May God enable others to see my weakness

This may sound strange. But hope others see me as weak. Not in a pitiful sense, but in the sense that what ever strength is seen in me is credited to Christ, and not to me. If my words are strong, it is because Christ is strong. If my actions are strong, it is because Christ is strong. This gives God the glory.

Also I don't want to be seen as strong, because it gives way for people believing that if they just do this, or have this much quiet time, or read this much, that that is what it takes to live the Christian walk. No, it is by grace and grace alone. By seeking the face of Christ. By falling in love with Christ and wanting to know Him. The sick were healed when they came to Christ. We are sanctified when we come to Christ.

So I hope others see me as weak, but also see the power of Christ in me and know that He is faithful, strong, and loving.

"For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled upright, and godly lives in this present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works." --Titus 2:11-14

"Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest in me." -- 2 Corinthians 12:9

"How beautiful are the feet of those who preach good news!"

I thought about titling this: Why Calvinists evangelize?

Psalm 33:4-9
4 For the word of the Lord is upright,
and all his work is done in faithfulness.
5 He loves righteousness and justice;
the earth is full of the steadfast love of the Lord.
6 By the word of the Lord the heavens were made,
and by the breath of his mouth all their host.
7 He gathers the waters of the sea as a heap;
he puts the deeps in storehouses.
8 Let all the earth fear the Lord;
let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him!
9 For he spoke, and it came to be;
he commanded, and it stood firm.

2 Peter 3:5
For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God,

Hebrews 11:3
By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible.

Here is what is significant. God the heavens and earth with His spoken word. God did this for a reason. The artist, the God who could have created the universe by any means, chose purposely and deliberately to use the spoken word. And even though the world sees this as foolish, by faith we know this to be true, because the word of the Lord is upright. God made this choice to create the worlds by His word, because He was going to use the same means to create something more significant and more difficult with the spoken word – new life. It is the foolishness of the preaching of the word that God uses to bring a dead man’s soul to life. And this word, this gospel, has power. This is why we preach the Gospel. Because the word of the Lord has power and will not return to Him void. When God says, “Let there be light”. There is light.

There is another significance to this. Christ is the Word. And just as all created things were made through him and are sustained by Him. So it is the same with this new life.

Romans 10:14-17
14 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? 15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” 16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” 17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

1 Corinthians 1:21
For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.

Preaching with people, not at people

Jesus spoke the truth. He confronted sin. He would not compromise. He turned over tables in the temple. He spoke against the Pharisees. He confronted men and took action even though it made others angry. I think a lot of us can identify with Jesus in these things. We to want to speak out against sin and injustice. But are we identifying with Jesus?

"Now it happened, as He was dining in Levi's house, that many tax collectors and sinners also sat together with Jesus and His disciples; for there were many, and they followed Him."
-Mark 2:15

You read what he taught and He did not say easy things. He spoke the truth. But Jesus didn't preach at people, He preached with people. Jesus spoke the truth with tax collectors and sinners. Even when it came to the Pharisees you see him coming to them and preaching with them, confronting them where they are at. Cutting to the heart of issues. Healing on the Sabboth, turning over tables, allowing them to ask him questions. Jesus engaged people.

My week . . . or so

This week has been hard. I feel like a dork. My emotions have been so disheveled and confusing. And my response to it has a desperation. I am feeling stuff and having fears that I know are wrong. I am ok and I know I am ok, because I have already given the situation to the Lord and determined to walk in integrity. And I will do my best to be bold and step up, however the situation turns out. But my emotions are a mess. A lot of fear and anxiety and foolishness that I know is foolishness, but my emotions aren't cooperating. And I am not impressed with my response. In fact I am frustrated by how I am responding. I hate it. I am mad at myself. I feel like a failure because I am not stronger. I feel like I am messing everything up because I am not stronger.

Why am I saying this. Well, read the Psalms. Our hope cannot be in ourselves. I have to hope in God. I wish I could walk this Christian walk as a strong man. But I am not. It is only by His grace. I have no good thing apart from Him. I don't trust myself, but I do trust Him. His work of redemption works here and now in my real life, in my real messed upness. And some how out of all this mess and the wreck that I am, He is my refuge and He will vindicate me and make me trustworthy. Not for my glory, but for His.

One more time - Disciple

Wrestling with God

Sometimes hearing the Lord, comes from wrestling with the Lord as Jacob did. We know that He is our only hope. He alone has the answer. And so we wrestle with God, knowing we have no other place to go, until He gives us His blessing. We don't wrestle because it weakens God, it weakens us. We wrestle because we have faith in who He is.

Tenth Avenue North - Love is Here

The One

Skillet - Whispers In The Dark

What God has told me.

I will not loose what I have committed to the LORD.

He will make a way where there seems to be no way.

Walk in integrity, wait patiently for the LORD.

. . . And He will uphold me in these things, because I can't.

To be torn apart, will we follow? . . .

“Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” – Philippians 2:5-11

Several years ago, while a group of people were praying for me, I was given two pictures by them. One was of a Lion in the desert, content under the shade of a tree. The other was me walking through thorns, being torn apart and bleeding, but behind me where the blood was flowers began to bloom. I liked the first picture, I don’t know that I could say I liked the second one. It scared me. At the time I was going through a difficult time, and didn’t see how I could handle this. But I am learning that if I am to truly minister in this world where sin has reeked so much havoc, the only way I can do that is to go through it, just as Christ did. Christ said that we our to deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow him. This means that just as He humbled himself and came to a fallen broken earth and reached out to the hurting and despised, the drunk and harlots, and the sinners. He touched the lepers, the sick, and smelly beggars. He was born in a manger. He suffered and died. He took our sin upon himself. And we are to be like Christ.

Here is the paradox the picture of suffering and the picture of the strength and contentment of the Lion are the same. You can’t have one without the other. The slain Lamb is the Lion. And so we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing the strength, the joy, and the power of the Kingdom and the King that we serve.

Lecrae Beyond Belief

Trust the Lord to provide what we need in a spouse

"Young lions suffer want and hunger; but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing."

It can be hard to choose to be a godly man or women and watch as other men and women are finding spouses and you have nothing. And you wonder what is wrong with you and where are the promises of God and why am I not married? Why is this person falling for this person and not for me? Why am I holding on to what is good? Is it for nothing? I was reading Psalm 37 and it says "Better is the little that the righteous has than the abundance of many wicked." I realized that living as a godly man or woman does not mean I will become rich and get married. In fact, I may have very little, but it is better. My living for righteousness is not for others, it is for my Beloved. It is because I enjoy and delight in my God. Here is the promise: that as we live for him, we may go unnoticed by the world, but we won't go unnoticed by a God who pursues us and wants the best for us and loves us and delights in us. And so we do not fret at things that fade, but instead we trust the words of a good Shepherd:

"Trust in the LORD, and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.
Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.
Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him, and he will act.
He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday.
Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him, fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, "

I have my fears. I find it easy to hold on to what I think I need or want. I can believe this woman is the woman I should marry and I can try to hold on hard, but I am often wrong. Beloved, we must continue to trust Him, who knows us and our needs, more than we know ourselves. When He says, "No" it is because He knows us and loves us. He is a good Father who will not give us a stone when we ask for bread. He knows what we need. We can trust Him with our hearts.

"I sought the LORD, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears.
Those who look to him are radiant and their faces shall never be shamed."

"Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us."

Wait on your knees for the Lord for a husband

I wrote earlier about a man finding a wife on his knees. A woman must wait to give her heart to her husband on her knees as well. I think with all the false ideas it is easy to be swept away by a man who is not a man who will be a safe place for your heart. It is so easy to buy the false claim that charm and beauty will satisfy the deepest longings of our heart.

I think there are men who are emotional and run after a woman with romanticized gestures winning a woman's heart through appearances that fade. I think there are other men who wait on the Lord, refusing to capture a woman's heart through romanticized gestures, but instead seeking to build her up through words and actions that don't fade away. These men are sometimes more romantic, but choose not to win a woman by those means, because they want to protect the women around them to be a safe place. They also want to learn to have healthy relationships with other women and still remain faithful to his wife, even while he is single.

Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain. Find a man who delights in the Lord.

A few basic false assumptions about origins

• The Evolution (Darwinian) Theory of the origin of man based on science. In reality it is based on inference. It is a more excepted inference, but only an inference.
  
• Time is constant everywhere at all times. It is probably was and maybe is not.
  
• Environmental conditions have been the same on Earth throughout time. Evidence shows that something significant possibly has changed. (And I am not talking about ice ages, etc.)
• Genesis 1 and 2 contradict each other. This is a misconception of scope. Genesis 2 is a description of Eden, a special garden made for man on the 6th day. (There is always a People, Place, and King). A careful reading will show that there are no contradictions.
  
• Genesis 1 contradicts science, for me it challenges my understanding of science. I find it quite fascinating to read.
  
• It takes a long period of time for certain geologic features to occur, this depends on the conditions.The Bible records geologic events that indicate that significant changes could have occurred.
• God has no place in science, God only has no place in science if we can prove He has no place in science. If a God exist, that God will have a significant impact on nature and must be considered objectively. So the assumption that there is no God rules out a significant possibility. This does not mean we do not do science with integrity, but we also cannot interpret the facts or make inferences from the bases on the idea that there is no God, if that is not the only interpretation. We must allow for both possibilities in our inferences. What this means as for as the integrity of science is that we need to be honest that there are some things that we don't know and that what is being taught is only educated guesses or inferences based on the data that we have at this time.
  

The Laws of Science

We have a God who over and over again proves that science obeys Him and not the other way around. And yet we have a hard time believing this. Often He uses science, but also often the Bible records Him doing miracles that contradict the laws of science.

Your hands that are holding me

Trying to figure out my mess, my broken heart, my sin

When I struggle or my heart is broken or I've failed or I don't feel anything at all, I find myself wanting to figure it all out. I rush to and fro trying to understand the situation, my heart, how to get better. I don't sleep at night and don't get things done in the day, because my mind is trying to wrap around the events and feelings. I am wanting to understand who I am and why.

As God's love washes over me, I am learning that I don't have to figure it all out. I don't have to run to and fro. There is only one place I need to run. And that is into the arms of Jesus. When I come to Him, He doesn't always give me the answers I was searching for or I thought I needed, or make it so that I have it all figured out. Instead of listening to us and fixing it, He loves us. . . He holds me in His arms and gives me Himself. I don't think the deep longings of our heart is to have everything fixed, I think the deep longing of our hearts are by a man who has given everything for us. It is a person, not an understanding, that meets our needs.

God cares for us. He says that He knows our needs. And we can trust Him. We are more valuable than lilies and sparrows.

". . . casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you."

God bless the broken heart

Portraying Christ in our lives

Bruce Marchiano, the man who played Jesus in the Matthew movie, was speaking this Sunday morning. He said that when he got chosen to play the role of Jesus, he was overwhelmed. He felt the burden of representing Jesus in this film. And he cried out to God desperately asking God to make him like Jesus so that, who Christ is would come forth in the film.

He also talked about one scene where they used a real beggar. This man could be smelt before he even got close. Bruce had a hard time thinking about being touched by this man. But as the scene began, he was overwhelmed and kissed the man's hands. And when the scene ended, he grabbed the man in his arms and just began to weep.

We are ambassadors on behalf of God. We represent Jesus, not in a film but in something greater, the real world. This should cause us to desperately cry out to God and ask Him to make us like Jesus, so that Christ might come forth in our lives.

Happy Resurrection

Today, it has really bothered me when people say "Happy Easter". This is the first year I think I have really felt this way. And its not because I think its evil to say "Happy Easter". It is that this year I want to hear about the power of the resurrection, and even though saying "Happy Easter" has become synonymous with many to meaning celebrating the resurrection. This year I was longing to hear it proclaimed straight forward. I wanted to hear the power behind it. And I was longing to hear, "Happy Resurrection Day". I think that's cool, because I want to hunger to hear about the Resurrection. Anyways, Happy Resurrection Day :)

The cost of loving others

When Christ said that there is not greater love than one who lays down his life for another and commanded us to love as He has loved us. He meant it. Loving others will cost us our life. We must lay it down to love.

The sun stove

Love

Sometimes doing the noble thing is the the thing that will break your heart the most. But I believe that love is worth a broken heart.

"a man who will bring out who she is not just take her", part 4

Men, we must be men who pursue our wives, not in the passions of our desire or in the arena of social agendas or church events or relationships, but instead on our knees in prayer, and in the word and with accountability with other men. As we develop relationships with our sisters, our intentions should be to build them up and encourage them as brothers. Its ok to get to know a woman, I think we can be so concerned about our motivations that we create an unhealthy wall between us and our sisters, but its not ok to do so in a way that takes her. As a brother you should seek her best, to learn how to encourage her in the Lord. This means realizing that in your relationship with a woman that she needs a brother, first. I think when we are attracted to a woman; we can make getting to know her a means to find out if she is the one, instead of honestly just trying to get to know her. When in reality she doesn’t need to fit our concept of what we want her to be, she is the Lord’s and serves him and not us. And so as we get to know our sisters, we need to encourage them in what God is doing in their lives, not try to figure out how they fit our own plan. There may be times that you find your self desiring to pursue a woman, but because you are seeking a wife on your knees and with accountability from other men, you know that pursuing her is not what is best for her. And as a brother you have to deny your desires and continue to encourage her in what God is doing in her life. Love is often laying down your own desires for another. If we are to pursue marriage, God will show us this on our knees, not in us trying to figure it out in the confusion and messiness of our feelings and social agendas. In our interactions with other women we need to allow them to be who God is making them to be. I don’t want a woman to feel like she has to jump through the hoops of my agenda in order to be beautiful. And I don’t want her to feel like she has to compare herself to other women (Which is why I want to learn to treat all my sisters well and equally beautiful). God has made her beautiful and I want to encourage that beauty.

Men, when you are a man that pursues a woman on your knees and in the word and with accountability, it allows the women to feel safe, because they know that your relationships with them are for the purpose of encouraging them and building them up because they are beautiful, not to determine whether they are beautiful. They also know that they can count on you as a brother, because you are willing to lay down your desires for them, even when it hurts. And they know that in your pursuit of a wife, your not holding up a standard that they have to live up to, but are waiting on the Lord for His council on who to pursue. And they know that the determination of whether you are pursuing them as a wife is not because they don’t measure up and it is not dependent on some standard that they must live up to, but because you are a man on your knees, seeking God’s will with integrity from a sincere and solid desire to hear the Lord. So instead of following your passions, you stand in integrity and love with the heart of God.

I know some amazing women. And I know for myself that as I pursue a wife this way, I can honestly say that in my flesh I might pursue them and the reason I am not pursuing them is not because they are not worthy or physically beautiful, but because I must follow the Lord. And it would break my heart if they felt like they were not worthy or beautiful, because that is so far from the truth. And I hope that as I walk in the solid foundation of seeking a wife on my knees, that that security and strength will encourage my sisters in the Lord. I believe that as men stand in integrity of who God is, women will feel beautiful and cherished. There will still be hurt and messy relationships because we live in a sinful world, but the more we stand as men the more we can point to the One who provides security in midst of this messed up world and emotions.

For part 1: "a man who will bring out who she is not just take her", part 1
For part 2: "a man who will bring out who she is not just take her", part 2
For part 3: "a man who will bring out who she is not just take her", part 3
For part 4: "a man who will bring out who she is not just take her", part 4
For part 5: "a man who will bring out who she is not just take her", part 5

"a man who will bring out who she is not just take her", part 3

I believe that women need the men to be strong godly brothers, who are a part of their lives. But let me be clear, this does not mean that we chase girls or use this as an excuse to pursue a girl that we like under the disguise of being “a brother”. A man who pursues a relationship with a women to just take her is not a brother. To those guys who would do this, let me say this straight out – you are a jerk, and God is not at all amused by this kind of behavior. And I hope the men around you won’t be either. Also I want to say to the men around me. I don’t think I am perfect and I hope that if you see me do this you will come around me and tell me that I am a jerk and help me to get back on track.

Even when, as men, our intentions are noble, we still have to keep in mind that there are boundary lines that we do not need to cross. Showing a woman that she is cherished means protecting her. You cannot make her feel beautiful and non-protected at the same time. And so in the way that we relate to her, we must include protecting her heart and not crossing those boundaries. As we become men of integrity, not just in our relationship with them, but also in life, women feel beautiful. Let me say this again, when men are the kind of men who stand on God’s word, women feel beautiful and secure. So men, if you want women to know that they are beautiful, become men who are noble, grounded in God’s word, and live a life of integrity. Become men who are safe, who able to protect the women around them. Become men, with whom they know will not follow the passions of their heart, but are seeking to stand on the heart of God and are therefore worthy protectors.

For part 1: "a man who will bring out who she is not just take her", part 1
For part 2: "a man who will bring out who she is not just take her", part 2
For part 3: "a man who will bring out who she is not just take her", part 3
For part 4: "a man who will bring out who she is not just take her", part 4
For part 5: "a man who will bring out who she is not just take her", part 5

"a man who will bring out who she is not just take her", part 2

I remember talking with one of my sisters while she was going through a hard time. She wanted to know that she was beautiful. She wanted to know that she was lovely and that she was loved. Talking with her and hearing the stuff she was going through tore my heart, because I knew she was beautiful and loved. If you get a chance to listen to her talk about her fond memories about her brothers, they are stories about how her brothers protected her and watched over her. Unfortunately, because of a broken home, those times were not as often as they should have been. But those times with her brothers were the deep desires of her heart.

God has been teaching me that women need good men in the church to step up and be fathers and brothers to them to be able to fill some of those heart needs. They need men who are safe and who will honor and cherish them as daughters and sisters in the Lord. They need real fathers and brothers who will become involved with their lives and walk along side them and show them that they are beautiful and lovely and loved.

Look at: Biblical womanhood video

Also look at: On being found beautiful

And: Biblical womanhood video

For part 1: "a man who will bring out who she is not just take her", part 1
For part 2: "a man who will bring out who she is not just take her", part 2
For part 3: "a man who will bring out who she is not just take her", part 3
For part 4: "a man who will bring out who she is not just take her", part 4
For part 5: "a man who will bring out who she is not just take her", part 5

Sleeping around and having had an abortion

God has been really challenging me lately. Over the past year or so He has been teaching me what it means to love someone. One of the things I've been wrestling with is how I would respond if the woman God would have me marry had a history of sleeping around and had had an abortion. Two very difficult things to come to grips with. It would be hard.

But I know this, I'd want her to feel safe and loved. I'd want her to feel pure and cherished. I'd want her to feel secure in my love and that she could trust me with her heart.

I'd want a woman to know this not just in a marriage but also as a brother. I know with my real sisters I want this. And I want my sisters in the Lord to know that they are deeply loved.

I am glad that God has put this on my heart. And has had me work through this, cause it has taught me more about the Gospel. God did not pursue a virgin, but a harlot, which is what I am without his grace. I murdered His Son. And yet God loves me and has covered my sin. This is the Gospel. This is the Love Story. I want to know this love and I want to love others with this kind of love.

The purpose of romance is to make a woman feel safe and secure.

If you use romance to impress a woman, you have missed the point. You do not know what romance is. The purpose of romance is to make her feel safe and secure. In order to be romantic, you have to be that kind of man.