside of my control is something that God is either creating or allowing to happen to push me in the direction He wants me to go. 

Creating a Home

One of the toughest parts of relocating to Denver has been our housing situation. Although we didn't have the nicest house, it was nice to have a place of our own where we could disconnect a little bit and relax in the quiet of our old neighborhood.

Now, as we're falling asleep to people talking outside, playing video games on the floor below us, and smoking weed in the room next to us, it's really tough to be content with where we are right now. It's been hard to not desire to go back to where we were. It's also tough to not take money from important parts of our budget, like retirement, savings, and overpaying student loans, in order to get a nicer apartment.

I don't know what God has for us here, and I'm not going to say it's a great house with property to have some animals, although that's what I want. His plan may be different, and we're okay with that. I find a lot of peace in seeing how God clears the road for the Israelites as they start to enter the Promised Land.

The Promised Land is their future home, but it's currently being occupied by other people. God has taken these people from one land and moved them to another, but the place He has in mind for them is already full of cities. Of course, having fortified cities and huge armies isn't really a hard task for God, so in Numbers 20 we start to see how He's going to empty the area so that the Israelites can make a home.

The area around Denver appears as if it's going to be our future home, but there's A LOT of people here! We believe God has called us here and led us here, so seeing how well God emptied the land for His people to live after He led them to the Promised Land gives me hope that He will provide a way for us as well. In current times, I don't expect He'll ask me to pick up a sword or go attack anyone, but I do find hope that when God leads us somewhere, He also creates a way for us to thrive there.

Leaving a Legacy

The families I spent time with in Charleston were some of the tightest knit families I've ever met in my life. I believe a lot of the reason for that is that the pastor and leader of our church showed us a great example of what it looks like to pass the baton to both children and grandchildren.

Ever since I was young I've been attracted to the guys around me who had tight knit families. I can't exactly explain why, but I always wanted to hang out with those guys and their families. I felt safer and more comfortable with them.

A lot of places in Scripture we're taught about fathers passing the baton to their sons. Abraham to Isaac. David to Solomon. And lesser known, but in my reading today, Aaron to Eleazor.

As a father, it seems like God's desire for us is to raise our children in the wisdom and knowledge that He has already blessed us with. To let them follow us and learn from us. To choose to spend time with them instead of apart from them. And, at times, even to value their growth over our own. We need to be selfless with our wives, but also selfless with our children.

In Numbers 20, God tells Aaron and Moses that they will not be allowed to enter the Promised Land, and tells them to go up on a mountain so that Aaron can pass his robe to Eleazor before he dies. At this point, all that is left for Aaron to do in his life is to pass things off to his son. God didn't just allow Aaron to die, then allow Eleazor to step up and take his place, but it was an ordeal that required solitude and time to be spent between the father and his son.

I'm sure Aaron had a lot to talk to Eleazor about before he died on that mountain. I doubt that he just took his robe off and fell to the ground. God arranged a situation where Aaron could tell Eleazor how important it is to follow God in all His commands, how important it is to lead well and to love well, and how proud he was to be his father. I'm sure they shared stories and talked about how good life had been to them both. I'm sure they embraced and kissed and told each other how much they loved each other.

I would think that it was probably a very important moment of Eleazor's life. A moment he probably thought back on pretty often. Probably even a moment that fed into some decisions that he made later in life.

I can think back to moments like that that I've had with my dad, my mom, and my grandparents. What probably seemed like the simplest little moments to them played a huge role in the person I grew up to be. I hope I can be the same to my baby girl!

God is Always Present

I'm seeing a lot of growth come from my obedience in reading and in this blog. The more often I find myself reading and thinking about the Word, the more I find that I'm thinking about God throughout the day, which leads to me communicating with God more throughout the day. Then, the more I communicate with Him, the closer I feel to Him, and the more I feel His presence. The more I feel His presence, the more I trust Him. And the more I trust Him, the more hope I find.

Psalm 55:22 says "Cast your cares on the Lord and He will sustain you; He will never let the righteous be shaken."

It's so powerful to know that God is on my side, and feels so good to know with confidence that He considers me righteous. If I'm righteous, I must be forgiven. If forgiven, then redeemed.

If I choose to live as someone who is redeemed, then my life is no longer about me, but it's about what God wants to do through me.

If I follow God, as He directs me in His ways, then I can trust where I go, He's using me. Although those places may seem less than ideal to the life I would choose to live if my life were without Christ, I can celebrate in them knowing that they are purposeful in my life with Christ.

If I'm not a famous musician, NBA star, or my newest hobby - prospector, it's not a big deal. God didn't choose for me to be on that road. He had a different route He wanted me to be on that has taken me to Golden, CO where I'm soon to be a father, and spend a lot of time behind a desk although every part of me wants to be outside. I know He uses it. My day job is engineer, but my God job is Gospel spreader. I'm just undercover posing as an engineer.

PS - There is gold in these mountains, and I really want to find some.

Land of Milk and Honey

I'm just trusting that this is where God is taking us right now. First, talking us out of Charleston, wasn't easy, similar to getting the Israelites out of Egypt. We had to cross the Great Plains. I admit... it's not quite the Red Sea, but it was definitely an event. And now, we're in the land we felt called to, but we are not yet tasting the milk and honey that I hoped we would find here.

I'm encouraged by the message Joshua and Caleb gave to the Israelites in Numbers 14.

"The land we passed through and explored is exceedingly good. If the Lord is pleased with us, He will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and will give it to us. Only do not rebel against the Lord. And do not be afraid of the people of the land, because we will devour them. Their protection is gone, but the Lord is with us. Do not be afraid of them."

Joshua and Caleb trusted that God was leading them and that God had the power to give them the blessings of the land. Most of the other Israelites didn't believe, and therefore God would never allow them to set foot in the Promised Land.

Although there may be some roadblocks, God has the power to take us through them.

Since Moses and Aaron had been told by God to not enter the land yet, they were camping outside of it and waiting for where God told them to go next. Some of the Israelite men got restless and actually decided they were going to go take on a couple of the groups living in the land without waiting on God. God had been traveling with them in the Ark of the Covenant, but they didn't even bring it with them. Even though God had provided for them all the way through the desert, they still decided to try to rush things without waiting for God to give the OK.

God has a specific time for things and a specific way that He sometimes asks us to do things, and He desires for us to listen and follow Him in that, not because it's the only way He can do the things He wants to do, but because He gets worship out of our obedience.

Obedience is the path to blessing

Bold Like Caleb

In Numbers 13, Caleb and 11 other dudes, including Joshua, are sent to the Promised Land to scope it out and see what lies before them. They find some grapes, which must have been the greatest grapes ever because they get attention for like 4 verses! 

These guys come back and tell Moses and the Israelites that the land is truly flowing with milk and honey, but that it's filled with giants living in fortresses. 

I don't know how anyone else feels when they're standing next to someone that's the size of Lebron James or Dwight Howard, but that person wouldn't really be the first person I'd want to take on in a fight. Not only are the huge, but their cities are well protected with high walls, gates, archers, etc. I'd rather find the tribe of little guys and go after them first and most of the rest of Israel is on the same page as me!

Caleb though... Caleb understands God's power unlike almost everyone else in the assembly. As all these other guys are freaking out about the kind of people they might have to go up against... probably peeing their pants thinking about it, Caleb quiets everyone down and says "We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it."

At this point, everyone in Israel is thinking about these other cities as the Russian in Rocky IV. They're tall, lean, mean, fighting machines. Only Caleb realizes that although they might look small like Rocky, they force behind their punch is greater than anything the giants could ever have on their side. 

Caleb is the man. And I'm thankful for his example in leading against the mold due to having such strong faith in his God. 

Slow Down... Listen

I was hoping the reading today would line up with what's been on my heart for the last couple days, but it didn't work out like that this time. Mark 13 does, in a way, parallel what I want to talk about though. Jesus talks about His second coming and how many people will be led astray before then. We need to be prepared and watch, because we don't know when or the time of day, but we need to be ready when He comes.

I think, just like we need to watch, we need to spend more time listening. So often my day gets so hectic from a world point of view, that any time I spend with God is me talking to Him. I'm asking for things or thanking for things. Maybe I'm even complaining about things. I forget how important it is to listen. How good is a relationship where someone just tells you about themselves all the time, and doesn't even slow down for a second to listen to any feedback. Personally, I run from those kind of relationships. It's too hard to be in that type of situation.

I was at church youth group tonight and a bunch of kids wanted to get up and share experiences they had from a retreat they were on last weekend. The most impacting moments weren't when the students were in worship or sharing about themselves, but it was when they were in a moment of quiet time, when they slowed down and listened to what God had to say to them. God had reminders for them to tell them how loved they were, how beautiful they were, and how He plans to use them. He had encouragement for some and even spoke to some for the first time. 

Even myself, as I attended a prayer night last night, finally remembered to take some time and listen after pouring my heart out to God, and got a little emotional when I clearly heard "I got this". The Bible says that God is the same yesterday, today and forever. Well... I'm thinking that must mean He's been cool for yesterday, today and the future, because  He didn't say "Thou shalt be under my protection and guidance". That would have been cool a few centuries ago. But, He told me He has it. It's under His control. This is His plan. It's not up to me. I don't have to figure it all out. I don't need to know all the solutions. I don't need to carry this burden (Matthew 11:28).

I think about when I've led groups of people on backpacking trips. The leader is expected to provide a safe and clear trail for those behind them. God is our leader, and has your life in His control. If you're following Him, then there's nothing to fear or worry about. Maybe there's an area of mud, but by time you get there it's going to have a plank across it to protect you. Maybe there's some thorns hanging over the trail, but by time you get there they're cut back. Maybe there's a snake, but by time you get there there's nothing to be seen. If we're following God closely, we're going to stay on that plank, within those thorns and away from the snake, but if we start to take our eyes off of the leader and try to do things on our own, we're going to miss the plank, walk through the thorns and come across the snake's new location. 

Cast your burdens on Jesus, and follow closely. He promises to lead us well. 

To the Nations

Mark 13:9-11 says "You must be on your guard. You will be handed over to the local councils and flogged in synagogues. On account of me you will stand before governors and kings as witnesses to them. And the Gospel must first be preached to all nations. Whenever you are arrested and brought to trial, do not worry beforehand about what to say. Just say whatever is given you at the time, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit."

Every time I've read this in the past, my takeaway is that the Holy Spirit is going to be on my tongue during times of trouble if my faith and trust is in the Lord. If I end up getting in trouble, or even if I have a tough speech or presentation to give, I just need to trust that the Holy Spirit is going to give me the words I need to make it through. If I trust as if the words are already there, they always have been!

Today I read it a little differently though. That part still speaks to me the same way, and I think it's an area a lot of people need to learn to put faith into, but the middle verse stuck out to me today.

"And the Gospel must first be preached to all nations."

This is pretty much the great commission in one little sentence, but it's not the sentence that sticks out to me, but where it's written in the context of the chapter.

Jesus wasn't saying, fit the Gospel into your conversation when you're having fun eating dinner with your friends, playing football at the park and going fishing this weekend. That's all great, and we should find opportunities to plug Jesus into conversations whenever possible, but the context is different. It's more like, make sure you bring the name of Jesus up when people are beating you up, throwing rocks at you, making fun of you, calling you crazy, and making a mockery of you. Then expect to be thrown into jail. But even then, remember to bring up the name of Jesus and let the Holy Spirit speak through you!

It's RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE! There's no chance that Jesus is not telling us that preaching the Gospel to all the nations is going to result in some pretty wicked responses. The Gospel isn't something that will necessarily be taken well, and not something people will necessarily accept. But, regardless, the Holy Spirit is prepared to take us through those moments. There's no promise that it will be safe - only a promise that Jesus name will be made known.

The biggest thing I always want to know in my work, when playing sports, in my hobbies, or when leading people is what do I need to do to succeed? What's my next step? What is the end goal and what actions do I need to take right now to get there?

Well... I think these 3 verses tell us pretty clearly that the end goal is for the Gospel to be preached to all the nations and the step we need to take right now is to make the name of Jesus known wherever we are. Even if dropping the name of Jesus could potentially result in something negative - it's still the direction He's asking us to go. He doesn't just want us to do it, but promises to use it for His glory!

What is the Greatest Commandment?

In Mark 12:29, Jesus responds to a man who has just asked what the most important commandment is by saying "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this, Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these."

I think the fact that no person has ever been able to keep these two commandments is proof that God is real, because it's definitely proof that the devil is real. How hard can it be to score a 100% on a two problem test?

Yet, every time I put my own desires before God's desires, I get the first one wrong. Every time I use my gifts for selfish gain, I get it wrong again.

Every time I lie, or as I like to call it, "a little fib" to get something I want, I get #2 wrong. Every time I walk passed someone in need, wrong again. Every time my gain is more important than there's... wrong again.

Some really amazing, really devoted, really disciplined people have been able to get really close to living this out perfectly, but they didn't. It's impossible.

We can strive for it as much as we want. We can make it our full time job to seek after perfecting it, but we would still fall short. That's the blessing of Jesus though. Even when we fall short, He's available to stretch out His hand and pull us to the finish line. He fills the gap for us. He sees us coming up short and jumps into our mess in order to help us get to the Promised Land. We really just need to grab His hand - yet some people don't. Some people choose to live as if His hand isn't there for them. Some people choose to see His hand but decide they don't want to bridge the gap, or that they can do it on their own. They can't. I can't. You can't. Tom Brady can't. Michael Jordan can't. Billy Graham can't. Mother Theresa couldn't. Really great people... still couldn't do it.

All I want to say is TAKE HIS HAND.

The Fig Tree

In Mark 11, Jesus goes up to a fig tree hoping to find something to eat, but figs are not in season so he isn't able to find any but ends up cursing the tree. After a little time passes the disciples and Jesus go back passed the tree and see that it has withered. They're amazed and point it out to Jesus.

At this, Jesus responds and tells them "if anyone says to this mountain, 'Go throw yourself into the sea,' and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them. Therefore, I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours."

I just really want to have this strong of belief in the power of Christ. With Jesus, money isn't an issue, relationships aren't an issue, physics is not an issue... it's so hard to do things on our own. I just want to ask for it in confidence, knowing that it's received.

Instilling Blind Faith

We found out last week that we're going to be having a baby girl! I'm starting to look at things and think about things differently already. One thing my wife pointed out to me earlier is that I'm really going to need to pay close attention to what I'm listening to on the radio.

There's almost a little culture shock involved with moving out here from the Bible Belt. In Charleston, most people knew how to look like Christians, and for the most part wanted people to see that side of them when in public. Denver is different, and is taking me back to what Wisconsin was like growing up.

We're going to be going to a park with a bunch of my coworkers on Sunday to "play volleyball". I was excited to play volleyball, but I'm starting to grow concerned that playing volleyball may just be an excuse to get together at the park and get wasted. A sign up sheet for what to bring made its way around and after 4 people decided to bring different kids of beer I decided to bring water. Well... turns out Coor's is close enough to water for most everyone but me. In Charleston the reaction would have probably involved some thoughts about how their grandma had told them to be like that at one point in time, but they had chosen a different path, so in the end it would end up being a very respectful response due to their understanding. Here, the response was more to make fun of the guy bringing water. Totally not a big deal to a 30 year old who has been getting made fun of for 15 years for wanting to be the guy not drinking alcohol, but definitely a reminder of the type of peer pressure that my daughter is going to have to go through at some point.

So, I think having that experience today really helped me read about Bartimaeus in Mark 10 through a different lens.

Bartimaeus was a blind man who happened to be sitting along the road to a city as Jesus and the disciples came through. He overheard someone say that it was Jesus and he began shouting, ", Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!"

The next verse says, "Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet..."

Bartimaeus is already in a very vulnerable position by not being able to see. I certainly wouldn't want to give anyone any reason to see what they could get away with doing to me if I was blind. I wouldn't want to stick out as different. I definitely wouldn't want to upset a crowd of people.

Bartimaeus didn't care though! "...but he shouted all the more, 'Son of David, have mercy on me!"

Bartimaeus was sold out for Jesus. He knew Jesus was His path. He knew Jesus was the answer. He knew that Jesus was Lord. He wasn't going to hold back what he believed in because some people may have been offended by it. He wasn't going to hide his beliefs because some people didn't understand them. He was going to stand on the mountain and yell it out, because he wanted people to see how awesome his Lord was!

Jesus ends up stopping and telling the disciples to get the man. The man comes to Jesus and after being asked what he wants, he tells Jesus that he wants to see. Immediately, Jesus tells him his faith has healed him and his sight is restored.

I pray that as my daughter grows up and her peers or even people older than her start to try to lead her down paths of destruction, that she'll be wise enough to go harder for God. To yell Jesus louder. To make a scene for her King. Not to back down. Not to hide. Not to give in. We're living for the KING. Everyone else... temporary satisfaction.

Giving Everything to the Poor

As I was going into college I really didn't want to be one of those kids that went to college with no idea what I wanted to do with my life. I was trying so hard to figure it out. I finally came up with the idea to go to school for Communication with hopes to end up in ministry someday. 

That decision didn't come easily though! I had good enough grades and had scored high enough on my ACT that I could have gone to almost any school for almost anything. It was definitely a blessing, but made it hard at the same time. I had heart that wanted to share the Gospel, but a mind that could get me to a place where I could financially support others who could share the Gospel. My final decision was based out of Mark 10 where a man comes up to Jesus and asks what he needed to do to inherit eternal life. Jesus tells him a few of the ten commandments which the man says he's kept from his youth, but then Jesus drops the bomb! "Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in Heaven. Then, come follow me."

The man was very wealthy, so went away sad. The verse leads you to believe that the man was not willing to give up his possessions to follow Jesus. 

I was young. I didn't know myself very well. I was scared that if I made enough money to send others that I'd choose to use it on myself instead. I was scared that I would also choose money and possessions instead of the Man who I was basing my decisions around.

It turns out that God made some things very clear to me while I was in Communication's school and I learned that He had other plans for me. I learned a lot about myself and knew that Jesus was always going to come before those things in my life if I wanted Him to. 

First things first though! Debt is a killer.

The Same Mission

In Mark 9 the disciples approach Jesus and tattle on a man that was performing miracles in Jesus' name. He was not one of Jesus' disciples, so they expect Him to be a little upset about it, but instead He tells them it's not a big deal.

If we look at the Church today, we see a lot of different flocks of sheep being led in different ways by different dudes, but in the end, every Bible-centered church should have very close to the same mission. So whether you go to the Church of Christ, the Church on the Hill, or the Church of the Saint, we are all working together to bring glory to our Father. We may be under different leadership and we may be taught in different ways, but if the final product is leading people into a relationship with Christ... it doesn't matter what methods or teachings got the person there.

A couple years ago I went to dinner with a friend of mine who had almost gone into the priesthood and we started discussing the differences between my beliefs and his. Specifically, the Eucharist, and whether or not it truly transforms into Christ body when taken in communion. The Eucharist to him is a very important part of his worship because he believes that the connection he has with Christ is very great during that time because of the literal transformation of the elements as they are taken. It's important to me as well, but because I don't believe that the elements transform, some people of the Catholic faith would consider me to not be close to Christ because I am not taking Him into my body through the elements.

We talked a little more and I decided to see if we could agree on Jesus' greatest commandments and expectations for our ministry. We agreed that loving God with all we have and loving our neighbors as ourselves were important teachings, and also that our purpose was to spread the love and news of Christ to all people.

At the end of the day our beliefs on certain elements of the Christian faith may be very different, but we fight for the same cause. We share the same common goal. Someone that learns to love and forgive like Christ and gives their life to Him is accepted by Him whether they are taught by either one of us. As long as Christ and the power of the cross are taught in a Biblical way, He's going to be in the hearts and conversations of the people behind that Kingdom work.