Revenge - A Bitter Sweet Concept

Certainly we've all heard the old adage that revenge is best served cold. Simply put this reminds us that revenge is good. The world would have us believe that revenge is a way of making us feel better. From news stories to talk shows to reality game shows - the story-line is similar: get even or you lose. It's amazing how prevalent this theme is in our society today. Revenge might make us feel better but that sweet feeling won't last for long.
But is revenge and anger really all that it's cracked up to be? I would suggest - NO. There are really at least three very negative aspects of anger and revenge:

1. Physical ramifications - Doctors have stated for quite some time now that stress, anger and all of the negative emotional baggage that accompany them can drastically impact your health. The effects can range from depression to headaches and even heart attack causing High Blood Pressure!
2. Driven by Anger - When we are out for revenge - anger becomes our driving force. No matter what we do, anger is the reason we do it. We're always thinking of how to get back or get even or even one-up the other person. When we are driven by anger we get sloppy and make mistakes that can hurt us or others. Anger should never be a driving force. In the words of the wise Jedi Knights on Star Wars - don't follow your feelings. We can't be driven by our anger - it only leads to the dark side...
3. Breaks Relationships - Even the relationships that have nothing to do with your anger bear the brunt of your hatred when you bring your desire for revenge and retribution home with you. It causes distance in the only healthy parts of one's life.

The long and short of this is that anger and revenge are not the answer. The bible encourages us to love even those we would rather hate. Love them the way Jesus did. Not a sissy kind of love but a love that is willing to do what the world says is impossible. A love that just wants them to know Jesus and His forgiveness. If Yoda were to talk to you about God's forgiveness it would sound something like this: Forgiven you are...forgiveness you should give.

May the real force (the Holy Spirit) be with you!

Taking Out The Trash

What kinds of "rubbish" do you have in your life? What things have you let accumulate in your life - preventing you from seeing Jesus? The Apostle Paul held nothing back when it came to pursuing something "worthwhile."
When he found himself against Jesus and his followers, Paul was 100% devoted to the task of stopping them. When he was following the Jewish faith, Paul was so dedicated that he met all of the rituals and rules for being a good Jewish boy. Paul immersed himself into whatever he was pursuing. Now we meet up with Paul after he has seen Christ. Perhaps you know his story and maybe not - but the short version is that God appeared to Paul (at that time his name was Saul) in the form of a large, bright light. Saul was blinded by the light and had to follow God's instructions to regain his sight. This journey for him would be the epitome of fasting from the world's pleasures and feasting on the love of God.
Our reading for today, April 2nd, was all about trash. The trash that we store up in our lives and in our hearts that prevents us from seeing God. The rubbish that Paul is talking about is the kind of stuff that makes us feel good in the world - power, prestige, money, fame, popularity and all of the things WE do. Paul realized that what God wanted from him first and foremost was to BE in a relationship with him. This has nothing to do with all of our trash.
God loves you no matter how much "rubbish" you run around with. God will always love you in spite of the piles and piles of stuff that you put before him. The call for each of us today is to take out the trash.
As you take out the trash today, remember not to forget the rubbish that is hidden in those dark corners of your life. Don't forget to remove those lies that tell you that all of your actions and all of your accomplishments are worth something.
As you do a little spring cleaning in your heart today may you see the true importance of Christ. May God find his way to the center of your life - not just the top but the center. May you find your strength, power and prestige in the death and resurrection of Jesus.
Pastor D's encouraging word for today comes from Paul: No matter how much trash you take out and no matter how helpless you feel, this promise is for you - I can do all things through Christ who IS my strength.

Day 8 - Lies, Nothing but lies

If there is one thing in life I can't stand - it's a lie. In our house we call lies dirty sins - and dirty sins need to be cleaned, you can use your imagination as to how we clean them. Lies choke the truth and they choke a person's integrity making them appear not trustworthy.
Today's reading is all about the lies that we live with, whether we tell them or they are told to us makes no difference. Satan lies to us as well. He does it four different ways: temptations, Accusations, Confusion, and Obstacles.
Temptations are those things that look good on the surface but we know that they are really not good for us. We often have this view of the Devil as a red man with a pitch fork and a spiked tail. This is probably not as accurate as we would like to believe. The devil often comes to us looking good - like something that we would want and then even though we know it's wrong...SNAP! He gets us.
Then when he gets his grubby little mitts on our lives, he convinces us through a whole new set of lies that we are too bad for God to forgive. Don't believe that even for a minute. Remember: there's nothing you can do to make God love you any less! That's not a license to sin but it is a reassurance that God is always looking out for YOU!
When the temptations and accusations don't work, he'll get creative and confuse us. We are so easily confused too. He'll tell us that doing something that we know is wrong only one time really isn't that bad. The bible reassures us again that this couldn't be further from the truth. Jesus went to the cross for that ONE "little sin." He had to suffer death even for that one little sin. No sin is OK in God's eyes but through confession (admitting those wrongs to God) we are forgiven.
Finally, Satan shows his crafty side when he puts road blocks in our lives. He'll use things that happen to stop us from seeing God. He thinks, or at least he acts like he is better than God, but you and I know different. Nothing can keep us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus! (paraphrase of Romans 8:37-39) This promise is true for you and me today and always.
How have you been lied to by Satan recently? How have you lied to God and others lately? What does it mean to you that God has already DONE EVERYTHING necessary to forgive you?
Read the italicized words above from Romans 8:37-39 - What does this mean to your life today?

Day 6 - God's Work

Today's reading in the book "A Call To Die" reminds us of God's Mystery, the Adventure of following Him, and the Passion that he calls us to live with. It's easy to let the rules and commands of life get in the way of our relationship with Christ. Rules are easy. Commands are almost comforting. We like to have things that we can measure. Rules and laws are measurable things - Relationships are not measurable.
There is nothing inherently wrong with laws and rules - they help to keep us on the road while preventing us from running people over as we live. They act like a mirror, showing us the pitfalls in life so that we don't fall into them again. And for those who follow Christ, the laws and commands can be a source of guidance to show us how Christ would have us live. But the problem we grapple with is letting these laws and commands take over our lives. God didn't give us the law to set us up for failure, but to guide us into a deeper relationship with him. He wants to be with us for service and protection.
The mystery of God is that He loved us enough to die for us even though we don't "deserve" it. One of the greatest mysteries of God is that while we were yet sinners, undeserving sinners, He sent His Son Jesus to die for our sins. In short, He loves us and His love has nothing to do with our "deserving it" it has everything to do with a love that never fails or gives up.
As we deepen this relationship with God, we will be embarking on an adventure that will renew our passion and zeal for God in a way that simply is beyond words. One of these adventures happens as we are met by God in the words of the Bible. When God comes face to face with us in the words of the Bible, we become adventurers with Him.
Today we continue our adventure of being met by God. Today my prayer for you is that the Holy Spirit would fill you inexplicable peace and joy. I pray that as you deepen your relationship with Jesus, you would become Ablaze! with the passion of being served by God. Remember it's God's work, he has simply invited us to participate - Peace for the Journey!

Hard Words

It's never easy to hear those hard words in life. Whether they come from a parent, a boss, a spouse, a friend or even from God - those hard words really tend to make you feel down and out. But is that their intent? Are those hard words intended to make you feel bad about yourself or your accomplishements?
God doesn't speak these hard words to break our morale. He does it to break down the barriers that surround our hearts. Sometimes, in order to hear him, we need the fears, desires, and passions of our lives removed before we can really see God at work. It all goes back to the idea of just BEING with God. If we are not BEING with God, no matter what we DO we'll never have a solid relationshiop with him. It's just not possible to have a strong relationship with someone that you don't know.
The bible reading for today's section of the book is from John 6 and it reminds us of some Hard Words from Jesus. He claimed to be something that the people of his time could not accept. It was just too big of a challenge - it was too hard. He said that he was the bread of life. He also talked about the body and blood of the Son of Man. This is our communion in the church today. It's an intimate feast with God! When we gather at HIS table, we are able to feast on God and the forgiveness and love that He freely gives us.
What are some hard words that Jesus speaks to you today? What is God calling you to get rid of? Where has God been pushed from your life? He wants your heart not just a piece of it. Are these hard words?

Journey of Life

Today marks the beginning of a journey that we are taking as a church. Today we embarked on a Journey of Life. This journey will take us through the time of Jesus' death and then to Easter for a celebration of His resurrection and new life.

Throughout this journey we will be studying the bible together as a church - ALL OF US! Our journey began on Palm Sunday (March 16th) with a church-wide prayer for direction, strength and dedication to the journey. Throughout the week before Easter we will be reading small snipits of the Bible together as we walk with Jesus to the cross and then out of the tomb. This week's readings are:

• Monday: Isaiah 29:13; Matthew 20:17-19


• Tuesday: Numbers 21:4-9; John 3:13-21


• Wednesday: Matthew 26:1-5


• Thursday: Matthew 26:26-29


• Friday: Isaiah 26:19-21; Matthew 27:45-56


• Saturday: Matthew 27:62-66


• Sunday: Matthew 28:1-10

Take some time this week to read through the selected passages in whatever bible version you feel most comfortable. Please note that the reading for Sunday will be basis for my message on Easter Sunday.

The Journey Continues...

On the Monday after Easter we will continue the Journey of Life by reading a book titled: A Call to Die by David Nasser. This will begin the official 40 day Journey of Life. The Journey of Life and the book will focus our attention back on Christ and away from all of the hustle and bustle of the world around us.

Each day we will be reading a small section of the book and answering the questions at the end. Be sure to check back here for an ongoing conversation that will help us apply Jesus' message for our journey. It's time to pack those bags because we're off!

I will leave you with a thought from David Nasser's book -This journey will allow us to fast from the world while we feast on God. Let's get ready to dig into God's truth over the next 40 days.

Too LONG!!!

Wow! It's been way too long since my last update. Here's a quick update for this week and I'll hope to update next week again.
Through the time of the church year known as Lent - we are focusing on what different people from the life of Christ bring to our understanding of Easter - here's one titled "Get out of debt."
Have you found yourself a little strapped this time of year? If so you are definitely not alone. As a matter of fact recent studies have shown that debt and financial troubles have gripped our society with amazing strength.
It’s true – foreclosures and bankruptcies are on the rise. Unwise spending habits have impacted our culture with some devastating results. Many people have a tendency to think that money is a problem and that money is a root of evil in our society. While this statement is false – there is some truth to it.
Money definitely causes people to do some pretty strange things. People’s desire for money is the source of many problems in our society. The Bible reminds us that the LOVE of money is the root of all evil. There’s nothing inherently wrong with money – it’s the love of it that causes evil desires and wrong actions.
Jesus was directly impacted by the love of money when one of His disciples, named Judas, was willing to sell Him for 30 pieces of silver. We’re not sure what caused Judas to do this or why 30 pieces of silver was enough, but what we do know is that Judas wanted payment of some sort – he wanted money. He possessed that love for money that the Bible clearly says is the root of every sort of evil.
I always was taught that Judas was such a terrible person. It was alluded that Judas’ actions were “unforgivable.” I’m not sure that’s the case however. Shortly after Jesus was arrested and the trial began – Judas is said to have been filled with remorse. There’s a problem however – he thought that his actions were too big and too bad for God to be able to forgive so he took his own life.
This train of thought is HUGE in our society – many people think that their actions are so much worse than everyone else’s, that God can’t forgive them and that they don’t have any right in church. This thought couldn’t be any further from the truth. A pastor by the name of Rob Bell has stated, “There’s nothing you can do to make God love you any less.” I believe whole heartedly that this statement is true. The bible speaks quite often about God’s undying love for us and how through the death and resurrection of Jesus we are all guaranteed forgiveness if we only ask.
Let us cast our debts on Jesus. He's the only one who can truly get us out of the debt we find ourselves in with regard to the wrong things we do. May you always remember that "There's nothing you can do to make God love you any less."