Pick and Choose!

My wife and I moved from outside of town last year to a neighborhood in town. My drive time to work has been reduced a tad. So in the time that I have been driving through the neighborhood I started to observe things. Like peoples driving habits. I have noticed that people drive all kinds of different ways around here. Some will do the speed limit but not use a turn signal. Or use the turn signal but speed. Pass other cars while they are turning in an intersection. Not pull over for emergency vehicles. Talk on their cell phones while driving. They'll run a stop sign or red light, but stop for the pedestrian in the cross walk. While watching this all happen over the last few months, I started thinking "wow, these people think that they can pick and choose what traffic laws they are going to obey or break." To me, if you are going to follow one, you should follow all. So like I always do, I started comparing this to the Bible. Everything to me comes back to the Bible. People seem to do the same with God's word. They pick and choose what scripture or verse to believe and ignore the rest. Or they believe some things are sinful, but others are not. They believe that murder, stealing and adultery are wrong, but believe that homosexuality is ok. Lying is ok. Blaspheming God is ok. None of it is ok. All are sin according to God's word. There is not one sin greater than another. All are equal in God's eyes. So we must not pick and choose which we are going to follow. Either we believe that the Bible is 100% inerrant and infallible, or it's not. If you don't believe that its all true, then none of it is true. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 New Living Translation (NLT)16 All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. 17 God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work. 1 Thessalonians 2:13 New Living Translation (NLT)13 Therefore, we never stop thanking God that when you received his message from us, you didn’t think of our words as mere human ideas. You accepted what we said as the very word of God—which, of course, it is. And this word continues to work in you who believe. Amen!

Left In The Dust.

Have you ever done something nice for someone, help them get back on their feet, only to be left in the dust when they get back up? Yeah, me too. Several times in fact. People keep saying to me that I am to nice of a person. I have a hard time saying no, especially to those in need. I don't do kind things for people to get repaid, it's just who I am. I try to be like Jesus. In my daily Bible reading this week, I came across this story which kind of reminds me of things that have happened in my life. It's one of the stories of Joseph in Genesis. The story can be found in Genesis 40 and continues into chapter 41. He interpreted dreams for two of Pharaoh's officials who were put into prison because they had made him angry. Three days later, the officials were released and put back into their places of prominence. Forgetting all about Joseph and what he had done for them. Yep, this sounds familiar. Stick your neck out for people, help repair their reputation, whatever, and so on. Then their like "who are you?" as they take off again, leaving you in the dust. It took two full years for the one official to finally remember that Joseph was still in prison. That only happened because Pharaoh had dreams that he needed interpreted. The official remembered that Joseph had interpreted his dreams two years ago, so he let Pharaoh know about Joseph, and what he had done for the two officials in prison. Joseph was summoned immediately and interpreted Pharaoh's dreams. When Pharaoh heard the interpretation, he accepted it and then placed Joseph in charge, over of all of Egypt. It wasn't Joseph who accomplished all of this. It was because God was with him. Leading him and directing him. Giving him the wisdom to interpret dreams. The Spirit was fully on him and his life. Even though he was in prison, Joseph never stopped doing the right thing. He never grew tired of doing the right thing. Read the story for yourselves and see. I know a lot of people who would have given up and said forget it. I'm done. In the New Testament comes this powerful verse. Galatians 6:9 New Living Translation (NLT)9 So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up. I think that Joseph was living this out well before Paul wrote it. So my prayer is that no matter what happens to us, keep on doing good and never grow tired of doing the right thing. We will reap a harvest of blessing if we can just hold on. I believe that it is possible because God's word tells us so. Philippians 4:13 New Living Translation (NLT)13 For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength. So my brothers and sisters, keep the faith, hold on and never tire of doing good! God bless you all!

Sprouts!

My wife and I have a married couple as friends from our last job. They are great people to hangout with. Very nice, kind and generous. Their kids are pretty cool as well. We all get along fabulously. The one catch is, they are not believers. I may even go as far to say that the husband is either an atheist or agnostic. His wife I'm not sure about and the kids just fall inline with their parents. They know that we are Christian and that I am a Christian Pastor. We walk the talk, and live out our faith. They see this every time that we are around them. Let's back up ten years, when we planted our seed of faith with them when my wife and I were married. They attended our very Christian wedding. Where the vows and words said pointed to Jesus and who He is in our lives. He is the center. The ceremony meant more to us than the reception that followed. We wanted our family and friends to feel the presence of our Lord and Savior during the ceremony. Fast forward to 2011. I had been attending ISOM (Illinois School of Ministry) classes, to become a credentialed minister. In 2012 I received my license from The Assembly of God, Illinois District. My wife threw me a surprise party at our church. This couple were in attendance. They even bought me a Christian gift. So now fast forward to present day. We get together with each other a few times a year. Sometimes they come to our house, and sometimes we go to their house. Sometimes we just go out to eat someplace. When we meet at our house, we always pray for the meal and for the night that is planned. They know this and expect it. Whenever we go to their house, I go by their house rules. If they don't want to pray for the meal, then that's up to them. I am not going to push myself and my faith on somebody in their own house. That isn't a good witness for Christ. So a couple of weeks ago, we were invited to our friends house for dinner. We show up and everyone is there. Husband, wife and the kids. Were all at the table just about ready to eat when the husband says "would Keven like to say a prayer?" I said sure I would love to, if that's what they wanted. He said yes, that's what they wanted, so I did. So ten years after planting the seed, watering it and nurturing it, we are starting to see sprouts. 1 Corinthians 3:6-9 New Living Translation (NLT) 6 I planted the seed in your hearts, and Apollos watered it, but it was God who made it grow. 7 It’s not important who does the planting, or who does the watering. What’s important is that God makes the seed grow. 8 The one who plants and the one who waters work together with the same purpose. And both will be rewarded for their own hard work. 9 For we are both God’s workers. And you are God’s field. You are God’s building. Thank You Lord for these friends. Thank You for Your word being made alive by the way that we live our lives.

Revelation.

I work on a shipping/receiving dock. Everyday it is constant chaos around the docks. People walking around, pulling pallet jacks back and forth with finished product and raw material. I'm not talking about one or two people. No, I'm talking about several people walking about. Whenever we were unloading a truck, we always have to stop for someone walking behind us. It's crazy. It's amazing to me that anything was accomplished with all of this going on. I really struggle with all of this chaos. It really drives me crazy, day after day. One day last week, God gave me a revelation on why I struggle so mightily with this. He directed me to His word. 1 Corinthians 14:33 New Living Translation (NLT)33 "For God is not a God of disorder but of peace". If God is a God of order, and Jesus is God's son, and The Holy Spirit is part of the Trinity and lives inside of me, then I am also not of disorder, but of order and peace. That was it! I was at odds with the chaos going on around me. It was total disorder and definitely not peaceful. So I would pray that God would give me the peace and grace that I needed to get through my day. I think that He revealed this to me, so that I would learn to trust Him more in the mundane day to day stuff at work. To give me peace in the midst of chaos. I still get angry sometimes when I have to stop and wait for people to get out of the way, but God gives me grace so that I can extend His grace to others. Thank You Lord!

Doing What God Commands!

I want to compare the story of Noah and the flood, from the book of Genesis, to today's modern world. Can you imagine being Noah? God spoke to him and told him to build a boat, because He was about to destroy the world and every living thing on it with a flood. He told Noah that it's going to rain for forty days and forty nights. Noah could have said "What? What are you talking about? It has never rained a drop before." "Are you sure Lord?" He could have questioned God about the whole thing. In Genesis 6:22 he did this instead. 22 "So Noah did everything exactly as God had commanded him." Noah did exactly what God wanted him to do. He followed all of His rules for building the boat. The exact height, width and length. Then The Lord told him to gather every kind of animal, both female and male and load them into the boat along with all of his family. Again, he could have questioned The Lord. "Are You sure Lord?" "The smell is going to be terrible." "It's going to be very uncomfortable for my family to be in close proximity to wild animals." Once again Noah did this. Genesis 7:5 "So Noah did everything as the Lord commanded him." Two things that God wanted Noah to do that took him and his family out of their comfort zone, that didn't make any sense to him. Make a very large boat and fill it with his family and animals. He could have questioned God and voiced his opinion, but he did them without complaining or questioning. Two verses in two different chapters tell us that Noah did EXACTLY what God had commanded him. It says in Philippians 2:14 Do everything without complaining and arguing. Can you imagine what this world would be like if everyone just did exactly what God commanded? Without grumbling or complaining about what God is asking or telling us to do. I'm sure it would be a much different place. A much better place. I pray that You give us ears to hear, heart to receive and feet to respond, to do what you are calling us to do. Without griping or arguing with You. To just be obedient. I pray that we continue to have a hunger, a thirst for You. To do things that don't make sense to us. To pull us out of our comfort zone. Deuteronomy 31:8New Living Translation (NLT)8 Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord will personally go ahead of you. He will be with you; he will neither fail you nor abandon you.” Thank You Lord!

Being Humbled!

I have two t-shirts that have sayings printed on them. One is printed on the front, the other is printed on the back. They read "Pastor, because devil stomping ninja isn't an official job title." I wear them quite often because I think that they are cool and get some conversations started. Well, a couple of weekends ago, my wife and I volunteered for a community event, Feed My Starving Children. We were going to be volunteering with about 360 other people for the shift that we were on. I thought about what to wear that night. Then I thought to myself "hmm, I'll wear one of those pastor shirts." "I'll wear the one with the printing on the back." I was thinking to myself that by wearing the one with the printing on the back, people would notice the shirt, notice me and hopefully make some comments about it. My plan was to work in an area were my back would be to everybody, so they could all see my shirt. Well, God had other plans. He reminded me of this scripture, Matthew 20:28 New Living Translation(NLT)28 For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others. I translated it to be "your not here for people to look at you and notice your clothes. Your here to serve My starving children around the world, by packing meals for two hours." So what did God do to humble me you may ask? He placed me on the far side of the floor, my back up against a wall (so no one could see me or my shirt), doing a job that I absolutely hated. I worked that job for the two hour shift, because that is what God wanted from me. Towards the end of the shift, I finally got it through my thick skull what God was saying to me. It's not about you my child, not tonight. Tonight it's about serving others, being my hands and feet to the world. So my answer was yes Lord, whatever You want. Your will be done. Isaiah 55:8-9 New Living Translation 8 “My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord“And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.9 For just as the heavens are higher than the earth,so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts." For that lesson in humility, I am grateful! We volunteered again the next night for two shifts. Guess what I wore? A less conspicuous shirt!

I've Got To Do Better!

This may be my most transparent/vulnerable post yet. I've have had a lot of thoughts swirling around in my head for the last several months. Work, family, church. Some good, some bad. But thoughts none the less. Our pastor has been doing sermon series the last couple of months that have challenged me. I watched a movie tonight that challenged me. How are these things challenging me you may ask? I've got to do better. I need to be a better employee. Need to stop complaining about my job (Philippians 2:14), and just embrace where God has me right now. Just because things are not going the way that I would like them to go. It's not about me, it's about what God wants from me. That's to be obedient! He has placed me in this company for a reason. To shine His light to everyone there. I am doing my best to do just that. I need to be a better husband (Ephesians 4:32). To be the man that my wife needs me to be. To help out more around the house. I work a lot of hours, but you know what? So does my wife! I've got to do better! I need to be a better father. Show my daughter how a Christian man is supposed to be. Show her how a man is supposed to love a woman. Be supportive of her when she calls home from college with an issue that may seem trivial to me, but is a big deal to her (Psalm 103:13). I've got to do better. A better family member to my family. Both immediate and extended ( 1 Timothy 5:8). I've got to do better! To be a better leader at the church that I attend. I've been on the elder board for the last couple of years. I've got to do better. I pray that God will change some things (okay a lot of things) but if not, I will do what He wants me to do. For His glory.For His praise. I may not like it or want to do it, but His ways are higher than mine. His thoughts are greater than mine (Isaiah 55:8-9). This is the word that The Lord gave me tonight as I was driving home from Rockford. I've got to do better. You know what? I can do better. I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength (Philippians 4:13). I just need to trust Him more. Lean on and cling to the Rock! He is my everything. The beginning and the end. The Alpha and Omega. I pray Lord, that you use me in a mighty way. Wherever you want me. Might not be where I want to be, but You're in charge, and for that I am thankful!