The Punisher

I am going to make a confession. My guilty pleasure is watching the t.v. show 'The Punisher' on Netflix. It's bloody, raw, violent and intense. I love it. I couldn't get enough of it. When the first season ended, I hoped that they were going to make a second one. Guess what? They did. Yes!! Anyway, I liked the show so much, that is all I talked about at work. A co-worker convicted me of this. He had started watching it himself and was enjoying it, like I knew he would. I asked him earlier this week what got him started watching the show. He told me that I did. He said that I talked about it so much, that he had to check it out. I was thinking cool, but then... I started thinking about what I was talking about at work. If I was hyping up a violent t.v. show to my co-workers, what was I doing in hyping up my faith in Jesus Christ? What God has been doing and has done in my life. Do they know about that? Do they know my salvation story? How God pulled me out of what I used to be and what He has transformed into now.
2 Corinthians 5:17(NLT) ¹⁷ This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! I want to witness to them. Speak of all the good things that God has done for me and my family. 
1 Peter 3:2 (ESV)² when they see your respectful and pure conduct. How I conduct myself around other people. I want Jesus' love light to reflect off of me to others around me. When people see me, they see Jesus. He must increase, I must decrease.
 2 Corinthians 2:14 (ESV)¹⁴ But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere.
Lord, I want to spread Your fragrance all around my place of employment. I want everyone to know that you are the Lord of my life, and I will not be ashamed to say so. I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ! Lord, I pray that all my speech is pleasing to you. That my actions model Yours. I was made in Your image, I need to start acting like it.

Living It Out.

My wife and I host a small group in our home a couple of times a month. We study the Bible from the You version app on our phones. The last study we did was on attitude. The kinds of attitude that we have when things happen to us. Good, bad or indifferent. The study was reminding us to have an attitude of Christ in every situation. This was kind of eye opening for  me, because even now, I still get a terrible attitude about things. When I do something stupid I say to myself "that wasn't very Christ honoring or pleasing to God." I am a work in progress on this. I have to keep reminding myself of this verse. 2 Corinthians 5:17  (NLT)¹⁷ This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! So my wife and I had a chance to live this out recently. We volunteered at Winter Jam in Peoria last week, Thursday. We had reserved a room for the night at a hotel in town because the concert would be getting out late. When we got to the hotel, the clerk told us that his internet was down and he could not tell which rooms had someone in them, and which ones did not. So he gave us a key and away we went. We got to the door, inserted the key and it was locked by one of those things from the inside. Oh boy!! So we go back down to the desk and tell the clerk this. He gives us another room key and this time he goes with us to see. Again, put the key in and again locked from the inside. Now what. We all head back to the desk to figure out what to do next. Now in my previous life before Christ, I would have been going off right about now on the clerk. But God gave me/us an attitude of peace, mercy and grace! It wasn't the clerks fault that his internet didn't work. He called the hotel across the street to see if they had anything available, and they had the same issues as he had. So that was a no go. So he set off by himself to find us a room. He was gone about 10 minutes. When he came back, he had found a room. Hallelujah. He got us all checked in, and gave us an extreme discount on the room. He apologized a hundred times for what was going on. We told him that we understood and just wanted to go to bed. I think that because we had the right attitude towards the situation, things worked out well for us in the end. James 1:19-20 (NLT)¹⁹ Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry. ²⁰ Human anger^[a] does not produce the righteousness^[b] God desires.  

Super Bowl

So yesterday was the 2019 Super Bowl. Patriots against the LA Rams. Didn't really care who won, as long as it wasn't the Patriots. Yeah, that didn't turn out so well. The stadium was sold out. Over 70,000 people in the stands watching this game. Who knows how many were watching at home, or listening on the radio. The one thing that kept running through my mind was this. How awesome it would be if this  many people got excited for church. They got up, got dressed and went and worshipped and praised the Savior. Supported the pastor. Cheered for the church's success. Got involved in the community through the church. Clapped and high fived everyone for every victory that has been won . Imagine that many people catching fire for God. Wow, would this world be a different place. 100,000 people yelling and cheering for Jesus and His church with as much zeal and passion as their football teams. To take the title from the popular Mercy Me song 'I Can Only Imagine'. I would love for it to become like an Acts 2 church. Acts 2:47 NIV⁴⁷ praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. How great would it be if every Sunday the church added people, that when on Super Bowl Sunday, the churches were packed instead of the stadium. It may seem impossible, but consider this. Matthew 19:26 (NLT)²⁶ Jesus looked at them intently and said, “Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But with God everything is possible.”

Choices!

Choices. We all make them. From several hundred to several thousand choices a day. Some are small like, "what do I wear to school/work today". "What is for breakfast, lunch, dinner". Then there are some bigger ones like, "should I take this job"? "Buy this house/car"? Then there are even more, that could alter your life. Like having unprotected sex. You know what the consequences could be, but you choose to do it anyway. You could get an STD. Or even get pregnant. If you get pregnant, you may say "I chose to get pregnant." No you didn't. You chose to have sex. Pregnancy can be one of the results of this choice. Babies are a gift from God. Psalm 127:3 (NLT) Children are a gift from the Lord; they are a reward from him.
He choses who does and does not get pregnant. If you get pregnant, now you have some choices to make. Parenting, adoption or abortion. Three choices not to make lightly for the future of your unborn child. Parenting. You could give birth and raise your child in a loving home, with a loving family. Adoption is another viable choice. You're not ready to be a parent just yet. But you want the best for your child. You want your baby to go to a good home and good family, for you know that you will not be able to provide for a child at the moment. Abortion means killing the baby before it is even born. You won't give him/her a chance at life. A life you created, by a choice that you made. You view the pregnancy as an inconvenience. Don't have time to raise a baby. To busy chasing that career you've always wanted. Well then, why did you have sex knowing what one of the consequences could be? What did you think you would have if you got pregnant? A car? A dog? What?? So you're thinking "your body, your choice" right! Wrong. The choice you are making doesn't just affect your body, it is also affecting the body that is being formed in yours. Just because it is legal, doesn't make it right. If you were in an automobile accident and killed a pregnant woman, you would be charged with two deaths. If you get into a fight with a pregnant woman and kick her in the stomach and she loses the baby, you are charged with murder. Why is it different with abortion? You are still taking an innocent life. And you are free to do it all because of a choice you made. Choices.

Scraping The Window.

One morning this week I had to scrape the windshield of my van before I could head to work. It is a rare occasion as I usually park in the garage. With our daughter being home from college, I let her park in the garage, and I park either out in the street, or in the drive. As I was scraping, I kept thinking 'I can't wait till I get back in the garage'. Then it hit me. If I'm back in the garage, it means that our daughter has gone back to college. I'm not quite ready for that just yet. So I said to myself, I'll scrape as much as I need and be happy about it. I want to cherish her being here, not to rush the time. It's already going by way to fast as it is. Psalm 127:3 New Living Translation (NLT)3 Children are a gift from the Lord; they are a reward from him. I thank God everyday for our daughter. She is a definitely a gift to us. So, I'm going to cherish the time that she is here, and keep scraping the windows.

The Greatest Gift.

I've been out Christmas shopping a couple of times this week. Watching people hustle and bustle in search of the perfect gift, I couldn't help but think about God and the perfect gift that He has already given us in His Son, Jesus Christ. John 3:16 New Living Translation (NLT)16 “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. You see, God's gift will never wear out, rust, or shrink. His gift keeps on giving, for all eternity. The best thing about this gift is that you do not have to go out to the mall, or any shopping center to find it. You don't have to fight the crowds, or look for parking. You can receive this gift right where you are. At home, in your car, wherever you are, Jesus can meet you right there. I wish you a Merry Christmas, and if you haven't already, I pray that you receive the greatest gift ever known to mankind. Jesus Christ.

Transparent.

Well, I finally think that I might have worn out my welcome. People are tired of my blog posts. They aren't reading them anymore. The last post that I posted had a grand total of 10 readers. That's right 10. Wow! That is the lowest total since I started this several years ago. Not going to lie. I was (am) a little bummed. Then I read this. Galatians 1:10 New Living Translation (NLT)10 Obviously, I’m not trying to win the approval of people, but of God. If pleasing people were my goal, I would not be Christ’s servant. I started thinking. Am I writing this blog to please people and draw attention to myself? Or am I writing about what God puts on my heart to share with other people. I would like to always think the latter, but who am I fooling. I know that I have written stuff to be self serving. To say "hey, look at me and what cool stuff I am doing." I have t-shirts that have sayings on them as well, that I find that I'll wear in certain situations when I know people will be around. Just for them to look at my shirt and say "wow, how cool dude." It' a battle of the flesh. Luke 9:23 New Living Translation (NLT)23 Then he said to the crowd, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross daily, and follow me. This is what my intentions are for this blog. To give up my own words and what I want to say, and write what The Lord is telling me. I want it to be up lifting and encouraging. Not prideful and selfish. I need to die to myself daily. Pick up my cross and follow Christ! So if I have 1 visitor or 100 visitors to my blog, I am doing it all for the Glory of Jesus!