COST AND JUNK

Just got a text that offed me a .243 with a scope for $450. I think I want a gun. Why? Not sure! I do not hunt. I might go once a year but I do not even own a  piece of camo clothing. Here is what I think I have learned. I like the thought of owning a good gun but I just don't want to pay the cost. Now, if I could find a good one for about $250 I would probably buy it. My friend said, "I thought you wanted a good gun not a piece of junk". $250 gets me a piece of JUNK. 


Here is the lesson I learned:


This is how many people approach Christianity. They want a good strong Christian life but they are not going to pay what that cost. Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote a great book The Cost of Discipleship that would be a great read as well as David Platt's Radical or Francis Chan's Crazy Love to inspect yourself as to the cost of discipleship. 


DON'T SETTLE!
Matthew 10:37-39 (New International Version)

   ³⁷ “Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. ³⁸ Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me. ³⁹ Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.

Long Live Passion

Passion is something that money cannot buy. You either have it or you don't. Passion is strong and in many ways unstoppable. One interesting note on passion is how other people respond to it. In worship passion can be misunderstood. Some will say that a person is putting on a show when they worship with great passion. David's wife told him he was making a fool of himself as his passion overflowed into dancing. Passion is powerful and people will either love it or hate it. Don't let the haters stop the passion. Surrender to the passionate love of God and then you will find a passionate love for God. 

27 and Counting

Well, today Mary Anne and I have been married for 27 years. It seems like I am not old enough to have been married that long. I kid with people and say we have been happily married for 25 years. Well, that might be right. There have probably been 2 years that were tough. How have we made it 27 years in marriage? Here is my take and I have lived it.

1.  Remember marriage is a covenant relationship.
2. SAY the words “I LOVE YOU” and DEMONSTRATE “I LOVE YOU” as often as you get the chance.
3. Remember the grass “on the other side” is really over a septic tank.
4. Remember you get out of a marriage what you put into a marriage.
5. As my uncle told me upon our engagement, “Marriage is like a hot tub of water. The longer you are in it the colder it gets.” My advice on that is to keep adding hot water.
6. It’s popular on many signs but not in many lives but make sure you spend time living, laughing and loving.
7.  Remember it’s worth the fight.
8. Go on dates (you and your kids will survive time away from each other).
9. Sex with one person your whole life is really good no matter what people may say.
10. Have sex even when you do not feel like it.
11.  If you have kids, they need you to stay together and in love.

There is more I could say and I’m sure I missed some really important stuff but it has worked.

P.S. I love you Mary Anne Williams

My Take On Yesterday

It is always a great opportunity to see someone come to Christ through salvation. So, to be able to see Jonathon saved just 10 minutes before our worship time was a special blessing.

It was great to then be able to baptize three more as the service started. This year has been a great blessing seeing so many come to Christ and make it public through baptism.

I pray the message was challenging and moves us to realize and live out the live of liners. We are to move the gospel, love, resources and truth. This week let's make sure we do not just go in circles. Fight the tendency of a cruise ship mentality. It is not about what the church can provide for us as much as what we can provide as a church.

Last night was a powerful time of praise. It was so easy to preach after being able to freely go into the presence of God through praise and worship. It was a time that God was really moving in some lives. Oh to have a love so strong for our faith family that it causes us to long for each other.

This week just obey Him. In one of my devotions today it said:

If the Spirit of God has stirred you, make as many of your decisions as possible irrevocable, and let the consequences be what they will.

That is good!!!

Have You Changed?

One of the best books I read in 2009 was Crazy Love by Francis Chan. It prompts me to ask this question of you today. “If you stopped believing in God today how much different would your life look?” Has God really changed the way you live your life. Is your life more concerned with Him and others? Do you love the least? Do you love who everyone else has rejected. I have recently met a family that has changed my life. They have put me on a course to learning to love everyone. Have I arrived? No! Am I moving? Yes! Why does God tell us over and over to love one another? Because we learn we loveable by others loving us. The New Testament says at least 14 times “love one another”. Let us look different as we make a difference. “It is not scientific doubt, not atheism, not pantheism, not agnosticism, that in our day and in this land is likely to quench the light of the gospel. It is a proud, sensuous, selfish, luxurious, church-going, hollow-hearted prosperity.”[1] Be careful how you live. God told His people in Haggai 1:5 and 7 to "consider your ways". Take time to read Haggai chapter 1 today and consider your ways.

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[1] Frederic D. Huntington, Forum magazine, 1890. As quoted by Frances Chan in Crazy Love, p. 63.