My Online Faith Journal

Peter: Shifted as Wheat (I originally preached this sermon in August 2003) Luke 22:31-32 We are going to look at the example of Peter this morning and see how God desires to mold us into Christlikeness just as he did with Peter. He usestrials and all sorts of circumstances to do that. Not that all circumstances that happen to us will be good. I heard about a man who always said “This is good.” to everything that happened to him.It seems that he went with his king on a hunting trip. He loaded the guns and the king shot them. Evidentially, he loaded one gun wrong and when it went off it shot the king’s thumb off. Examining the situation, the friend said as usual, “This is good.” Well, the king got mad and threw his friend in jail. “No, this is not good.” About a year later, the king goes on another hunting trip to a area where there are cannibals. The Cannibals capture him and tie his hands and feet and bound him to a stake to cook. As they come near, they find the kings finger is

I was listening to a message today by Jack Graham on his radio program Powerpoint.  He is talking about how God guides us.  He quoted the verses in Proverbs 3:5-6 which was also a very important passage to me, particularly in college when I was trying to decide what to do.  Essentially, it says that our main objective is not to figure God out, but rather to trust Him and to surrender our ways to Him. To surrender means to me that I am yielding my own desires and will and laying them down at Jesus's feet.  I am willing to move or mold or change my plans to His.  This does call for trust because it is saying that I don't know what is best.  In the end, a lot of sin is due to the fact that deep down we truly do believe we know best.  Jack mentioned in his sermon times when God does not seem to be working or has us in a holding pattern.  When things are not working out as fast as we think they should we may have a tendency to jump ahead of God and try to fix things ourselves. I

  One of the things I remember my chaplain supervisor telling us is that every person has a gift to give us.  That gift can take many forms.  For some, like the first pastor I worked with out of seminary, it will be to teach me what I don't want to be like.  For others, it may be to show us some fault or weakness in ourselves.  The gift doesn't necessarily have to be something the person wants to give us.  It is a part of they're interactions with us and our journey together.   I can remember a couple who came into the trauma unit when I was a chaplain.  They had been in a car accident going over 70 miles an hour when they hit an apartment building.  It flipped the car and turned it completely around.  The man in the car was not breathing when he came in.  They had to do cpr and got his heart restarted. The teenage girl in the car had some minor scratches.  She was badly scared, but otherwise unhurt.  I called both of their families and asked them to come to the emergency

I was looking at some posts on christianforums.com and there is a debate in some of the threads on when and how Jesus will return.  Particularly if the rapture is something seperate from the second coming.  In some cases, it seems different and in some ways it seems the same.  Looking at one passage in Matthew 24:29-30 "But immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened; and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken, and then the sign of the Son of Man wll appear in the sky,and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory."   One thing I noticed from this is that similiar to when Jesus was crucified the sun refuses to shine.  Those are the only two instances that I know of where that was the case.  Because this is a time of victory for the saints, but also a time of judgment for tho

On a forum that I sometimes visit, someone asked how we can keep from backsliding.  I answered by talking about the importance of prayer and Bible reading.  While this may sound at first like a legalistic answer, it is not.  It is an answer based on the importance of staying connected to God.  It is what Jesus referred to as "abiding".  Notice this in John 15:1-4  "I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.  He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, so that it will be even more fruitful.  You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself, it must remian in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in Me." I believe that this scripture talks about the importance of relationship with God.  Is it any wonder then, if the christian faith is based on relationship, that the first two commands and most i

 So, I had trouble getting up for church Sunday and not feeling great, so we decided to go on Sunday night. I don't remember the last time I have been on a Sunday night.  During the service, my son had a disagreement with my daughter and threw a rubic's cube at her. Fortunately, it didn't hit her, but did hit the wall on the side of the sanctuary.  A brief thought went through my mind to drag him from the sanctuary, but I didn't cause I knew he would fight me and it would have been even more disruptive.   It made me think about all the time the people in Philippi wanted to tell me how to parent my children.  Some people seem to believe that if a kid acts up your to simply whip them into submission.  That seems to me in many cases to be simply teaching kids that I am bigger than you and I'm going to force you to do something.  How does that teach kids to do right when there isn't the threat of punishment?  I remember one church member who was trying to rebuke m

  One of the things that fascinated me about the Old Testament, particularly the temple and its structure, but also some of the stories in the Old Testament was how it so symbolic of Jesus and what he did on the cross.  One of the examples of this is in John 3:14 when it says, "Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life."  You may not be familiar with the story.  It can be found in Numbers 21:4-9.    The story goes that the people grumbled again against Moses and said, "Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the desert?  There is no bread! There is no water! And we detest this miserable food!"  This is after the experience they had where they saw Moses produce water from a rock as mentioned in Numbers 20.  They were not just doubting Moses, but this statement implies that God was intentionally misleading them into the desert to kill them.  Their words expr

I noticed recently that Pat Robertson made another remark that has many people shaking their heads wondering what is wrong with him.  But, this is nothing new for Pat.  Remember, this is a man who once ran for President.  He is a egomaniac.  He wants the spotlight on himself.  So, instead of preaching and teaching the good news of Jesus, He uses his television program to talk trash about a people already hit with a earthquake.  Great move Pat.  What next?  Maybe trip some old ladies in the park?  Encourage children to play with hand guns?  Did you forget to take your Aricept Pat?  No wonder so many unbelievers have problems with Christians today. In addition to this, he also said 9/11/2001 was an act of judgment by God by the way and that in 2007 we would see a weapon strike our nation.  (A comment by him that did not come true by the way)  In contrast to him, Jesus himself tells us that it is the merciful who will receive mercy.  Jesus, when he had the chance to condemn the woman at

I was thinking about the title to this post and the last one and I wanted to say right now that I am not claiming in this blog to have a corner on God.  I am not claiming that I know more than anyone else.  I am not claiming to be an expert.  I am just writing down my thoughts.  If anything else, this blog is helping me to process my thoughts a little.  If anyone else gets something from it then I am glad to hear that. I was reading a booklet titled "What am I supposed to do with my life?" by Douglas Brouwer.  One of the questions he presents in the material is a statement that many well meaning christians make.  It goes something like this, "God never closes a door without opening another." Rev. Brouwer asks the questions, "Is this statement really true?"  I would have to agree with the conclusion that the author comes to when he says, "No, this is not true."  At least not in the sense meant by the people who are making this statement. Many

I recently read a little booklet about vocational calling.  It was written by a Presbyterian minister who was talking about how to know what God wants us to do with our vocation.  In other words, what am I suppose to do with my life?  My work?  Course, the ultimate goal I think is honoring God and glorifying and living for Him.  But, specifically what does God want us to do?  At different times in my life I would have answered that question differently.  But, I think the answer is found in answering a different question.  That question is "Who has God made you into?"  In other words, when you look into the mirror, what is the core values and goals that are yours?  What makes you get up in the morning? What do you find fulfilling?  What are your strengths and gifts?  To answer that, of course, is something only the individual can do.  Nobody can do it for you.  The answer is the calling.  The vocation, in my opinion, is an outward working out of that calling. At some point

I've been involved in church most of my life.  My parents started taking me when I was a baby and encouraged me when I said I was interested in looking into the ministry.  They never pushed me to go into the ministry though.  I think back on my relationship with the church and what we do in church and I think it has been a hot and cold relationship at best. There are some aspects of church that I really enjoy.  I enjoy feeling a part of something bigger than myself.  I enjoy times of worship where I feel closer to God.  I enjoy learning new things from the Bible.  I enjoy making new friends and seeing those friendships deepen.  I really enjoyed preaching and teaching, but I also hated the literature from Lifeway.  You expect people to grow you have to feed them something other than milk  But, it seemed the closer I got to a position of authority in the church, the worse things got for me.  I came to a point where I hated going to church.  I felt like God's presence wasn'

  I recently found this book at Barnes and Nobles on the bargain table.  It is called "The North River" by Pete Hamill.  I think I like it because it has to do with the strength of the human spirit and moving on despite tragedy.  Despite the overall tone in the book, especially at the beginning, which seems kinda depressing.   Dr. Delaney is the main character.  He lives and practices medicine in New York.  One day he comes home to find his 3 year old grandson in a stroller on his front step.  His mother has decided to go look for her husband in Spain.  There is also a part of the story where Delaney is between mob figures, one of whom he knows from the War.  Delaney is currently struggling with the fact that his wife left 16 months ago and may have drown in the North River, also called the Hudson.   I don't know New York at all since I have never been there, but my sense is that the author is giving up real facts about the city as he tells the story.  We are getting a

What are your favorite verses or promises in the Bible?  Here are some of mine. Most of the 8th chapter of Romans, especially verse 1 "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus."  Also verse 28 "And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to HIs purpose." Romans 5:8 "But God demonstrated His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." John 14:1-3 "Let not your heart be troubled, believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father's house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you.  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also." Philippians 4:13 "I can do all things through Him who strengthens Me." Colossians 1:13-14 "For He delivered us from t

Lately, I've been thinking about revisiting the issue of the rapture and studying the end times.  I know some people would say why bother with this since there is so many theories and ideas.  I do think it is a good idea to ask the question "How does this apply to me right now?"  when looking at studying the Bible rather than just doing this for the fun of it.  How does whether or not the rapture happens at the beginning of the tribulation period or the end matter in the end. The main passage I have looked at has to be 1 Thessalonians 4:17 which mentions being caught up in the air with the Lord.  This seems distinctly different to me than seeing the Lord return and come down to earth on the Mount of Olives.  There is a lot of similiarities between the idea of the rapture and the second coming, but they also appear distinctly different in some ways.  For one, if the rapture is next then that could happen at any time.  Jesus does tell us that his return could be at any ti

In Colossians 3:12-13 Paul says, "Therefore, God's chosen ones, holy and loved, put on heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience accepting one another and forgiving one another. If anyone has a complaint against another. Just as the Lord has forgiven you, so also you must forgive."   When I read this passage, there are a couple of things that stand out to me.  The first is the way that Paul refers to us as believers, "chosen ones" and "holy and loved".  Paul is reminding us of our status before God eyes even if we don't feel that way ourselves.  We are holy because we are forgiven.  We are chosen because we are loved.  But, Paul also urges us to put on the new life and to take up the old one.  Not in order to be saved, but because we are.   What that says to me is that the life of faith is meant to be demonstrated.  It is suppose to make a difference in the way we treat other people.  It is expected of us that we love, f

The sermon on the mount in Matthew 5 starts with a series of statements from Jesus.  These statements seem to be almost the polar opposite of what we would expect to hear from Jesus or any religious teacher.  They are the opposite of what we often hear in the secular world.  Jesus says that among those who are blessed are those who are poor in spirit, those who mourn, the gentle, the merciful, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.  The disciples must have walked with Jesus in a state of constant amazement. Even Jesus' actions appear to be a contradiction at times, Jesus often seemed to ignore the Sabbath.  He didn't say a word when his disciples picked grain to eat while walking through the fields.  Jesus openly talked about his death and rejection from the Pharisees and Sadducees.  He talked about taking up your cross, an image not clearly identified as a symbol of victory, but one of death.  If Jesus was a pitcher, his favorite pitch would be a curve ball. Maybe

  Colossians is one of my favorite books of the Bible.  When I was a pastor in Philippi, West Virginia, I did a series of bible studies on Wednesday nights with our church members on this little letter that Paul wrote.  Most likely he did not even personally know the people at Colossae.  It was a town that was on no major highway at the time.  The two churches I pastored were a lot like that.  They were both miles off the beaten path.    One of my church members in Hull, Texas where I was pastor told me when she had trouble sleeping at night she would count how many businesses had been on main street at one point.  When I was there there was a post office, hardware store and our church.  There was a place to eat and a gas station several blocks away and nothing else until you get to the next town.  This lady who had lived in Hull most of her life said she had at one point counted 28 businesses that had been there including 3 car businesses a movie theater and a two story hotel.  All o