Freedom happened!

It seems to be the hot topic of the month, the fall of DOMA and gay marriage. As controversial as these topics are, i have read many articles and different positions on the issue. As crazy as it all has been, the one thing that has bothered me most have been the recent post of a female "minister" know as Rachel Evans. All of the post I have read on anything controversial have been from a very liberal presupposition. There are fine and she is entitled to her view on such issues. Yet, there is a certain passage that believe she misses the point on. It has been burdened on my heart all week. It happens to be the passage of the woman caught in adultery. Her focus was of course on the accusers and how they were not to judge. However, I believe that Jesus paints a very different focus. His focus was on the woman..... She knew that she was guilty by the law as did her accusers. So there was no hope in the law only the reminder that she (and we) were guilty. The story goes as Jesus stooped down to write they left one by one. He then asked her where her Accusers were. Her response is Epic.....No one, Lord! That phrase changed everything. It was her moment of conversion and her recognition that she could not. If you were not aware that the word Lord was of the most importance those times, it is the recognition of him as master and sole decider of you fate. As exciting as this is the next few words make it so much more beautiful. "I do not condemn you either." because he took that condemnation. Then Freedom happened! "Go. From now on sin no more." Not just the instruction "sin no more", but rather the freedom to "sin no more." Scripture clearly tells believers that they are no longer slaves to sin, but rather slaves to righteousness. So the focus of this story is that conversion leads to freedom.        

Still the most important story ever told....

People just want to know, "What did you learn from working at Bible Camp all summer?" Perhaps with long trips with intense ministry it often happens that God will show you some great new truth of who he is. Well, that just was not the case this summer. God is still great and mighty and wonderful. His word was still deep and moved deeply in the hearts of people. His name was uplifted with strong concrete doctrine. Most importantly the message of hope to a dying world was presented. So all the reading, all thing that I have heard this summer. The one message that I was constantly and persistently reminded of this summer. It's still the Cross. It's still the message that offers hope. It's still the reason that it is worth taking just a summer or a trip on the other side of this world. Oh, how often I have forgotten the beauty and hope in that message. Just to reinforce that message, the message at church was on that very same topic. So I walk away from a summer physically exhausted, but spiritually recharged. All while praising God for the people I have had the opportunity to serve along side. Comforted by their heats for ministry and their sound doctrine. Knowing that the most important message we could ever hear is the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

The Weight of Words

The interesting thing about language is that one can take the time to explain a subject or a question in two different ways. One could use a vast number of words to explain the depth of a subject or one could use just a few words with heavy weight. I was reminded of this principle in a conversation I had recently. The nature of the conversation was about the person not being able to met with me due to illness. Now in most instances this would not be a big deal, but in this particular relationship I am only able to see this person roughly twice a year. The message I received was apologetic in nature, yet it also contained worry. The worry is that I would be extremely upset and mad at her. Now if you know me I don't get upset very easily. So i stated to respond as only i can with vast fluffy words. I was no more than half way through, when I received another message.....so i scraped that one to see what is was about. It happened to be from the same person. I was a plead for urgency in my response. So I condensed the message to just to let her know everything was ok. No fluffy words, No grand explanation, just to the point....the response was not exactly what I was expecting(in the best way possible). My assurance and declaration that everything was fine, happened to be  just what she needed to hear.
        My reason for sharing that story is to make the point, that sometimes in life and in scripture words carry so much weight. A literary example would be the shortest recognized poem. It consist of only one letter. The lowercase letter "i". Yet the thing that sets this letter apart is that the dot is not a dot, but the writers own finger print. Now how much weight does that carry? How is that for a proper pronoun?....as amazing as this example is, I believe that scripture carries a phase that carries much more weight. I've heard it hundreds of times and often forget to stop in awe and wonder. John 3:16 starts out "For God so loved the World....." These words need very little explanation, so my challenge to you is to STOP, PONDER, LISTEN, BELIEVE....what else does this phrase call us to do? I still don't understand it with a  few words or all the words on this earth, but it brings great Joy to my life to know that he does.

counting the cost

As with most of my post, this one comes from life lessons learned and the ways that God wants to change things. Well the recent event that triggers this post was the recent opportunity I had to hear from missionaries to a closed country(sharing the gospel is illegal) in a small group question and answer format. This meeting was very encouraging and resolved some of the hang ups that I had with certain missionary organizations. One story that really got me to examine the thought process of my own life and actions follows. One of the missionaries spoke of a person that they had been working with who would admit to the truth of the Gospel, but would be willing to do anything about. The reason that person gave was that after their mother passed they would have to pray their mother into heaven. Hearing that reminded me of a story in the Gospel of Matthew 8:21-22. One of Christ disciples gave the excuses that he needed to wait until his Father died, bury his Father...then he would follow and preach of Christ. Christ then gives him the response "Follow Me, and allow the dead to bury their own dead". Makes you wonder what barriers are standing in the way of you dropping everything and following Christ to the ends of the earth? Just so you know that this is not just another "preaching style devotional", I'm going to speak a bit about how this affects me. In recent years through study and time I have veered some from my super conservative roots. Contrary to much of the teaching I have revived, I have come to the theological position that I do not feel that alcohol or cigars are evil. I think they can be, but if done in a responsible matter they can be a place for community and community among believers. I realize that some will still argue this point, but if I must give up those things for 'health reasons", then we need to talk about giving up Big Mac's too. Back to the theology, I this hold to the fact I feel those things are fine. The problem is that many missionary organizations do not agree. That causes a conflict and becomes an obstacle for what I have worked for my entire life.  So the question for me is am I willing to give those things up, not for theology, but for the Cross?    

The color of the Carpet

This title may seem a bit off, but I assure you it is Biblical in nature. It has been said in a joke that the only word you can't say in church is "CHANGE", seems like such a dumb statement and it is. Though my experiences and the experiences of many many others. Many churches have done a pour job teaching doctrine. Instead of taking time to teach the why, questions are usually brushed off and responded with statements like "you just need to have faith" and "you just need to pray about it." Yes I believe in the power of prayer, but the bible often gives us clear teaching and puts people in our lives to mentor us with practical advice. My point is that sometimes church members are just legalistic for the sake of being legalistic on some issues. So in the rest of this post I am going attempted to list what I believe on various doctrines and issues, because of having to address these things recently.
The Bible: Inerrant and Infallible Word of God.That's right it is all true.
Sin: All have sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God. Rom 3:23. End of story you and I are sinners.
Salvation:Grace through Faith. Jesus is the Only way. John 14:6
Heaven: Eternal resting place of believers.Literal.
Hell: Eternal resting place of everyone else. If you don't know Jesus as your Lord and Savior that is where you are going. It is a Literal place.
The TULIP debate: God is in control. There is both a election of the Holy Spirit that calls you to him and a free choice that you make to respond to him.
Music: David played the harp and the piano is a stringed instrument.
Marriage: Is a christian institution between man and woman. No court ruling will ever change the truth of that.  Should not be entered into in haste. Recommendation from scholars and other counselors that I have learned from is 1 1/2-2 years of dating at minimum. Yes, I'm saying believers rush into marriage for Sex and that is crazy. The best advice I have for that is this: "Sometimes marriage is less about staying in love, than it is covenant keeping." John Piper or the words a man once told me "If you go into it with divorce as a option, then that is how you will end up." K.P.
Drinking: Is not evil. Jesus drank wine....it may have been very low alcohol, but it was alcohol. Not always profitable. Never getting drunk.  obey the law 21.
Law: should abide by as long as it dose not conflict with your faith. That is right Christians should not speed!!!!.
Tobacco: You should not be addicted to anything. permissible.must according to the law at 18.
Other things: There are many issues that America should address before even attempting to single out this or that. The gluttonous behavior of over eating, The addiction to caffeine. speeding down the highway and the failure to get out and witness, but instead taking a political stance. 




   

In my own backyard

As many of you know about a week ago a tornado hit the Silver Valley area, which is south of Thomasville on 109. This happened roughly a mile from my house many of my friends and neighbors were affected by this storm. Not knowing exactly what had happened I went to work the next day and talked with neighbors who knew first responders. Between that and the News I soon realized the vast destruction that had taken place in my community. For me it was a site that I had seen before in other places at other times. To keep to the point I had spent time just after graduating High School doing some disaster relief with the North Carolina Baptist Men (NCBM). I had worked at a recovery warehouse and have been part of two call outs. That was almost 10 years ago. So after receiving information about the damage and that the NCBM have had a call out to the area, I knew I could help. There were a few things I knew about helping with disasters. 1. Don't be a lookie-loo or a rubber neck! I understand wanting to know what is going on, but when you are just looking in a disaster site you are only getting in the way of those who actually are helping. 2. No Degree or higher education is required to help. Find a group who knows what they are doing, then find a need and help. 3. It is never about just the damage. I know for me that was one of the things that dug at me a bit. I would hear people ask me about where the damage was and how bad it was. Was it about the damage and the aftermath?.....
Building can be rebuild and things replaced, but lives are what makes it important. As I was helping give driving directions to the assessment team, I had the unique opportunity of putting faces with people affected by this storm. I stood and talked with a family known as the Daniels. I talked with them as people, not as customers or rednecks or something else. These were people with souls and lives who Jesus cared about and died for. It was such a sobering reminder that we have to be personal in a world that isn't.

Sometimes we have to take baby steps

Well as those of you who follow me know, I have not written a blog in over 2 months. The reason for this is just lack of inspiration and clarity in many ways. This blog is more about being a general update on things going on in my life. First of all after evaluating decisions, progress and godly advice, I have decided to return to school to become a biomedical tech. Practically it should take me no more than a year and a half. The long term goal with this is to pay off my school loans by the time I am 30. This will then free me to walk into almost any country in the world and work bi-vocationally as a missionary, opening doors that a currently unavialible at the current time. Secondly there are things that will and have changed at home with the current health of my Father after having a stroke. The doctors are expecting him to make a full recovery. How all this will change things is currently unknown, but after all we don't know exactly what tomorrow will bring.