I Love You Uncle Steve

"........The man went back and began to preach in the Ten Towns area about what Jesus had done for him....." Mark 5:18-20 MSG

Dear Uncle Steve,

I saw you a while back.  You were in the hospital, bed ridden and eating ice chips because you had some stomach problems.  I'm not sure the doctors ever figured out what caused you to have such problems, but they assume it was the new chemo drugs you went on. 

Chemo-therapy- what a familiar word, yet so foreign to those of us blessed enough not to have to go through it.  We don't know the pain, the suffering, or the shear will it takes to finish the day as strong as possible after completing a round with this stuff. Even now, you fight with the new stem cell treatment. You are an inspiration to your family Uncle Steve.

When we were growing up, all 10 nieces and nephews were the targets of your constant sarcasm and quick wit.  As much as we hated the "2 Steves" and what it meant to endure a family gathering under the constant barrage of comments, antics, and jeers, I wouldn't trade a single minute of that time with you, for anything in the world.  I'm not sure you know the impact you have had on my life.  If I have never told you before, I am going to tell you now.

Uncle Steve, you are an inspiration to me.  Your ability to fight this cancer, to wake up everyday and fight the good fight against this disease has brought life into perspective for me.  As I get older, time really begins to speed up and I look back with fondness on the times we spent together at many a family gathering.  I have not been the best nephew the past few years.  There are times we have gone months withouth speaking to one another, but for some reason, now, now that this nasty disease has taken hold of you, I feel compelled to reach out and say emphatically, I love you.  I love you more than ever because now I see a man who needs to know what his nephew never told him.

As I close this letter Uncle Steve, I want you to know the 2 things I pray most for you:  that this disease will leave you like the demon possessed man in the Bible verse above and that you will be able to go out and tell everyone about the miracle of how your disease was healed, but most of all, I pray that you have come into a relationship with Christ.  I pray for you Uncle Steve because I love you.  I love you now more than ever, and I hope I am not too late in telling you this. 

This family does not need to miss you yet so please fight hard everyday.  If you agree to fight hard, I will agree to pray everyday until the doctors tell us about the miracle you are.

With Love,

Jeremiah

Be Wary Who You Listen To

"Judges sell verdicts to the highest bidder, priests mass-market their teaching, prophets teach for high fees, all the while posturing and pretending dependence on God: "We've got God on our side. He'll protect us from disaster."  Micah 3:11 MSG

In my life, there have been many people I once considered close who I now consider far away because of the things I let them try and put into my head.  Some were friends, others were family, but all taught me one invaluable lesson in life: be careful who I let influence my heart and mind, especially when it comes to my walk with Christ. 

I can remember one person who constantly tried to justify to me that chasing after the finer things in life was great when we made sure we used it for the work of God.  And he was right, but what didn't line up with my conscience (a.k.a. the Holy Spirit), was that this person's chasing after God was not really used for the good of the kingdom.  It was used for self benefit, self promotion, and was really just a way to justify the love of money, versus love of God's people.

We have to be careful who we trust and listen to.  Know and study them and carefully look at their motives:  who is out for money and fame, or who is truly out to serve God?  Do they tell you how to conduct your life, or do they merely give you advice based on Biblical truth?

Those who cared most about what God was doing in my life never tried to tell me what I need to do in life and then start pounding me over the head with Bible verses.  What they did do for me was ask that I go seek and search for the answers myself.

Is it time to solely stop listening to others and begin finding the answer God intended for us to find.  Begin to read and allow God into your life.  Be authentic, and He will reveal the world to you.

Freak

The Frog in Boiling Water

"Those who worship hollow gods, god-frauds, walk away from their only true love." Jonah 2:8 MSG

I really hope God will not be mad at me over this post, but here goes.  For the past few weeks I have kind of been experimenting with what it's like to follow hard after God and then what its like to be lukewarm, you know just enough to get by.  Here is the one truth I realized as I got out of the shower this morning (I do a lot of thinking in the shower and while running):  my life starts to break down without that constant in my life.  I start to become grumpy, irritable, and mostly almost depressed.  I lose focus easily and I begin to channel my energies to the negative instead of the positive things in my life. It is the weirdest thing I have ever experienced.

Fall away from God for a while and I bet you will begin to see the same things in your life.  What's funny though is that this process does not happen over night.  It is a slow fade.  There is a song out there somewhere about the slow fade when you give your heart away.  When we give our heart away to other things in life- money, kids, work, busy-ness, sports, TV, internet, etc- we start to slowly fade away from the one true love we have in life- God and Jesus Christ. It's like the frog in boiling water-  put him in before the water starts boiling and he wont feel the hot water until its too late........

I have also learned over the past few weeks that there will be seasons like this in life.  Its not avoiding these seasons, but recognizing them and working hard to maintain the relationship with God.  Don't try and be perfect either, it will drive you absolutely crazy. Beleive me, I've tried it.  What I have been working on is picking myself up the next day when I fail to connect and start anew.  God doesn't want perfection, he wants authenticity with us. 

Time to focus and commit.

Freak

Use or Lose

"Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them." (Mark 4:25 NIV) As Christ followers, we need to understand be very important thing: the gifts and talents God has so generously blessed us with, are not ours to keep. They are ours to share and bless others with. I believe there is a deeper meaning here in this verse from Mark than what we normally read. Its time to share........ It's been a hard road over the past few years for me personally. I'm not talking problems and financial woes and the bad economy, although that has been a catalyst for the change. The road I am referring to has been one of finding out who I am as a Christ follower and what it means to really understand Gods word and spirit. This verse right here mindof sums up the road I am going down.....it's a road paved with dissapointment in myself, not in God......it's a road with a guardrail called the Holy Spirit who has been there to help nudge me in the right direction instead of letting me go off the cliff.....its been a road with lines that are sometimes blurred and not well defined where I run into oncoming traffic only to finally jerk the wheel back and get in the right lane.......there have been potholes on this road, but those potholes were the bad decisions I made by not listening to God and doing my own thing.......but most importantly, this road has been driven on in a car that constantly needs work, almost like my first car. I loved my first car nd put a lot of time and work into it. That's how I need to treat myself: I need to work hard on the Jeremiah Roadster so that no matter what life's road brings, the Roadster will be ready and equipped. So what does all this mean: don't keep what God has given you to yourself: God will take away all he has given you if you decide to be selfish with it. Is it time for you to use your talents for someone or something other than you? Freak

What does God want you to do?

"But Amos stood up to Amaziah: 'I never set up to be a preacher, never had plans to be a preacher.  I raised cattle and I pruned trees.'  Then God took me off the farm and said, 'Go preach to my people Israel.'"
Amos 7:14-15 MSG.

When we read the Bible, we really read a lot of what we hear about in church and miss so much more in the more unknown books.  I must say that I have learned a lot from these more obscure books of the Bible.  These "lesser" prophets, as they are sometimes referred, actually did some of the best work for God.  Case in point, Amos.  I had never touched the book of Amos until this past week, and I have pulled some very applicable life verses out his ministry.

Amos was a simple man who was given a very tough minstry:  go out and tell the lands of Israel, and their kings, what God has prepared for them if they don't stop what they are doing and turn back to God. As you can see, he was a farmer, not a preacher.  He was a simple man who lived a simple life and God called him into something so complicated, all he could do was listen to God and do as he was instructed.

What does this tell us about listening and doing?  Amos says so precisely as he is talking to Amaziah, the chief priest at the Bethel temple, that he is not a preacher, but a farmer.  Basically he is saying, "Look, I am a farmer dude. Do you really think I am smart enough to come up with some elaborate plan to get rid of the king?"  All Amos did was nurture a special relationship with God, listen intently for what God had planned for him, executed that plan, and left the results up to God. 

What did I learn from Amos?  Shut up, listen for God, and do what he asks.  The rest is up to God. 

Amos has become one of my Biblical heroes. A simple life, morphed into a complex ministry, which ultimately served God.  Done.

Freak

Exit Stage Right

"A leper came to him, begging on his knees, 'If you want to, you can cleanse me.'.......Jesus dismissed him with strict orders: 'Say nothing to anyone........'"  Mark 1:40-44 MSG

Center Stage, the Spotlight, the Limelight, Focal Point, the Headliner, Front and Center.  These are all names for the position where everyone focuses their attention, whether it be during a show, a concert, or some other event.  But what happens when this becomes our focus and drive, versus making sure people hear the message of Jesus Christ?

The focus turns from God and we try to put it on us.  When things start going wrong, our focus turns to how we can honor ourselves and make "ME" look better, instead of ensuring God looks better.  When Jesus was healing the sick and telling them not to let others know about it, he really had 2 purposes:  number one, He wanted to ensure his Father received the glory for these deeds and not him (ehhhem, in other words, not seeking the spotlight), and number two, he was not ready for his ministry to takeoff.  He was calculating the precise time he would have to face off with the pharisees in order to fulfill his ministry here on earth and the will of the Father.

I struggle with this sometimes in the ministries I work with.  I play drums, and really enjoy playing music at church and other functions.  But what is my motivation when playing?  Is it to get my name out there and SHOW others that I am honoring God with my talents, or am I doing it strictly out of service to God? How easily we can gray the lines between the two.  When I speak and teach, am I doing it to teach someone about God and his awesome power, or am I looking for approval from others that I did a good job and really "brought the message?"

Think about your motivations before you enter into ministry or service for God.  Then ensure your focus is God, and not you.  I have to often.  Do you?

Freak

A Yearning for Church

"Then they entered Capernaum.  When the Sabbath arrived, Jesus lost no time in getting to the meeting place.  He spent the day there teaching."  Mark 1:21 MSG

Sunday mornings have been difficult lately.  Sometimes the kids are sick, other times we are sick.  It was a long week trying to bring home money as a pilot, even to the point of working all day Saturday and just wanting a day off.......from everything.  Maybe the hardest thing is the fact that we just don't feel like one of those cool puzzle pieces with the pretty flowers on it at our church.  We just feel as though we don't fit in well.  I truly believe it is what we make of it, and not what our church family makes of it. 

I have to look deep inside with this passage today.  Look at the example Jesus set when he gathered his disciples and headed out for his ministry.  When the Sabbath came, "...he lost no time in getting to the meeting place....."  In other words, he was excited to get to where the lost were so that he could teach.  He even spent the whole day there!  What an example he set.  This is the attitude we should have wherever we attend church.......one of absolute pleasure and giddyness to attend and spend time with our fellow Christ followers and with our God and Savior.

If we are not joyful and excited about getting to church on Sundays, we need to check our attitude.  Look, I will be the first one to admit that there are times when it feels like an absolute drag to get out of bed and get the kids ready, throw on something presentable, and then drive 45 minutes, one way to get to church.  But I should feel honored to live in a country where I can do this in the open;  honored to be serving and worshiping an awesome God (not just on Sundays I might add); honored to be in fellowship with other struggling Christ followers. HONORED and EXCITED!

In other words, losing no time in "getting to the meeting place."

Freak