I felt like I faced one giant after another, and I knew God was right there telling me, "It's okay, I've got this." Sometimes listening is more beneficial than hearing our own noise... In keeping with that thought, I included the article below. Regardless of the outcome, I am thankful God is there for me...
Thank God for His Continued Presence and Power in Your Life
When we come to Christ, it is not the end but the beginning of a whole new life! He is with us, and He wants to help us follow Him and His Word.
In ourselves we do not have the strength that we need to live the way God wants us to live. But when we turn to Him, we discover that “it is God who works in [us] to will and to act according to his good purpose” (Philippians 2:13, NIV). Jesus promised His disciples, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:18, 20, NIV).
In many countries a special day is set aside each year for thanksgiving. But for the Christian every day can be a day of thanksgiving, as we are “always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Ephesians 5:20, NIV).
Do you know the joy of a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ? If you’ll turn to God, He can take away your bitterness and give you the spirit of true thankfulness.
Have you ever been caught up in a situation where the scene played out employing thoughts and actions children would employ? You know what I'm talking about. I found myself in that mind set this afternoon at work.
I got into work and found myself in a paperwork war zone. White sheets of awfulness with words all over them had taken over my workspace. After taming the savage papers and corralling them into their respective sorting bins, I figured I would take my late morning stretch around the office, but I soon found myself putting out one fire after another for the rest of the day. My counterpart who is usually there to split the workload with me abandoned ship early in the day so she could do some work out of the office. I immediately found myself frustrated and indifferent with how the day was unfolding. On one hand I was pretty jealous that my coworker left the office on her own accord, but I also felt how petty my jealousy and frustration was. The administrative work I was knocking out wasn't exactly challenging. I remembered a post I saw yesterday which embodied the exact issue I faced today;
The Daily Bible Verse - theDailyBibleVerse.org
1 Samuel 16:11 (NIV) - So he asked Jesse, “Are these all the sons you have?” “There is still the youngest,” Jesse answered. “He is tending the sheep.” Samuel said, “Send for him; we will not sit down until he arrives.”
What would have run through the mind of the young shepherd boy David when he heard that the prophet Samuel wanted to see him? As David is brought to the prophet, Samuel takes a flask of oil and anoints David in front of his brothers, and David experiences God’s Spirit in a unique way from that moment forward. Don’t let the feeling of being out in the sheep pastures discourage you; just be faithful and trust that God knows where you are and that He has an appointed time to call you forward.
Back in 2010 I was preparing to host a small symposium. I found myself with very limited help, and with much work to be done. The symposium went very well, and as I stood in the meeting hall stacking chairs, my very experienced and seasoned boss strolled in. He looked around for a little bit and then came over and stood within feet of me. He looked at me and made some small talk, which he rarely ever did. It was on the same caliber of making small talk with General George Washington if he were to roll by while taking a random stroll around camp. He stopped for a second and said, "You will have your moment in the sun. I want everyone to know the effort you put in around here." True to his word they presented me with a very coveted award about a month later. The part that made the hard work and effort worthwhile were all the moments I kept my mouth closed and just worked.
Patience and humility are not common human traits, however, they are very common if you place your time, effort, meditation, and hard work with God. Your time will come before you know it, but for now make the most out of the journey.
Summer weather is giving way to Fall in the form of cool mornings and falling leaves. Some of the smaller trees have already kicked their leaves off early like a selfish kid on a jungle gym. The day started off in church. I knew it was going to be a good day after I watched our Pastor share a situation he has been dealing with over the last few days. He was blessed by The Lord and made a Grandfather this weekend, however, the his new grandson came out lifeless due to a complication during birth. I watched him fight through tears and emotions the size of mountains in order to share this story. His grandson was resuscitated and was still in the NICU. The pastor cut the service short after a very short message. Many people think of Pastors as these individuals who are rock solid and live uncomplicated lives because they are preaching the word of God. This is why I thought it was humbling today to hear the pastor share the words of God from the perspective of a loving grandfather blessed with a miracle.
The Afternoon...
We finished out our weekend with one last large barbecue. There was a meeting of coworkers, families and friends to officially meet for nothing. Yup, that is right! We usually don't have a reason to hang out other than getting that inkling that too much time has passed without a meeting of the minds.
I would like to say we shared thrilling words on intellectual topics and pressing issues in the world, however, that would be completely false. Sometimes it's not really the conversation that matters between people. The point is to merely say, "I cared enough about us to make the effort to be here." So there we were, 7 guys standing in a circle laughing over life. Funny how that happens when groups of men get together. Give it enough time and we naturally form in small circles talking about whatever will spur on a conversation with the other circle participants. Our time was fleeting though, and One by one we eventually faded away and headed home.
I thought tonight of how things would be different if our group never met up outside of work. What if we never spoke about our kids, our trials and victories, and the road ahead of us? What if all we did was exchange the typical "American", and often empty question of "How are you?" as we passed each other in the hall? I'm thankful for these opportunities to gain a different view of those around me. Even though I may not maintain these relationships forever, who knows how boring my life might have been without them? The highlights of my day...
Finding myself standing in a circle
Thankful that God gives me different perspectives on life
Sometimes it is hard to find calm in our lives while this crazy world surrounds us. Today illustrated this picture for me, and also showed me how easily our emotions make choices for us. This is a very short post, but I feel pretty strongly about the message. I had a situation to deal with today where the opportunity presented itself to take the low road. While I contemplated possible courses of action, all I thought of was to cause the most pain and inflict the most personal damage I possibly could with my words and actions. Horrible thoughts, I know! I am not a perfect Christian, and I bet no one else in the world is either. I took a little bit of time and let cool heads prevail. I am an ignorant individual, which is why I look to God for direction with situations like this. For maintaining restraint I was blessed with an apology and a calm end to my day. Today's lesson...
1. Getting a pound of flesh comes at too hgh a cost. Forgiveness is always free...
I love small changes in life that liven things up a bit. Although that may not be the best for everybody, I think it is good for me. One of the most significant changes is having to work hand in hand with some people I was not a big fan of in the past. This current assignment I am on has tested me in ways I couldn't have foreseen. A good example of all this; Mom and Dad tell you that you should try a new food because you might like it, and we all told our parents "no" at one time or another.
One of the hardest things as an adult is to admit there are points in life to improve upon, learn, or develop from. I am having to invest my time in people whom I used to think were a waste of skin. I won't hesitate to admit I got this one wrong in the past. God pushes all of us to be our best, no matter what that might look like. A journey is always worth the trip regardless of the outcome if God is the one guiding you along the path.
“Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on; you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make any sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of - throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were being made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself.”
When I kick this week off I know it will be crazy awesome! I am going to make incredible things happen because I deserve the world! Okay, I'm not that chipper on a Monday. From time to time I even get a case of the "Mondays". My coworkers who carpool with me typically expect the same thing out of me on the way to and from work, dead asleep in the back seat. Why shouldn't I strive for such an incredible beginning to my day?
An article I read yesterday addressed a growing trend in the United States, prosperity theology. I want to be positive and be the best I can be, however, I want to become that person because I followed God through the good and the bad. Prosperity theology is basically a motivational and self help form of Christianity. As if the world didn't have a skewed view of Chrisitians already with pastors claiming to predict the end of the world, and churches using their twisted interptation of faith and scripture to protest at the funerals of our fallen military heroes.
Expecting that God will take you through green pastures and fields of lollipops and unicorns the rest of your life is absurd. On the other foot we have the American dream mixed into the doctrine of prosperity theology. The American dream didn't involve owning the latest luxury car, and it sure as heck didn't require our dreams of having to live in a suburbia mini-mansion. Our dreams once encompassed ideals like free will, raising children ourselves in a stable society to nurture the future generations. The dream held beautiful landscapes and time enjoying the sunset which everyone toiled through the day to enjoy. Life brings the good, the bad and the ugly on a regular basis. I tend to lean on the grace God has given me to make it through, as opposed to praying for only good to happen in my life. It took a while to embrace the harsh ascent of the mountains in order to appreciate the view on the other side. Today's highlight, the article I read... It's a good read whether you are Christian or not.
Dr. Mohler- President of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
The evangelical world, joined by no shortage of secular observers, has been abuzz about the latest soundbite of note from the Pastors Osteen — this time offered by Victoria Osteen as her husband Joel beamed in the background. It is a hard video to watch.
In her message, Victoria Osteen tells their massive congregation to realize that their devotion to God is not really about God, but about themselves. “I just want to encourage every one of us to realize when we obey God, we’re not doing it for God–I mean, that’s one way to look at it–we’re doing it for ourselves, because God takes pleasure when we are happy. . . . That’s the thing that gives Him the greatest joy. . . .”
She continued: “So, I want you to know this morning — Just do good for your own self. Do good because God wants you to be happy. . . . When you come to church, when you worship him, you’re not doing it for God really. You’re doing it for yourself, because that’s what makes God happy. Amen?”
As you might predict, the congregation responded with a loud “Amen.”
America deserves the Osteens. The consumer culture, the cult of the therapeutic, the marketing impulse, and the sheer superficiality of American cultural Christianity probably made the Osteens inevitable. The Osteens are phenomenally successful because they are the exaggerated fulfillment of the self-help movement and the cult of celebrity rolled into one massive mega-church media empire. And, to cap it all off, they give Americans what Americans crave — reassurance delivered with a smile.
Judged in theological terms, the Osteen message is the latest and slickest version of Prosperity Theology. That American heresy has now spread throughout much of the world, but it began in the context of American Pentecostalism in the early twentieth century. Prosperity theology, promising that God rewards faith with health and wealth, first appealed to those described as “the dispossessed” — the very poor. Now, its updated version appeals to the aspirational class of the suburbs. Whereas the early devotees of Prosperity Theology prayed for a roof over their heads that did not leak, the devotees of prosperity theology in the Age of Osteen pray for ever bigger houses. The story of how the Osteens exercised faith for a big house comes early in Joel Osteen’s best-seller,Your Best Life Now.
According to Osteen, God wants to pour out his “immeasurable favor” on his human creatures, and this requires a fundamental re-ordering of our thinking. “To experience this immeasurable favor,” Osteen writes, “you must rid yourself of that small-minded thinking and start expecting God’s blessings, start anticipating promotion and supernatural increase. You must conceive it in your heart before you can receive it. In other words, you must make increase in your own thinking, then God will bring those things to pass.”
There is nothing really new in this message. Anyone familiar with the New Thought movement and later books such as Napoleon Hill’s Think and Grow Rich will see a persistent theme. The important issue is this — Prosperity Theology is a false Gospel. The problem with Prosperity Theology is not that it promises too much, but that it aims for so little. What God promises us in Christ is far above anything that can be measured in earthly wealth — and believers are not promised earthly wealth nor the gift of health.
But to talk of the promises of God to believers is actually to jump outside the Osteen audience. The Osteen message does not differentiate between believers and unbelievers — certainly not in terms of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. In their sermons, writings, and media appearances, the Osteens insist that God is well-disposed to all people and wills that all flourish, but there is virtually no mention of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. No reference to sin as the fundamental issue. No explanation of atonement and resurrection as God’s saving acts; no clarity of any sort on the need for faith in Christ and repentance of sin.
Instead, they focus on happiness and God’s “immeasurable favor” to be poured out on all people, if they will only correct their thinking.
As a thought exercise, let’s just limit the consideration to those people who have identified as Christians throughout the centuries. Does the Osteen message come close to their experience? Would it even make sense?
Just consider the fact that most Christians throughout the history of the church have been poor, and often desperately poor. They were not hoping to move into a suburban mini-mansion, they hoped to be able to feed their children one more day. That picture is still true for millions upon millions of Christians around the world today.
And that is just the start of it. What about all those who are even now suffering persecution for their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ? What about the loved ones of the martyrs in Mosul? What about the Christians forced out of their homes and threatened with genocide? What about the children of Christians slain in Iraq and Syria just in recent weeks, or those martyred by Boko Haram in Africa? How does Prosperity Theology work for them? Can anyone look them in the eye and say that God’s plan for believers in this life is to know Your Best Life Now?
In her recent work on Prosperity Theology, historian Kate Bowler traces the shift from what she calls the “hard prosperity” message of the early Pentecostals to the “soft prosperity” message of modern preachers like Joel Osteen. As Bowler explains, the new “softer” version of the prosperity message has “become the foremost Christian theology of modern living.”
Well, maybe. Prosperity Theology certainly sells books and draws crowds in the United States, but what does it possibly say to a grieving Christian wife and mother in Iraq? How can it possibly be squared with the actual message of the New Testament? How can any sinner be saved, without a clear presentation of sin, redemption, the cross, the empty tomb, and the call to faith and repentance? Prosperity Theology fails every test, and fails every test miserably. It is a false gospel, and one that must be repudiated, not merely reformatted.
Victoria Osteen’s comments fit naturally within the worldview and message she and her husband have carefully cultivated. The divine-human relationship is just turned upside down, and God’s greatest desire is said to be our happiness. But what is happiness? It is a word that cannot bear much weight. As writers from C. S. Lewis to the Apostle Paul have made clear, happiness is no substitute for joy. Happiness, in the smiling version assured in the Age of Osteen, doesn’t last, cannot satisfy, and often is not even real.
Furthermore, God’s pleasure in his human creatures centers in his desire and will that they come to faith in Jesus Christ and be saved. The great dividing line in humanity is not between the rich and the poor, the sick and the well, or even the happy and the unhappy. The great divide is between those who, in Christ, have been transferred from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of God’s glorious light.
Mere happiness cannot bear the weight of the Gospel. The message of the real Gospel is found in John 3:16: “For God so loved the world,that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” That is a message that can be preached with a straight face, a courageous spirit, and an urgent heart in Munich, in Miami, or in Mosul.
If our message cannot be preached with credibility in Mosul, it should not be preached in Houston. That is the Osteen Predicament.
There are many sights in which God has stirred much emotion in my soul, however, very few are as humbling as the reconciliation and eventual memorialization of war. To cap off an awesome weekend, we visited the Gettysburg National Battlefield Park. I am a big statistics and facts person when it comes to history. The battle of Gettysburg is filled with lots of large numbers. The Army of the Potomac (Union) alone had over 35,000 soldiers present at one point or another during the course of the 3 day confrontation. Fighting elbow to elbow was an under statement at some locations on the battlefield. Although the battle was spread out over an approximate 10 mile radius, at time there were soldiers laying next to each other trying to frantically reload their black powder rifles.
I found this to be such a stark contrast to what the people of that town were typically use to. Gettysburg wasn't a tiny piece of real estate, but it wasn't like Baltimore or any other large city either. Such great loss brought to such a quiet town through choices made by men. General Robert E. Lee made it seem as if the area near Gettysburg was predestined to be the next showdown between the Union and the Confederacy, however, it was his personal strategic choice which brought these events to fortuitously play out. We each make choices during good and bad times in our lives. The concept of personal choice brought forth the memory of a line I heard on the radio two days ago. Hopefully I never forget it this week, and in weeks to come.
"We practice in the dark, what we learn in the light."
There are times in life which pose overwhelming challenges. Notice I did not mention the word, impossible. The hard times can seem long and arduous when we are in the moment. Think of the last time there were too many adult beverages consumed. You swore you would never again go through that experience while you were praying to the "porcelain god". As I am sure most people have experienced, there was most definitely a repeat. But this post isn't about doing the right thing, it's about the fact that you made it through to the other side of the tunnel. I know I have ran through some awful experiences where I thought, "This sucks!" I had no vision of what the "end in sight" would even look like when I was in the midst of the storm.
Last year I found a bit of advice from an instructor at a course I was attending. He opened the class by asking how we were doing. Knowing that we were at the most difficult time during our training , he made the remark that, "Life probably sucks right now. The bad news is that it's probably only going to get worse." He then presented us with a question I still remember, "How do you eat an elephant?" I thought this guy had been drinking his own punch for too long (aka, he is crazy). The truth is, this instructor found a gem in the sometimes hard surface of life. Just remember how to deal with that problem which seems as big as an elephant...
The following story will either make me out to be less than intelligent, or it will be thought provoking to the eye of the beholder. Let's hope I land somewhere in the middle and go from there.
Today I decided to brave the heat and humidity of the late afternoon here in northern Virginia, and barbecue. Okay, it was not the significant undertaking that I make it out to be. Whenever I grill meat I tend to pull a rookie move. A standing rule of those familiar with the way of the grill; when cooking meat over an open flame, it is turned only once. You cook one side for a little bit, then the meat is flipped to cook the rest of the way.
I tend to display some serious ADHD while grilling, because I cannot just leave the meat alone. If you are eating a piece of meat I prepared, you better bet that puppy got flipped at least 10 times, if not more. It's like I get bored, or impatient, or both when it comes to waiting. The grill, or "Man Grill" as I like to refer to it, definitely teaches me a lesson regardless of its rudimentary job. My highlight from today...
1. Patience...
"Better is the end of a thing than its beginning, and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit."
[Ecclesiastes 7:8] - See more at: http://www.prayers-for-special-help.com/bible-verses-about-patience.html#sthash.ZF9WlRb5.dpuf
