New Year Kiss

How to End the Year 2011 and Begin 2012

I read an article today that that gave me courage and strengthened me in leading my family and in my walk with God. It is written by a man from who's ministry I have gained much, and I want to share it with you in its entirety here. The article is lengthier than my normal posts, but I do not believe you will regret reading through it all. Let it breath purpose, vision, and courage into your life as well.

(PS, I am making some design changes to the blog, however I couldn't get some of the subtitles to appear, their text is white so they are blending into the background. Highlight the text and the words will appear!)


How to End the Year 2011 and Begin 2012
By Doug Phillips

Life moves fast. If we don’t take the time to chronicle the providences of God, we forget them. If we don’t take the time to say thank you to those who have invested in our lives, we actually cultivate a spirit of ingratitude in our own hearts. If we don’t stop and make sure that we have a spirit of forgiveness toward others, we grow bitter, we lose the capacity to move victoriously into the future, and our prayers are hindered.

Here is a little practice that I was taught and would like to share with you. Each year, during the last week of December, I would encourage you to do the following things.

I. Outline and Chronicle the Many Providences of God

Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it. (Hab. 33:2)

First, using simple bullet points, outline the key events for every week of every month of the year. Take the time to do the research which will help jog your memory and allow you to make an accurate record. I find that reviewing bills, blogs, journals, newspaper headlines, letters, and even organizing my photographs chronologically are enormously helpful tools. Those individuals who were faithful to journal or keep a diary will have little problem reconstructing key events. Give yourself a good week to reconstruct your own outline of the year. Also, by making this a family project, you will not only build your list with greater speed and precision, but (in the hands of a loving patriarch) the very act of chronicling the providences of God in your life is a blessed tool for family discipleship.

Every family will have a different set of priorities directing what they should record. In addition to recording the key events and providences of the year chronologically, I try to take the time with my family to record some of the following information on separate bullet lists:

1. Where did I/we travel?
2. What were the most important sermons I heard this year?
3. What books/articles did I write?
4. What significant household projects did we accomplish in 2010?
5. What were the most important meetings of the year?
6. What special friendships were made this year?
7. Which children lost teeth, and how many?
8. Who grew in physical stature, and how much did they grow?
9. Who learned to read this year?
10. What diet and physical exercise regimen did I maintain to honor “my temple”?
11. What books did I read? Did we read as a family? Did my children read?
12. What Scriptures did my family memorize?
13. What loved ones died this year?
14. What were the great personal/ministry/national tragedies and losses of the year?
15. What were the great personal/ministry/national blessings of the year?
16. What were my most significant failures/sins for the year 2010?
17. What commitments have I made to overcome sin in 2011?
18. What significant spiritual and practical victories did I experience?
19. In what tangible ways did I communicate gratitude to those who have blessed me and invested in my life?
20. What are the top ten themes of 2010 for my family?

II. Say ‘Thank You’ to Those Who Have Invested in Your Life#3

[I] cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers. (Eph. 1:16)

Whatever happened to the man who first opened to you the words of life from the Scripture? Where is the comrade, coach, or instructor who believed in you and helped you to accomplish a great goal? What about the Bible teacher whose careful handling of the Word opened up new vistas of understanding? Where is the friend who stood with you through thick and thin? Most importantly, what have you communicated to the mother who carried you in her womb, loved and nurtured you, or the father who labored to provide for and shepherd you?

When was the last time you responded to their investment in your life with gratitude, blessings, and even money? Jesus reminds us of those ungrateful recipients of blessing who simply went their way without demonstrating gratitude (Luke 17).

Before the year ends, make a list of two types of people: The first list are the names of people whose life, ministry, or personal investment in you have deeply touched you and changed your life. (In my case, the list includes parents, pastors, and even some teachers from the early years of my Christian walk that I did not meet until much later in my life, but whose books and tapes were crucial to my personal discipleship as a young Christian.) The second list should include those people who played the most significant role in your life in 2010.

Write a brief, meaningful letter to each of them. Be specific in your gratitude. Explain what they did for you and why it was important to you. Show them how they were God’s instrument of blessing in your own life. Pray over each letter, asking God to grant you rich insights on the character qualities of each individual and on the way those qualities changed your own life. Where appropriate, include a check or special token of appreciation that reflects your desire to show them, tangibly, that you recognize that you are in their debt. You cannot imagine the joy this will give to someone from your past who may think you have forgotten them. Give generously and without concern for getting a tax deduction. I strongly recommend sending money to your parents. Keep in mind that you will never be able to return their personal and financial investment in your life, except through your testimony of faithfulness, covenant keeping, and honor to the Lord.

Also, your children need to know the people who have blessed their parents. They need to see that Mom and Dad are grateful and generous. Share your letters with them. In our household, we ask our children to write to some of the people who have blessed Mommy and Daddy, because our children are the indirect recipients of these blessings on their parents.

This will take a day or two to complete. You may have twenty letters to write, but you will never regret saying “thank you.”

One last thought: One reason why Christians are often limited in vision, energy, and blessings is that, contrary to the Lord’s command, we are ungrateful, unforgiving, and bitter. Far too many who profess the name of Christ spend more time obsessing on those who have wronged them than rejoicing in those who have blessed them. Letters and tangible expressions of gratitude are not only pleasing to Christ, but an antidote to heart-sickness.

III. Forgive Those Who Have Wronged You

Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good. (Romans 12:19-21) In the course of a year, it is possible to build up many offenses and personal grievances at others. Left unaddressed, these grievances fester and grow. They turn the heart black and the body weak. They foster a spirit of vengeance and misguided self-righteousness. The short of it is this: Unforgiveness leads to bitterness. Bitterness curdles the mind and the spirit.

Fresh starts and new years should begin with forgiveness for others. Having a genuine spirit of forgiveness towards those who have wronged us is a mark of biblical Christianity. It is an evidence that we have been redeemed, and that we are praying lawfully: “Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors” (Matthew 6:12).

Successful Christians are men and women who are free from bitterness. They have learned the principle modeled by our Lord Jesus Christ who, while suffering death at the hands of people he had never wronged, was able to say “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:24).

I have a dear preacher friend with a sterling reputation who was once grievously slandered. When asked about the wicked actions of the slanderers, he replied something to this effect:

Oh you don’t understand — I am far, far worse than my detractors realize. They may have gotten a lot of the specific facts wrong, but I am just thankful they don’t know how bad my heart truly is. God have mercy on me a sinner. This man had victory over bitterness.

My father is another man who always appeared to have victory over bitterness. In fact, from my earliest days to the present, I have watched lesser men “twist the truths [he’s] spoken to make a trap for fools.” [i]

Early in my life when I was still in government schools, I would listen to my own teachers criticize before my class the work my father was doing for the President to dismantle a government agency which was at war with the family. I read untruthful articles and saw derogatory comics on the pages of the Washington Post picturing him as a caveman for his “prehistoric” views. When my father was a leader in the Republican Party in Massachusetts, a gangster repeatedly threatened the life of his family. I remember being a boy and having my father shield me from homosexual picketers and protesters that would follow him and our family around at public locations.

Most painful and difficult for many to forgive is betrayal and dishonor. But that is a mistake. Betrayal and dishonor probably exist in the lives of most men. And why should any Christian be denied in their lives what past generations of Christians — and our Lord and Savior Himself — patiently endured? To our shame, most of us have been on both sides of that coin. From a son’s perspective, however, it is highly instructive to watch a father act honorably in the midst of such conflict. It has been a great blessing in my own life to observe my father nobly respond even in the face of barbs from former allies and friends, once loved and nurtured by him.

Eternally optimistic, Dad would always say: “Never be bitter. Life is too short. Thank God for your blessings. Press on!”

Bitterness comes from being unwilling to forgive. Bitter people are small people. They are unsuccessful people. They are people who cannot move forward. They are people who believe that the personal wrongs against them are so great that they — the offended — are entitled to do to their offenders what they pray the Lord Jesus Christ will never do to them: refuse to forgive.

Here is my recommendation: Think through every grief, minor and major, caused by others to you in the year 2011. Now add to the list any other personal offenses that continue to linger from past years. Write these down as bullets on a sheet of paper.

The first thing you will likely realize is just how many offenses are polluting your thought life and, probably, your spirit. This is a sign of latent bitterness. Bitterness will kill you. It renders you completely ineffective.

Now prayerfully walk through the list — bullet, by bullet. With each offense, remind yourself that the most despicable action taken against you by another utterly (and infinitely) pales in comparison to the least of your offenses against the Lord Jesus Christ.

And yet He has forgiven you.

Before 2012 begins, adopt a spirit of forgiveness towards your insensitive friends as well as your hateful enemies. Forgive your imperfect father for whatever it is you need to forgive him for (and pray to the Lord that your own children someday forgive you for your failures). Quit devoting untold precious hours to commiseration, mental replay of the wrongs done, and thoughts about just how badly you were wronged. Stop blaming everybody but you for your problems. Look to yourself. Once you start chronicling your own sinful attitudes and crimes against God and man, you simply won’t have time to worry about the wrongs done to you. You will stop being bitter, and you will start being thankful.

Wipe the slate clean. “Press on.” Forgive.

Conclusion

As 2011 comes to a close, take time to remember and to say “thank you.” Take time to examine yourself for bitterness. Forgive others. Finally, as you love God with all your heart, soul and might, trust Him, too. Really trust him. Trust God with all your heart, your soul and might. You and I can not solve every problem. What we can do is be kind, forgiving, and patient before the Lord. We can not “fix” everything that is broken. Only God can do that. In His time and His way, the Lord can not only bring peace, but He can give you the very desires of your heart as you seek Him with integrity. He can redeem the years the locusts have eaten, and He delights in blessing his faithful children. “The blessing of the LORD, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it” (Proverbs 10:22).

It is appropriate that we stop and thank God at the birth of a new year. Remember that God gave man the stars on Day Four in part so that he could order and structure his life based on a clock/calendar system of days, seasons, and years (Genesis 1). He tells us to “remember” acts and to “number” our days. In Scripture, the formal act of remembering providences of God in our life is linked to hope, honor, and generational success (e.g., Psalms 44, 78, etc.). By February 2012, the year 2011 will be a distant memory. Strike now while the iron is hot. The opportunity to remember and to say “thank you” may never come again. And can you afford even one more day in which your prayers are hindered — because you were refusing to forgive? Trust the Lord. He is in charge: “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all y our ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths” (Proverbs 3:5).

To read the article in its original form, please click here.

Knowing God

Last night with the men wrecked me. We have our normal men's gathering Wednesday nights, however the meeting didn't go normal for me as I am troubled... in a good way.

Not sure at the moment if my thoughts are heretical, but I must share them.

I posed the question on the blog yesterday, Do you or I really know God?

I considered Moses and the apostles. They didn't have all of the Scriptures we have today. No... they knew God well enough to write them.

Would you or I know Him enough to write parts of the New Testament? The Law? The Psalms?

It seems we in academia USA try to understand the whole of Scripture, and that equates somehow to knowing God or spirituality at times. Unfortunately, equating closeness to God with knowledge of Scripture falls apart when you consider those who can't read or write, yet walk with God and lay down their lives for Him, specifically in persecuted nations. Somehow they live close with God, yet have never read the Bible. We also know those who can argue the Scriptures, showing knowledge, yet aren't actively living for Him.

Knowledge of His Word does not equal knowing Him.

Some might say we do not need the Holy Spirit (who is God) today. We have the Word, right? Who needs God Himself? What we overlook is that the forefathers knew God well enough to write the Book. They walked with Him.

The problem I see is when we replace knowing God with knowing His Word.


We subconsciously think, "we have the Scriptures, so who needs God?" I'd say it's a good thing God didn't add more to the canon of Scripture as it would have given us greater reason to NOT go to God Himself!

Ohhh, but the fathers and mothers of they faith knew more. They knew God. They walked with God. So much so that they could pen His very words inspired for us today.

If we merely end the journey at understanding His Word, we fall short. As much as we must know and understand His written Word, we still fall short. We must allow His Word to direct us and lead us to Him, to walking with Him.

That I may know God...

Do you know Him?

Had a great time with other men from The Chapel tonight. Many thoughts are stirring, but here's one simple question for us tonight...

Do you know God? Do I?

Before you answer, consider...

Moses didn't have the new testament or the prophets. He didn't have the law. He knew God well enough to WRITE the law.

Consider the apostles. They didn't have the new testament. They had the law and the prophets and the commands of Christ having walked with Him. And, THEY HAD GOD, the Holy Spirit, given at Pentacost. With that, they had enough to merely write the New Testament we hold to.

I'm afraid that in our day, instead of the writings of Moses, the prophets, the apostles spurring us to know God more, even in greater measure than they, we have exchanged knowing God for memorization and knowledge of the very words that the heroes of the faith WALKED with God to get.

See, the forefathers knew God, and wrote through inspiration, through knowing Him. If we only then use their writings as an end in of themself and not as an invitation to know that same God, then we have missed it.

We know of Him, but do we KNOW HIM?

So I ask again: Do you and I really KNOW God? Really?

Dream Giver

Delight yourself in the LORD, 
   and he will give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:4


Erwin McManus said it something like this: If you are passionate about God, you can trust your passions.


When he is our delight, we can trust that the desires we have in our heart are from Him. In fact, the Psalmist says that HE gives us desires. By the power of the Holy Spirit and the renewing of our minds, our desires become Christ-like, and we can use the dreams in our heart as a rudder in many ways regarding the will of the Lord. God is the ultimate dream giver! And as Christians, it is His dreams we should desire.


But let's not get the cart before the horse - the first question that should be answered is, Is He your delight?

48 Hour Christmas

Christmas Day was a great opportunity to see old friends and family. We started the day worshiping God and celebrating the birth of our Savior with our former church family in Albion, NY. It was great to see old friends and familiar faces. We then continued packing for our return trip to Kentucky, then enjoyed festivities at my parents and desert with my wife's extended family. All in all, a great day with family and friends.

If it had been a normal day, we probably would have concluded the day with some more packing to leave in the morning and then some hanging out. However, we decided to give it a shot to drive through the night. So at around 10:45pm Christmas night, we left Albion, NY and headed for KY.

Needless to say, My wife and I are pretty wiped at the moment, as we took turns making the drive. The bed is sounding awfully good except for the semi-nauseous feeling I have from packing down Mountain Dew, Doritos, Reese's and Sour Patch Kids in an attempt to keep myself awake during the late our of the night. I am in definite need of a body purge (no more junk food!). So was it a good idea to drive through the night? Not so sure, but either way, we are back home.

I am hoping to post some more pics from our 10 day adventure here in the near future, so check back soon.

Hope your Christmas Day was filled with peace and joy in Christ, and great memories with those you love (and hopefully more sleep than what we got!)

Good News

It was 2,000 years ago that angels brought good news of a King, a Saviour, being born in Bethlehem. His name was to be Jesus - Emmanuel - God with us.

However you celebrate Christmas tomorrow, I pray you carry the presence of the Lord, Emmanuel, with you in all you do.

Jesus, the reason for the season; the reason for my living.

Merry Christmas.

Christmas Eve Eve

Celebrating Christmas a couple days early at grandpa and grandma's house... yahooo!

Warm Shot

This is one of my wife's favorite pics from our anniversary trip. Shot from Anna Maria Island, Tampa Bay waters, of the Anna Maria pier.

If you are in cold weather (like most of the country is!) maybe this can generate some warm and fuzzy thoughts :)

Back Together

The oldest four of our kids were split up to both sets of grandparents in NY while Liz, our youngest son Caleb, and I celebrated our 10th anniversary in the warm sun of Florida (Caleb was our chaperone ;-)

We were all back together last night after being apart for these few days; it was so good to see each of our children. With Mom and Dad being back, there of course were some surprises to be passed out from the trip - smiles and gifts shown above.

Parting Shot

Tomorrow we leave for the frozen tundra, better known as Buffalo, NY. For now, here is a fun pic captured today of a special moment between my youngest son and I, Tampa Bay in the background.

Beach Bums

Summer days in December on Anna Maria Island.

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

My wife and I are enjoying some much appreciated R&R to celebrate 10 years of marriage together. We will also be enjoying some time with family for Chrtmas over the next little bit.

I wanted to let my readers know that for the next few days leading up to and through Christmas I'll be sharing some pics and short thoughts from our journeys and time with family with you. Please enjoy, and may God bless you as you celebrate this wonderful time of year with those you love.

By the way, the pic above is a shot of the sunset over the Gulf of Mexico, taken Sunday night. Our view is absolutely gorgeous!

On the Road

We had a great trip up to NY to see family. The kids rode fantastic to say the least, for what is a long drive for them.

As you can see, we hit some snow as we got north of Columbus, OH. Unfortunately, shots like these are hard to come by in Kentucky.

Though not all snow storms are fun to drive in, most bring out the adventurer side of me :)

Everyone Makes Mistakes...

I was reading an article tonight on espn.com regarding the Barry Bonds saga. Bonds has been accused of using steroids during his MLB career, though as far as I know, never found guilty. At a recent hearing, the article stated that "Bonds was sentenced to two years of probation, 250 hours of community service, a $4,000 fine and 30 days of home confinement." Not for steroid use mind you, but for misleading the grand jury.


The thing that stuck out to me in the article is what one fan outside the courthouse said, "Whatever he did or didn't do, we all lie... We all make mistakes. But I don't think he should've gotten any kind of punishment at all."


No punishment... Yeah, makes sense. We all lie. So let him go. Free. Right?


Take that thinking to the extreme and you will have murderers being let off scot-free because, "we all make mistakes," and, "there have been others who have murdered before..." so no punishment is necessary.


Of course, that's absurd and and even horrifying. Justice must be done on the wrong-doer, we would reason.


So it is with God. The Bible says in Romans 3 that,


"None is righteous, no, not one;
 no one understands;
   no one seeks for God.
All have turned aside; together they have become worthless;
   no one does good,
   not even one."


And the prophet Isaiah states that "our righteousnesses are like filthy rags."


Regardless of what we think or feel, we are guilty before God. We may think we are not that bad because we compare ourselves with the people around us. But when we are matched up with the purity and holiness of God Almighty, our filthy rags are revealed. We are guilty. And our only necessary punishment is eternity in Hell.


We don't realize the weight of our sin, that we as a people have rejected God, killing His Son that He sent to earth in love, and have chosen to serve other gods, including ourselves. It's all about me syndrome.


Thankfully, the payment for our debt is found in Christ. He bore the punishment that was rightfully due us upon Himself.


We go free.


It's not that our sin wasn't sin. It's not like the thinking of the fan in the Barry Bonds situation who felt Bonds should go free because we all sin. No, we have all sinned, but God took the punishment. He paid the price. He took the penalty that was on my head upon Himself. He suffered in my place. And because the debt I owed, the sentence I deserved, was placed on and paid for by Him, I go free.


Yes, we all make mistakes. We all sin before God. But that is not the reason we should not be punished. Rather, that is why we should be punished.


Thankfully, our hope is in Christ for those who believe. In Christ is the only way I can go free. Thank you Jesus.

A Letter To My Wife, On Our Anniversary...

A letter to my wife, on our anniversary....

Elizabeth,

Ten years ago today I was preparing myself to meet you on an altar in a country church in western New York. Ten years ago we made a promise to one another, to stay together and love one another through thick and thin, good times and bad. We made these promises before the Lord of the Universe who has been with us and has blessed us through our first decade of life together.

I’m so glad we made these promises to each other ten years ago today.

You have been my companion through the thick and thin, the good and bad. You are my friend and lover. You have stuck by my side even when I was difficult to stick by. If there is one quality that you have shown me it is that of your faithfulness.

You are a faithful wife, a faithful mother of our children, you are faithful in the running of our home, and faithful in your walk with Jesus.

You have been my faithful companion.

I thank God, honey, for your love, kindness, patience and faithfulness to me. I don’t deserve the love you give me, yet you give it freely. You are fun, energetic, passionate, compassionate, patient, and more. There is no one else I would rather be spending my life with.

So today, on our ten year anniversary, I want to tell you that I love you. That I would marry you all over again… I am more in love with you today than I have ever been. And I sooo look forward to the next ten years (and more!) together.

I love you. Happy anniversary.

John

Social Networking Christmas

Can a video about social networking and Christmas be inspiring? Yes sir...

Ten Years of Love

It's been fun reminiscing through the past ten years of marriage to my beautiful wife Elizabeth :) As a final installment before our actual anniversary post (scroll through my old posts for others), I wanted to share a recent portrait of the family, unveiled on the web for the first time!

From our dating days until now, who would have known the wonderful journey God would lead us on. A young, twitterpated couple, now ten years older (and hopefully wiser), blessed with five beautiful children, and still twitterpated :0)

I thank God for my wife and the time we have been able to share together, and I greatly look forward with anticipation to the next decade of marriage together!

About Christ

It's time to get on my soapbox... Ah-hem....

Christ is central. Christ is King. All things were created through Him and for Him. As King, His commands are to be followed. His commands have benefits for life. Yet, in discussing the benefits of following Gods commands, we must not forget that they are just that - commands.

For instance, one might discuss the benefits of forgiving those who have hurt you. That you can better your life through forgiveness, and live in greater freedom as a result. Your forgiveness prevents you from being all you can be, you know.

While all this is true, we must be careful regarding the message we are believing, and relaying to others.

Forgiveness is more than just a self help, better my life, positive way of living. It is a godly way to live. It is the way to live that follows in Jesus footsteps, and it is the only thing that makes sense knowing how much He has forgiven us of. And, forgiveness is a command.

There are definite benefits to many of the commands of Christ... forgiveness over bitterness, giving over receiving, love over hate, joy over depression, faith over fear... All of these have great byproducts to the Christian life. But without Christ, they are just positive mental attitudes. Just attributes to add value to your life. It is Christ that brings depth and meaning to these virtues. It is for Christ and because of Christ that we forgive, love, have joy, etc. And, it is through the power of the Holy Spirit in a born again believer that enables us to truly walk all these things out in a heavenly way.

Without Christ, these things are little more than a humanistic path to a better life. A life that is all about me still. But when it's all about Christ, these virtues are commands, and flow naturally from the new life we have in Him.

So let's take heed and be careful today to keep Christ at the center of all his commands and benefits. If we don't, we flirt with the danger of becoming a church and a people that is little more than a social club, instead of the Bride of Christ.

Unfortunately, it seems to me that many have adopted this social club, better myself gospel that keeps me, and not Christ, at the center of my world.

I will step down from the soapbox, for now...

Purify

Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure. 1 John 3:2-3 ESV.


This morning during worship, I had a renewed sense and desire to be searched by the Lord, to have Him direct His holy gaze into my heart and bring to the light the wicked ways within me. I went to this verse...


Search me, O God, and know my heart!
  Try me and know my thoughts!
And see if there be any grievous way in me,
  and lead me in the way everlasting!
Psalm 139:23-24 ESV

I also visited this classic verse from King David's psalm...


Create in me a clean heart, O God,
   and renew a right spirit within me.
Psalm 51:10 ESV

The bible says that we should purify ourselves as He is pure. It had been a while, too long of a while, since I had asked the Lord to search me and reveal any grievous ways within me. As followers of the holy One, we should be asking the Lord to remove the unholy things from our hearts. If I am to be intimate with Him, I must come to Him on His terms.

Who shall ascend the hill of the LORD?
   And who shall stand in his holy place?
He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
   who does not lift up his soul to what is false
   and does not swear deceitfully.
Psalm 24:3-4 ESV


And so it is. For us to be close to the pure One, we must purify ourselves. One way to do that is to ask the righteous judge to refine us, search us, and reveal any sinful, grievous ways within us.


Let's ask Him today, and never stop.

What Does Your Heart Say?

One of my favorite verses, Psalm 27:8, and a great one to consider as we gather to worship the Lord tomorrow.

You have said, "Seek my face." My heart says to you, "Your face, Lord, do I seek."

What does your heart say?

Story or Science?

Some of our kids at one of the Creation Museum's exhibits

One of the things that is lacking in the Christian church of our day is an understanding of the link between science and the things that we see, and the Scriptures and what we do not see. We refer to science and what scientists study as "facts," while the truth of the Bible regarding things such as the flood of the earth and the creation of man are referred to as "stories."

And so a disconnect forms between what we may have learned from secular science and what we read in the Scriptures, which ultimately can undermine the Truth and shipwreck someone's faith.

One of the best ministries out there on the front lines of this battle for truth is Answer's in Genesis and it's popular Creation Museum.

We visited the museum for the first time this past year and loved it. It was a great way to spend time together as a family and at the same time, lay a foundation of establishing the Bible as more than stories, but as facts and truth that help to explain and make sense of the world around us.

If you haven't gotten the chance to visit it yet, make it a goal to bring you and your family this year. I don't think you will be disappointed, and the lessens learned are priceless.

Fill in the Blank

Copyright (C) 123RF Stock Photos 

For you twitter people out there (or not), here is my tweet of the day I read recently. I thought it was thought provoking and wanted to pass it along to my readers...

The tweet is from Taffi Dollar:

"Fill in the blank: If I could use only one word to describe my relationship with Jesus, it would be ________."

Hmmh. What would your word be?

Remember the Colosseum

Picture from awesomestories.com

I am reminded this morning of the Christian lives that were lost in the Colosseum of old. I am encouraged in my heart to night forget their faith, their courage, their sacrifice.

We must not forget the sacrifice our brothers and sisters in the faith have made throughout the years and even up to today. From the stoning of Stephen, to those who may give their life even today for the Gospel, we must not lose sight of those paying the ultimate price for faith in Christ.

In persecuted nations, they are well aware of the cost of following Christ. In lands of religious freedom (arguably coming to an end in America), it is easy to forget that as we gather in pretty church buildings and openly preach the Truth, coffee mug in hand, there are those in cold jail cells around the world worshiping the same Creator with shackles on their arms, awaiting a visit from their torturer.

Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body. Hebrews 13:3 ESV


It is beneficial today for us to remember the martyrs, the persecuted. Beneficial for us and them. We need their faith and courage. They need our prayers and love. We are one in the body and share in the same faith, the same Lord, the same Spirit.


Let's remember the Colosseum today.

Kid Smart

Kids are smarter than us adults in many ways. Where adults are content to live in hypocrisy and empty religious practices, our kids see right through such facades. I have realized over the years that it is difficult to pass on to my children a passion for Jesus if I myself am not walking in and living with such passion. How do I expect them to live for God more zealous than I, when as the leader of the home I live out a lukewarm, compromising lifestyle?

I can tell when I am not hungry for God. When my heart isn't burning for Him. When I try to teach or encourage my kids in the things of God in those times, it's like my words have no life in them, they are empty, because Daddy isn't living what he is preaching.

How do I encourage them to make Jesus everything, when He isn't everything to me? How do I exhort them to have one love, one passion, when my heart is is in love with the allurements of the world or caught up in the distractions of life?

Kids will see right through such illusions. Give it time - a lifestyle of hypocritical living, I believe, will be exposed to our children. And thank God for that. It should concern me that if my life doesn't match up with my words, my kids will see through it, and their walk with God could be and most likely will be negatively affected as a result of my hypocrisy. And at the same time, it should challenge me to the core of my being to live a life of integrity and passion before the Lord, as I well should.

A pastor friend of mine said that integrity is when our thoughts, words and actions all line up as one. And ultimately, they should line up with the Word of God. And so it is with us... Are we living lives of integrity and godly character before our children? Are we modeling for them lives of passion and love for Jesus? Or are our words falling on closed ears because they cant hear us over the noise our hypocritical actions?

And so we must repent, resolving to keep the fire for God burning in our hearts, forsaking the world and it's allurements, for the sake of our children, and His great Name.

God Cares

My friend, Tom, has often said one of the greatest revelations he has received in his life from God is that He cares. GOD cares.

He cares about where we are at, what we are going through, and what our struggles are. He knows our thoughts and emotions; He knows those moments when we are thrilled with excitement, and those moments when we feel like a basket case. He is there when we rise, and there when we fall. He knows us all too well - and I am so thankful for that, because He cares.

The Bible says in Psalm 139,
 O LORD, you have searched me and known me!
You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
   you discern my thoughts from afar.
You search out my path and my lying down
   and are acquainted with all my ways.
...
 I am fearfully and wonderfully made.


So, regardless of what you and I are going through, the difficult battles you might be facing (even the crazy yet o so real battles we face in our own mind)... God cares. He knows us, and He cares.


Thank God and find peace in Him today.