So our church just finished the Daniel Fast after 21 days. I was on the mostly raw/cooked veggie diet for the whole time, with a couple of days mixed in where I ate within the guidelines of our churches commitment (no meat, no sweets, and no dairy). So last night at midnight, myself and two other gentlemen from our men's group went out to Village Inn for the best meal of the day, breakfast.
Oh what a treat to douse my palate with sweet tea first. Then came the ham and cheese omlette (loaded with extra cheese, could have used a little more ham) and the scattered hash browns topped with a little ketchup and some Tabasco sauce to spice things up a bit. I finished that course of my meal off with three buttermilk pancakes (they were nothing compared to IHOP's though). Then it hit me. I was sitting there and the dessert menu began calling to me. I couldn't resist. Village Inn makes some of the best pies around so I had to order up a slice of French Silk. Lord, I am putting in my request right now. I hope the chef in heaven knows how to make French Silk pie because that will be all that I will eat when I get there!
Hallelujah what a meal. The fast was an awesome experience and something that I will duplicate in the future. Praise our awesome and wonderous Creator for what He is going to do this weekend in churches all around the country. May this be the year that Christ comes home to America and resides in our hearts. My prayer is for all those who do not know Christ, that when they attend church this weekend, and there will be many, that they will answer the knock at the door to their hearts.
Praying for the souls of America and the World,
Jesus Freak Out!
Friday, April 10, 2009
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Last Meal Request
I was watching a show the other day about a murderer on death row who claimed his innnocence until the day he was executed. On the night of his execution, his last meal request was pizza and soda. Respectable request. I, on the other hand, would have preferred a nice 20oz ribeye steak, medium rare, with a fully loaded baked potatoe, fresh steamed broccolli doused in butter, and a hot fudge sundae to top it all off. The symbolic American steak meal, at least in my eyes. The death row inmate chose a more symbolic meal in terms of simplicity and commonality. Again, in my opinion. But there was one last meal request that rocked the world because of its simplicity, its audacity, and most of all, its symbology: Christ's Last Supper.
When we read Matthew chapter 26, or Mark chapter 14, or Luke chapter 22, we read about Jesus sitting down to his last meal with his disciples. It was the simplist of all meals, both for that time and ours: bread and wine. But the sheer magnitude of its symbolic nature outweighs that of any other last meal on earth. During this meal, Jesus was not just eating with His favored guests right before he was to be crucified. He sending the world a message to be passed from generation to generation. That message was to be our new covenant with Christ when we meet Him again. The bread, representing the body, broken and handed over to us all. The wine, just as red, just as staining as human blood, representing what was to be poured out in sacrifice for the whole world the next day. Jesus was not just eating: Jesus was portraying the sacrifice of His body and blood so that we could memorialize that gift and remember His gift for all ages until we meet Him again.
There is no other final meal in history with such a sucker punch of symbolism. God has asked us to remember Him in a way we can all understand. As we remember this day when Christ ate his last meal, let us remember what it means to us, because come Friday, Good Friday, we will remember what he did for us in the flesh so that we all could live. Just as this is called Passion week, let all of us carry that passion around like a badge of honor; honor for the God we serve and the people we serve. Let's honor Him by remembering the broken and bloodied sacrifice for our sin and the world's sin. And let's not make Good Friday and Easter a holiday we remember once a year.
Remembering the meal,
Jesus Freak Out!
When we read Matthew chapter 26, or Mark chapter 14, or Luke chapter 22, we read about Jesus sitting down to his last meal with his disciples. It was the simplist of all meals, both for that time and ours: bread and wine. But the sheer magnitude of its symbolic nature outweighs that of any other last meal on earth. During this meal, Jesus was not just eating with His favored guests right before he was to be crucified. He sending the world a message to be passed from generation to generation. That message was to be our new covenant with Christ when we meet Him again. The bread, representing the body, broken and handed over to us all. The wine, just as red, just as staining as human blood, representing what was to be poured out in sacrifice for the whole world the next day. Jesus was not just eating: Jesus was portraying the sacrifice of His body and blood so that we could memorialize that gift and remember His gift for all ages until we meet Him again.
There is no other final meal in history with such a sucker punch of symbolism. God has asked us to remember Him in a way we can all understand. As we remember this day when Christ ate his last meal, let us remember what it means to us, because come Friday, Good Friday, we will remember what he did for us in the flesh so that we all could live. Just as this is called Passion week, let all of us carry that passion around like a badge of honor; honor for the God we serve and the people we serve. Let's honor Him by remembering the broken and bloodied sacrifice for our sin and the world's sin. And let's not make Good Friday and Easter a holiday we remember once a year.
Remembering the meal,
Jesus Freak Out!
Thursday, April 2, 2009
The Beauty of Creation...........from 24,000 Feet
The other day I had the distinct honor of helping a gentlemen fly his new aircraft out to Bend, OR for some repairs. It was literally a cross country flight and I can tell you that I have not stopped talking about it since I got back. It was an 11 hour flight with 2 stops in between. I must say, I was privileged to see some of the most beautiful scenery this country has to offer..........from an altitude of 24,000 feet! This flight really made me reflect on Genesis and what our wonderful Creator really sculpted out for His people.
"God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that is was GOOD" (ESV Gen 1:10).
I had plenty of time to marvel at what things God created. We flew directly over the Grand Canyon, Meteor Crater, the Rocky Mountains, the Gulf of Mexico, the plains of Texas, and the Cascade Mountains. Throughout this entire flight, I was able to marvel at what God had made for us and how small I really was. What really amazed me was that in all of this, he decided to create a little nobody like me. But what's even more brain teasing is that he knew who I was from the dawn of time. He knew I would come into this world. It blows my mind.
What does this have to do with bringing people to Christ? So much. People don't realize that God, from the dawn of the ages, knew who was going to be born and when, who was goin
g to die and the precise moment in which their last breath would come. He knew the precise timing of their heartbeat and circadian rhythm of their sleep pattern. He knew it all. He orchestrated it all. He CREATED it all. We must let people know how much God loves them and how much He really knows about them, whether they want to believe it or not.
g to die and the precise moment in which their last breath would come. He knew the precise timing of their heartbeat and circadian rhythm of their sleep pattern. He knew it all. He orchestrated it all. He CREATED it all. We must let people know how much God loves them and how much He really knows about them, whether they want to believe it or not. In awe of His power,
Jesus Freak Out!
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
I Just Want to Talk..........
It's been a little while since I last posted. Life is not a good excuse so I will not try and make on up. God should be foremost and He is the reason I started this whole blog. So I must rededicate my efforts to keep this going as strong as it ever was before, if not stronger. So now, I just want to talk for a minute about action.
What is the definition of the word action? It can mean one thing to me, yet another to someone else. It all comes down to context. When it comes to Christ, action is way more than most of us can fathom. It's a change of attitude and a change of heart for doing as Christ has instructed and as He has moved us to. Lately, I have tried to explain away my IN-action as life getting in the way. It's been more like me getting in the way. Don't get me wrong, life can drain us of our drive to take action for anything, let alone Christ. But Christ should be the whole reason that we take action in all that we do.
Look at all the examples we have in Scripture for those who decided not to let life take away their ability to act for Christ: Peter, Paul, Moses, David, and I could go on and on. We must look at their example and model our lives after their strong will and love for the God.
As I go about the next 15 days in fasting and prayer, looking forward to celebrating the awesome day when we remember the priceless gift Jesus gave to us on the cross, I am going to work harder than ever and kick myself into action.
Jump starting myself,
Jesus Freak Out!
What is the definition of the word action? It can mean one thing to me, yet another to someone else. It all comes down to context. When it comes to Christ, action is way more than most of us can fathom. It's a change of attitude and a change of heart for doing as Christ has instructed and as He has moved us to. Lately, I have tried to explain away my IN-action as life getting in the way. It's been more like me getting in the way. Don't get me wrong, life can drain us of our drive to take action for anything, let alone Christ. But Christ should be the whole reason that we take action in all that we do.
Look at all the examples we have in Scripture for those who decided not to let life take away their ability to act for Christ: Peter, Paul, Moses, David, and I could go on and on. We must look at their example and model our lives after their strong will and love for the God.
As I go about the next 15 days in fasting and prayer, looking forward to celebrating the awesome day when we remember the priceless gift Jesus gave to us on the cross, I am going to work harder than ever and kick myself into action.
Jump starting myself,
Jesus Freak Out!
Friday, March 6, 2009
Purple People Pleaser
For as long as I can remember, I have been enveloped by a cloud that follows me like the little rain clouds that follow cartoon characters. This is not one of those torrential downpour type rain clouds. This is just one of those London, dreary day clouds that pours on some days, drizzles on others, yet on others, just keeps a shadow over my life. I have fought myself and fought the humiliation of others, only to find recently that I was truly disobeying what God commands.
"(5)Slaves, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, with a sincere heart, as you would Christ, (6) not by the way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but as servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, (7) rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to man........" (ESV, Eph. 6:5-7).
The Son is peaking through my cloud a little more each day that I read Paul's words. But what is Christ really saying through Paul's letter to the church at Ephesus? He is not saying that we run around and do everything that we are told like robots on an assembly line. But we must respect our authority figures, respect and adhere to the commands of those appointed as our leaders and "masters." We must work in a way that is not only evident when our earthly "bosses" are looking, but those same "bosses" are not looking and when God always is. Our service to others here on earth is in direct correlation to our service to God. What I am saying is that they are interrelated. Serving those in authority is "doing the will of God from the heart."
We may not always agree with decisions that are made and we may not always agree with the ethics of those appointed over us, but when we live out our own integrity through Christ and for Christ, we begin to lift the basket off the lamp of our Christ following lives and show this world who He really is.
In 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 (ESV), Paul also talks about making it our "(11) ambition to follow a quiet life, to mind [our] own business........(12) so that our daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that [we] will not be dependent on anybody." This does not mean that we become an ostrich and stick out heads in the sand when adversity comes along. This means that we do not make unnecessary waves through disrespect and animosity. We "win the respect of outsiders" by exemplifying Christ through our work ethic in everything that we do. I for one must be someone who stops looking for kudos from the world and starts looking for kudos from the One.
It now makes me uncomfortable when I get praise for playing the drums well during the worship service or when I get an attaboy for working hard to serve. It's not about me anymore, it's about Him. I serve for only one: Jesus Christ. We must also commit to serving our "bosses" just as if we were serving Jesus Christ himself, whether we agree with who they are or not. Warning though: don't compromise your integrity, values, or beliefs just to serve an authority figure.
Serving the One now more than ever,
Jesus Freak Out!
"(5)Slaves, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, with a sincere heart, as you would Christ, (6) not by the way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but as servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, (7) rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to man........" (ESV, Eph. 6:5-7).
The Son is peaking through my cloud a little more each day that I read Paul's words. But what is Christ really saying through Paul's letter to the church at Ephesus? He is not saying that we run around and do everything that we are told like robots on an assembly line. But we must respect our authority figures, respect and adhere to the commands of those appointed as our leaders and "masters." We must work in a way that is not only evident when our earthly "bosses" are looking, but those same "bosses" are not looking and when God always is. Our service to others here on earth is in direct correlation to our service to God. What I am saying is that they are interrelated. Serving those in authority is "doing the will of God from the heart."
We may not always agree with decisions that are made and we may not always agree with the ethics of those appointed over us, but when we live out our own integrity through Christ and for Christ, we begin to lift the basket off the lamp of our Christ following lives and show this world who He really is.
In 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 (ESV), Paul also talks about making it our "(11) ambition to follow a quiet life, to mind [our] own business........(12) so that our daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that [we] will not be dependent on anybody." This does not mean that we become an ostrich and stick out heads in the sand when adversity comes along. This means that we do not make unnecessary waves through disrespect and animosity. We "win the respect of outsiders" by exemplifying Christ through our work ethic in everything that we do. I for one must be someone who stops looking for kudos from the world and starts looking for kudos from the One.
It now makes me uncomfortable when I get praise for playing the drums well during the worship service or when I get an attaboy for working hard to serve. It's not about me anymore, it's about Him. I serve for only one: Jesus Christ. We must also commit to serving our "bosses" just as if we were serving Jesus Christ himself, whether we agree with who they are or not. Warning though: don't compromise your integrity, values, or beliefs just to serve an authority figure.
Serving the One now more than ever,
Jesus Freak Out!
Monday, March 2, 2009
Energy
Energy comes in all shapes and sizes. 55 gallon drums of oil from beneath the ground, a 16 ounce can of sugar and taurine flavored like coffee, a little black rock from the hills of West Virginia, the raw power of carbohydrates. All of these things are sources of energy for us as humans and the world as a whole. But where does our energy for life come from? I'm not talking about the food we eat or the workouts we do. I'm talking about our spiritual lives.
"In your steadfast love give me life, that I may keep the testimonies of your mouth" (Ps 119:88).
The energy drink for our spirit comes from no where else than the very love that God bestows upon us because we are His. His "steadfast love" is what fuels our spirit and should drive our lives everyday. When this happens, when we truly believe and God looks upon us like a loving Father, our life becomes energetic and alive. When we nurture that love by relying on Him and devoting our lives to the work of His kingdom, then we can keep "the testimonies of [His] mouth" because we want to and we love to. We live out Christ in our lives because we are pumped up for Him. And then the world's eyes will open..................
Cracking open a can,
Jesus Freak Out!
"In your steadfast love give me life, that I may keep the testimonies of your mouth" (Ps 119:88).
The energy drink for our spirit comes from no where else than the very love that God bestows upon us because we are His. His "steadfast love" is what fuels our spirit and should drive our lives everyday. When this happens, when we truly believe and God looks upon us like a loving Father, our life becomes energetic and alive. When we nurture that love by relying on Him and devoting our lives to the work of His kingdom, then we can keep "the testimonies of [His] mouth" because we want to and we love to. We live out Christ in our lives because we are pumped up for Him. And then the world's eyes will open..................
Cracking open a can,
Jesus Freak Out!
Monday, February 23, 2009
The Tailor
Did you know that God is the tailor of our lives? He formed us perfectly in the womb of our mothers and knew from the dawn of eternity the day that we would come into this world. God had His hands in it all. I sat down with my friend David tonight and I have been shaken to my very core about what the Creator has done to make me who I am.
In Psalm 139, David is praising God for what he has done in creating the man he is. "For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb" (vs. 13). Imagine what it takes for a tailor to sew what amounts to a masterpiece in fine thread. It take hours of hard work, constant measuring, precise cutting, painstaking threading of every seam. Now imagine what it took for God to create you from 2 cells into who you are today.
God painstakingly "knitted" every cell, every system, every organ, every thought, every experience, every person into the fabic of what is now our life. He created everything that is us from the day he dreamt of us so long ago. We are his unique masterpiece, signed and authenticated as a creation of the most artistic, the most inspired Creator of all time. We are created for Him to do His work.
So I ask this question: How would you handle a piece of precious artwork that could never be duplicated by it's creator again, because he died doing what he loved? That is how God looks upon each and every person on this earth. They are His creation. They are His artwork. They are His. If only we could look at others as God's creation and not the discarded practice work of our awesome and wonderful God.
Viewing the artwork of God,
Jesus Freak Out!
In Psalm 139, David is praising God for what he has done in creating the man he is. "For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb" (vs. 13). Imagine what it takes for a tailor to sew what amounts to a masterpiece in fine thread. It take hours of hard work, constant measuring, precise cutting, painstaking threading of every seam. Now imagine what it took for God to create you from 2 cells into who you are today.
God painstakingly "knitted" every cell, every system, every organ, every thought, every experience, every person into the fabic of what is now our life. He created everything that is us from the day he dreamt of us so long ago. We are his unique masterpiece, signed and authenticated as a creation of the most artistic, the most inspired Creator of all time. We are created for Him to do His work.
So I ask this question: How would you handle a piece of precious artwork that could never be duplicated by it's creator again, because he died doing what he loved? That is how God looks upon each and every person on this earth. They are His creation. They are His artwork. They are His. If only we could look at others as God's creation and not the discarded practice work of our awesome and wonderful God.
Viewing the artwork of God,
Jesus Freak Out!
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