The Abortion Cross

I know that most of us have seen the Abortion Crosses in the yards of our churches in Blount County.  My church even puts them out for several weeks out of the year.  I wonder though, what message does this send?  "We are against abortions", "We are against murder".  It does say those things I guess but that can't be why the Abortion Cross is displayed.  If it is, we should put out Adultery Crosses and Lying Crosses because we are against adultery and lying.  Is the intent of the Abortion Cross to stop little girls from getting an abortion because they saw the love of Jesus coming out of the cross?  If that is the intention, we missed it badly.  Maybe the intended message is political.  Maybe the Abortion Cross is put up to try to sway voters.

Whatever the reason for the Abortion Cross, my opinion is that it does more harm than good.  The Abortion Cross doesn't scream love or even hope.  These crosses aren't symbols of resurrection of our Lord, in this case, they are symbols of graves.   They are reminders of "Look what you did".

I wonder if one hurting, crying, alone little girl ever attended a church because of the church's Abortion Cross display.  When talking to her boyfriend about what to do, did he say "why don't you go talk to someone at the church with the Abortion Crosses, I bet they will understand".  

What about the little girl or woman that had an abortion.  For the rest of her life, she is haunted by the decision she made.  It will never, ever go away.  Even when they have been forgiven, there will always be that hurt.  And when they are hurting and looking for help, will they go to the Abortion Cross church?  Absolutely not.  

I drove by my church a couple of weeks ago on a non-church day and saw the Abortion Crosses.  I then drove through the park and saw some teenagers.  I was taken to tears when I began to dwell on the remote possibility of one of those girls having had an abortion and now they have been reminded once again of what they did.  Many girls/women that have abortions never tell anyone.  Churches should be a sanctuary for hurting people and the the church shouldn't do anything to keep them away.

The bible says "There is therefore no more condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit", Romans 8:1.  If the church believes that, then why to we provide another tool for the devil to use all in the name of "standing up for what is right".  

In marriage, we pick our battles wisely.  I think it's time for churches to do the same.

I know most of you won't agree with me and that's OK.  This is my opinion, it doesn't have to be yours.  I just ask that if you are responsible for putting out Abortion Crosses, ask yourself "Does this really show the love of Jesus?".

I love you and God does too,
John Knight

Is this how Jesus sees us?

I'd like to share a text with you that Kim sent me yesterday.

"Epic morning with Kelsi this morning.  I love that little rascal.  She is amazing, she loves me so good and she is fun to love.  Unlike everyone else, she sees no flaws in me.  The older girls don't see me like she does.  One day, things will change.  But for now, she is my princess and I am her favorite queen."

 All of my life, I've loved the scripture that says "I tell you the truth, anyone who doesn't receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter in" (Luke 18:17 NLT).  I've always associated this with faith.  It takes childlike faith to be able to accept and believe the Gospel.  

Romans 14:17 tells us that the Kingdom of God is "righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit". I don't think that is the only definition for the Kingdom of God.  Graeme Goldworthy  summarizes the Kingdom of God as "God's people in God's place under God's rule."  I like that summary, especially when I think about it in terms of Christ.  Jesus is saying that if you don't receive God's people like a little child, you can't be a part of God's people.

Back to Kim and Kelsi (mother & 4-yr old daughter).  Kim's text about Kelsi is exactly how Jesus looks at (receives) Christians that have been covered by his blood.  Kim has never done any wrong in Kelsi's eyes.  Not only that, she is Kelsi's favorite person...favorite queen!  Every meal Kim makes Kelsi is the best she has ever had.  Every moment Kelsi spends with her mom is spent as though it would be her last.

I was blown away when God revealed this to me.  Jesus is all-knowing, all-powerful, omniscient, and omnipresent.  He created everything including you.  Yet when he sees us, it's not through judgmental eyes wondering why we act this way.  He sees us with eyes of acceptance like a child.  He wants every moment that you will give him.  And like with our children, every moment you give Him will never be wasted.  But we can't stop here.

This is also how God want's us to look at and accept others.  He wan'ts us to ignore flaws as though we can't see them.  He wants us to forgive trespasses like he forgives us.  He wants us to give like we own it all anyway.

God loves us so incredibly much.  He desires a personal relationship with all of us.  He want's to be with you at home and at work, not just at church.

God loves you and I do too!

John Knight

My Dad...

For the past 12 days I've wanted to write a new post to my blog so badly.  But each time I've thought about it all that would have came out is pure emotion, the kind that just comes off as being a whiner or victim or attention-getter and that's not who I am.  As most of you know, my dad died on 10/25/13. 

If you didn't know my dad and you spent some time with him, you would have thought that he was a bit harsh, sometimes rude, but always joyful.  I know that sounds like an odd combination but my dad was a simple man.  So simple, in fact, that he just didn't know better than to tell you what was on his mind.  He didn't mean anything by it, he just thought that the unadulterated truth was best.  Once you knew this is how dad was, it was enlightening to his behaviors.

You see, mostly what was on dad's mind was Jesus and he was going to tell you about it.  Dad loved Jesus with all of his heart.  He was so thankful that God had healed him from cancer (dad was cancer-free when he died, he died from a brain bleed).  Anyone dad met, he told them about his miracle.  If he knew you didn't go to church he would tell you that you need to go to church.  If he thought you may not be a Christian, he would ask you if you were going to heaven or not.

Dad is the only person that I've known to not have an agenda in his relationships.  What I mean is that he didn't love people expecting a benefit.  He had no ill will or malice in his heart so he just assumed no one else did either.  Dad taught me how to give people the benefit of the doubt.  

You had to be close to dad to understand this but dad just loved.  He loved every person that walked through his door because he knew they had came to see him.  He often cried when I got there and cried when I left.  Not because he was sad but because he was so happy to see me.  We enjoyed each other's company and we talked a lot but often we just sat.  So often, we (not just me but my brother Jody and our wives) would just sit.  Dad would sometimes doze off for a few minutes and when he woke up he would always say "I wasn't asleep, I was just resting my eyes".  We loved to watch football together.  We are both huge UT and Cowboy fans.  No matter how good or how bad our teams were, we loved watching them together....together.  If UT got down by as much as a touchdown, you could be guaranteed that dad would say "It's over, UT is beat".  Kim and I always got a good laugh out of that.

I miss my dad.  A couple of people have asked me if I would bring him back from heaven if I could.  To their surprise I said YES!!!  Are you kidding?  I would absolutely bring him back if I could.  Oh yeah, he would be mad at me because I took him away from Jesus but the way I look at it, he would get to go back.  I want him here with me.  I want one more fishing trip with him.  I want to hear him say "We're gonna catch us a whampus" one more time.  I'd like one more heaping bowl of ice cream with him.  Just one more time, I'd like to look at him sitting in his Lazy-Boy with his dog on his lap and him say to me in the most sincere voice "love you son".

I love you dad, see you soon.

John

Is Divorce really what you want?

If you've been divorced this post may offend you. If it does, I'm so sorry because that certainly isn't my intent. But if you are married and especially married with children, this post is for you. We know what the Bible says about divorce and I think so many have heard it so many times that they may tend to ignore it; mostly because, I think, people know that God will forgive them when they do wrong. Given that, I'm not going to reference God or His will. I just want to focus on marriage.

Book after book has been written on this subject so I'm sure that I may not have any original thoughts. Tonight, Kalli and I went to Olive Garden and a lady with her two young girls was eating beside us and she didn't have a wedding ring on. Does that mean she is divorced? No. But going with the odds, she probably is. They were happy and having a fun time but I thought about how sad it was that these girls daddy wasn't with them.

When you first got married and were in love, did you say things to your newlywed spouse like "if we stay together" or "I hope we make it"? I doubt it. Those newlywed emotions run deep and hot, so hot that they tend to cool off after a while. That's no surprise and certainly not a profound statement. What's left when the newlywed feelings aren't so hot is marriage. Too many couples focus so hard on those newlywed feelings that they lose sight of why they have those feelings. They have them because they are with the one that they love and it's exciting to know that you will have them the rest of your life. That is the phrase that too many couples let go of so quickly; "the rest of your life". If your wedding vows were like mine and Kim's they included a "till death do us part" and "through better and/or worse". That is one heck of a commitment, a life-long commitment.

So when couples with children get divorced, what do they teach their children? First, they teach them that it is OK to quit on what is important. We teach our children to not quit. If they start something they can't quit. The more effort a kid puts into something, like sports, the more we encourage them when things get hard. We tell them something like "you've put so much into this, you've worked so hard, please don't quit now or you will regret it for the rest of your life". A friend of mine had a son who wanted to quit a sport during his senior season. He told him that the decision is his son's but he encouraged him not to quit and explained in great detail the impact it would have on the rest of his life. Even though it was hard and his situation didn't get easier, the boy stuck with it. He was glad he did and had no regrets for it.

A divorce also teaches kids that things worth having aren't worth working for. We teach our kids "if it's worth having then it's worth working for". How is the biggest commitment that you've ever made not worth working for? We teach our kids that if you want to be smart, you have to study. If you want to make better grades, you have to study harder. We all want a better marriage yet so many aren't willing to put any more effort into it.

In my opinion the problem boils down to two simple things; pride and selfishness.  I know this isn't new information but I can't stress how important these two things are and how they have no place in marriage. So if I'm telling you to work to keep your marriage, what work do you do? From my own experience, Kim and I spent a lot of time "working" at keeping those newlywed feelings. We spent years trying to get back that newlywed passion that we had. But if you want that fire back in your marriage or if you just want to keep your marriage the work shouldn't be spent on kindling passion and emotions. When you work at those things, you are trying to do work on your spouse. If it doesn't work then you may blame your spouse instead of yourself. The real work that needs to take place in marriage is the work that you do on you.

Most people, if not all, don't want to admit they are selfish. But you show me a failing marriage and I'll show you a marriage where one or both spouses are selfish. What is being selfish? Being selfish is simply putting your wants and needs ahead of your spouses. I'm not talking about serving yourself before your spouse. I'm not talking about spending your money on your spouse instead of yourself. What I'm talking about is when your feelings, your happiness is more important than your spouses. If you are struggling in your marriage, I encourage you to look inward at yourself first. Are you putting your happiness ahead of your spouse? Are you not giving your spouse what they want because "God didn't make you like that"? It's all about effort. Your spouse needs to see that you are willing to do ANYTHING for them, even if it's out of your comfort zone. And I'm really talking about meeting emotional needs not physical needs. Physical needs are important but emotional needs are so much more important. Your spouse needs, I mean really needs to know that you love them and they really are important enough to you that you committed the rest of your life to them.

What keeps people from being unselfish? Pride. Plain and simple, pride keeps you from doing the things your spouse needs and wants. When was the last time you said you were sorry when you really weren't? When was the last time that you held your tongue instead of saying what was on your mind? If you tend to say what is on your mind, even if it starts a fight then you have pride issues. If you never apologize just to keep the peace, especially before a fight starts, then you have pride issues. We teach our kids to take pride in what they do and we should. That kind of pride is good. When was the last time you thought about taking pride in your marriage? Or more, when was the last time that you took pride in your spouse? When was the last time that you felt proud to be married to them?

Marriage is hard, I know. Divorce rates are at 50% or higher inside and outside of the church. You can't worry about statistics and you can't use them as an excuse. A long time ago, I learned that if you wanted to succeed at anything you had to avoid "relative comparisons". Relative comparisons are when you compare what you're doing to someone else. It's when you say "I may not be great but I'm better than my neighbor". In marriage, we can't do that. The only thing that is important in marriage (outside of God) is your spouse. IT'S NOT YOU. You married the person that you're living with (or separated from) with the intention to be with them until you die. So you can't settle for a failing marriage and justify it because it hasn't failed yet like your neighbors did.

Love isn't that passion you felt as a newlywed. Love is the commitment you made to your spouse. Love is "till death do us part" and "for better or worse". If you want to teach your kids one of the most valuable lessons they could learn, show them how to love.

I know it is hard to do these things when your spouse isn't. But I can almost guarantee that if you put in the effort to work on yourself, your spouse will notice. If you haven't seen the movie "Firerproof" or haven't seen it in a while, watch it and watch it soon. Like I said, my thoughts aren't original they just can't be said enough.

I know there are times when divorce can't be avoided like spousal abuse. If your spouse is abusing you, I encourage you to get out now. However, there is a difference between being insensitive and being abusive.

I encourage you, I beg you, to strive for a prosperous marriage. I know you think your spouse is the problem and you may be right. However, if you will look to be a better spouse your efforts won't go unnoticed. It may take a while but it will be well worth it in the end. I can't think of a time when I said to myself "I wish I would have started that fight instead of holding my tongue".  If you need prayer about this Kim and I would be happy to pray for you.  You can reach me at johnkn.home@gmail.com.

If you live completely for Jesus today, you won't regret tomorrow what you did yesterday.
I love you and God does too!
John

The One Who Sins Will Die!! What??

As unexciting as it may be, I've been reading almost completely out of the Old Testament for the past few months.  You can't beat the Gospel in the New Testament but I love going back to the stories that I learned in Sunday School as a little boy.  Most of them came from the Old Testament.  Many scriptures are jumping out at me as I read but the ones that are really resonating with me seem to be those of redemption and forgiveness.  

Today, I was eating lunch and reading Ezekiel, when I got to chapter 18 the heading said "The One Who Sins Will Die".  

Now I don't know about you but that got my attention...real quick!  It's funny how the editors of the different Bible editions know exactly how to catch someone's attention.  It's funny because that really isn't the important message, it isn't what Ezekiel 18 is about at all.  Yes, Ezekiel 18 spends a good deal of time focusing on a sinner.  But it also focuses on the righteous and, more importantly to me, the the repentant sinner.

For some reason lately, I've really had repentance and forgiveness on my mind when I've been reading the Bible.  Partly, I'm sure, because of Prison Ministry.  So anytime I get to read a verse that backs up what I believe, I think it's awesome.  Maybe I'm the only person that the devil still tells during those tired times that "you aren't saved".  Or "none of this would have happened if you were really saved".  Of course I know better but that still doesn't mean that the devil doesn't come at me with that crap.  Ez. 18:21 (NIV) says;

 "But if a wicked person turns away from all the sins they have committed and keeps all my decrees and does what is just and right, that person will surely live; they will not die".


That verse really excites me.  When I read it I just said to myself "that's me".  I was a wicked person but I turned away from all the sins that I committed and I keep the decrees of the lord.  I do what is right and just.  I have repented.  That's me!

Is it you?  Are you the new man in Ez. 18:21 or are you the man depicted in Ez. 18:24in which God says;

"But if a righteous person turns from their righteousness and commits sin and does the same detestable things the wicked person does, will they live?  None of the righteous things that person has done will be remembered.  Because of the unfaithfulness they are guilty of and because of the sins they have committed, they will die".

The great thing about God is that he always makes provisions.  If you happen to be the person described in Ez. 18:24 (righteous turned wicked), God sent His son Jesus to die for your sins.  Simply turn from sin and do good and seek forgiveness from Christ and you will be the person described in Ez. 18:21.  As for me, I've been wishy-washy like the Ez. 18:24 man in the past but my commitment to God is to never be like that again.  Our walk with Christ and our eternal fate is much to important to ever turn back on God.

If you live for Christ today then tomorrow, you won't regret what you did yesterday.
God loves you and I do too!

Happy Birthday Little Brother!!

Regret!!!  Life is full of it.  In it's simplest form, regret is just the mindset of wishing you would have done something different, usually because of the outcome of a decision.  I try to teach my children to not have regret in life because it is very hard to fix.

My life is full of regret; I wish I would have tried harder in school, I wish I would have been closer to my grand parents whom are all dead now, I wish I would have insisted on playing Line-Backer full time instead of Defensive End, I wish I would have had short hair, I wish I would have tried contacts sooner, I wish I would have taken my relationship with God seriously, I wish I would have maintained friendships...... I think you get the picture.

Now what does all of this have to do with wishing my brother (Jody Knight) a Happy Birthday?  Well its simple, I have a lot of regret when it comes to the way I handled our relationship as children.  Anyone who knows us knows that we have completely different personalities and we always have since birth.  Basically, his personality was good and mine was bad.  I loved my brother but I was jealous of him because he was "cuter" or "nicer" than I was.  When you couple that jealousy with the fact that I was mean , I was more of a bully than a brother much of the time.  

Now don't get me wrong, we had a lot of fun.  We played football, baseball, and Nerf-hoop in our bedroom all the time and we played in the woods, swung on muscadine vines, played in the creek in the woods, went swimming, and rode our bikes a lot.  But for anyone who has ever been in a bad relationship, the memories that tend to stand out aren't the good ones, its the bad.  It would be too easy for me to tell too much about the negative so I think that I will just leave it at "I was mean to my brother, too mean".

After all these years I love my brother very much and I always have.  I have always been very proud of him.  I have the utmost respect for my brother.  He was a great athlete in school, he was was always smarter than me, and he beat me at every video game we ever played.  Now, he is a strong, reliable, Christian man.  He is a loving husband and loving father.  Like me, he isn't perfect but I think he is a lot closer than I am.  I've done what I know to do to let him know that I love him and I know that he knows that I love him.  The problem is that word "regret".  I just can't help but wonder how things would be today (for both of us and our families) if I would have let the love of Christ overshadow my relationship with my brother.

And you?  Do you have any regret like me?  You can't go back and undo what has been done but you can ask for forgiveness and then move on. Maybe you were on the other end of the stick and you are harboring hard feelings because of the way you were treated.  You must forgive.  

Regret isn't healthy but it is a fact.  All we can do is live our lives from this point on with no regret.  If you live today completely for Jesus, then tomorrow, you won't regret what you did yesterday.

I love you and God does too!

It's never too late

A few weeks ago, pastor Brad used Jeremiah 18:1-4 in a message series that he preached.  Since then, that scripture has been echoing in my mind.  The NLT version reads like this:

The Lord gave another message to Jeremiah. He said, 2 “Go down to the potter’s shop, and I will speak to you there.” 3 So I did as he told me and found the potter working at his wheel.4 But the jar he was making did not turn out as he had hoped, so he crushed it into a lump of clay again and started over.

Verse 4 is what resonates with me.  God specifically was telling Jeremiah that Israel had not turned out as he intended, so like a potter does clay, he was going to crush Israel and start over.  This verse makes me think about my personal life and testimony.  I can see myself on the Potter's wheel and things are spinning and He is molding me as planned.  But then a flaw comes out of the clay that messes up the pot.  As long as I am willing to accept being crushed, the Potter takes me back to a form he can work with and starts again.

Sometimes, the Potter has to completely crush me because the flaw is so big that I just have to go back to the beginning.  Sometimes, he just has to use a tool to dig out an imperfection.  This may leave a scar but that will become part of my testimony.

Obviously, I use this verse when I do prison ministry because everyone knows that a felon needs to start over.  But how about us?  How willing are we to let God crush us into a lump of clay so he can start over with us?  Too often, I'm afraid, we tell God "not yet, let me finish here and then you can have me".  Or just as bad, we see other flawed jars and we tell God that our flaw isn't so bad, especially compared to our neighbor.

Probably the saddest situation is the person that thinks that their flaws are too bad for God to want to fix.  Or maybe they think they aren't important enough for God to fix.  I know this sounds crazy but after talking to the people that I have over the years, you should never be surprised how someone may think or feel.  I have met so many people that just didn't feel worthy to be saved or "fixed".  There are so many hurting people that don't realize that what they have done just doesn't matter to God.  All He cares about is whether you are a willing vessel that is willing to let Him mold you.  Are you?

God loves people, period!  He may hate sin but he loves people.  He loves drunks, drug addicts, child molesters, adulterers, homosexuals, murderers, and liars...to name a few.  He will forgive sins and THEN put you on the Potter's wheel for him to mold.  God is ready to forgive sins and accept you as you are, we just have to be willing vessels.

God loves you and I do too!

Scars

I was looking in the mirror today as I guess most normal people do when they wash their hands when I noticed two scars above my left eye.  Its not that I was surprised or anything, I knew they were there, they've been there for 39 years.  I just thought it was funny how days, weeks, and even months go by without me noticing the scars yet they are always there.

I have all kinds of scars; scars caused by falls, scars caused by my carelessness, scars caused by others.  Some of my scars are my fault, some were caused by others, and some couldn't be avoided at all.  I have scars that I'm proud of (I'm still a little boy inside) and I have some that I'm quite ashamed of.  Many of my scars I remember how I got while many more I just don't remember.  I remember when I was a kid, I once counted 22 scars on my left knee...and I was proud.

As I was looking in the mirror I realized that these two scars on my head symbolized much more than just a couple of falls when I was a kid.  Now I know this probably isn't original thinking and I'm sure someone smarter than me has put this in a much better way but this is me....and these are my scars.  As I looked in the mirror God showed me how there are other scars that we have other than physical.  These emotional scars are much like my scars; some we cause, some others caused, and some were just unavoidable.   The fact is that we all have scars somewhere.

Our emotional scars are much like our physical scars in many ways;
1) We start to forget what caused the scar when the hurt goes away.  With many scars, there is a pain that remains even when it looks like healing is done.  Those are deep scars caused by a deep cut.  All too often, we dwell on what caused the hurt rather than the fact that healing has began.  All we can feel is the hurt and all we can see is the scar so it is hard to see the fact that God is working and is providing a healing.  Sometimes that healing isn't as fast as we would like but inevitably, it comes.

2) Generally speaking, the smaller the scar the smaller the injury and conversely,  the bigger the scar, the worse the injury.  This is obvious but needs to be pointed out.  If you only have a small scar, the injury probably wasn't that bad.  In those cases, we shouldn't make a mountain out of a mole hill.  Those small injuries heal fast so we shouldn't persecute anyone that caused it as though they had severely injured you.

3) When scars are out of site, we forget about them.  Is this so wrong?  Is it wrong to forget about the past?  To forget about the pain that someone else caused you?  I don't think so.  What is in the past is in the past and if you have forgiven someone for causing your scar then you shouldn't dwell on it.  Let it go.

4) If we can see the scar then we all too often dwell on the past.  The fact is that some of our emotional scars are on our face (not literally of course).  Unfortunately, some of our scars, usually the worst ones, are right there in the open so we are always reminded of them.  We think about them and sometimes we even think that we can still feel pain in them.  Certainly when we see them, we remember the pain and we remember how we got it.  Sometimes, seeing these scars can fill our hearts with regret; regret about how we got the scar, regret about how we healed, or regret about how we didn't heal.  

And usually, the older we were when we got injured, the longer it takes for healing to take place.  It's funny how the younger I was when I got one of my scars, the less likely I am to even remember how I got it.  I have some really bad scars that I got when I was young and I can hardly remember getting it.  Then there are others that I got when I was older.  They aren't as big but for some reason, I remember the hurt much more vividly than the bigger scar I got when I was a kid.

Scars, we've all got them.  In some way, some form, or some fashion they are there.  We live with them.  Sometimes we can cover them up and sometimes we can't.  Some aren't noticeable and some make a passerby flinch in pain when they see it.  But you know what?  These are my scars.  They are a part of me.  They don't define me and I rarely think of them but they are mine.  I own them, whether I caused them or not I own them.  If I don't own my scars then I believe I would think about them more.  If I thought about the injury, I would think about the cause and that opens the door for shame and regret.

The fact is that the devil wants us to remember our shame and regret but as the song says "...I remember oh God you're not done with me yet".  And remember, if you have a scar that means it's no longer a scab, God is finishing His work on that injury.  Don't let your scars define you and don't let them cause more pain.  You have them now and there isn't anything you can do about it.  Let them heal and give God the glory.

I love you and God does too!

Love and Babe Ruth

I ripped off Dennis Rainey yesterday so I thought I would do it again today.  Here is something that I read last month and it has resonated with me ever since.  One of my favorite scriptures is 1 Pet 4:8 "Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins".  I know in my life and my marriage, I have counted on the love of others toward me to cover my sins to offer forgiveness so I try to be careful to do the same.  The story below from Mr. Rainey is a great example of what Jesus was talking about when he said we must accept the Kingdom of Heaven like a child (Matt 18:2-5).
 
I can’t attribute this story to its source, but a number of years ago I read a story about Babe Ruth. At the end of his legendary baseball career, the Babe had become obviously overweight. During one of his final contests, he bungled several fly balls in the outfield and struck out weakly with every plate appearance. Fans who had seen or heard about his once-proud exploits were now quick with catcalls, mocking this man who had hit twice as many home runs as anyone else in baseball.

But as the jeering got louder and louder, a little boy leaped over the railing and onto the playing field. With tears streaming down his face, he ran to the Babe and threw his arms around the legs of the fading athlete. Babe Ruth reached down, picked up the boy and hugged him tight. Then setting him down and patting him on the head, they walked hand in hand toward the dugout, while the jeers turned to cheers. Hardly an eye remained dry in the whole place.

The crowd had been correct in their assessment, of course. The Babe had let much of his athletic prowess go to seed. Yet a little boy had remembered him for who he was . . . and had covered over his errors with love.

This is not unlike what marriage was established to be -- two people saying to each other, "I know you've failed me and disappointed me at times (as I have you), but I'm still going to put my arm around you and tell you, 'I love you.'  i'm on this journey with you one way or the other."

Love covers a multitude of sins...Period!  It isn't pride and it isn't something you earn.  God is Love (1 John 4:8) and this love allows us to forgive.  Love allows us to over look someones mistakes and see them for who God sees them.  God's love is what allows me to see my kids and my wife the way that Jesus sees them.  Like I said to Kassi yesterday, my nature is for everything to be black and white, no gray area.  It is God's love working in me that helps me to get past my human nature and see my family the way God sees them.  It's God's love that lets me know that God has laid hold of (apprehended) them for a reason (Phil 3:12) and I should always do the same.

Judge not lest ye be judged (Matt 7:1)

I love you and God does too!

I HATE....

The old man, ugh!  I hate him.  I try to never think about him….EVER!!!  Why?  The old man was so displeasing to God.  The old man would act like he tried to please God so that others could see but in reality, he was a fake and a liar.  Sin was OK to him.  The old man was not me, I hate the old man. 

Yes, the old man dies every day (1 Cor15:31) but that doesn’t mean that I truly have to face him.  He dies everyday because Christ Jesus lives in me.  Not only does Jesus live in me, His spirit flows through me.  This makes sin the farthest thing from my mind.  When faced with sin, I’m not faced with the old man.  No, rather I’m presented an opportunity to “…resist the devil and he’ll flee from me” (James 4:7).  Any temptation of sin does not make me think about the old man nor my old life.  It simply reminds me how I’ve been redeemed, forgiven, and Jesus is my strength. 

But every now and then, I mean once in a blue moon, something or someone reminds me of that old man and his sinful ways.  It makes me sick to think about how I didn’t care to displease God.  I hate sin!  I hate EVERY part of that old man and old life before I was reconciled to God.  I thank God for his forgiveness and for his divine protection.  We learn from our mistakes so that we NEVER repeat them so I guess it is good to sometimes remember who we used to be so that we can always HATE that person and hate the sin. 

I know what I’ve said sounds harsh but we must remember that God hates sin too.  If we commit just one sin we have earned hell’s fire.  That is why it was necessary for Jesus to die for our sins…His death is our eternal sacrifice for sin.  Each and every time that we sin, we are killing Jesus all over again so that we can accept his forgiveness.

If your old-man hasn’t died to Christ, today can be your day of salvation.

I love you and god does too!

Kicked out, Part II

As if getting kicked out of a HS Gym on Tuesday night wasn't bad enough, the TSSAA decided that "the fan must be disciplined". So the Loudon County director of schools, in his infinite wisdom decided that I should be suspended for a game. Nevermind the fact that I had already been ejected and apparently an additional warning wouldn't have been good enough so now I must miss one of Kassidi's games. As you can imagine, I wasn't happy.

I have NEVER had the victim mentality but in the past few weeks, it seems that I was getting pushed around by people that are in authority. I have had to just "roll-over" in order to keep from rocking the boat. I guess I have had enough of this so I really felt the need to defend myself, to appeal this decision. The only phone number that I had access to was the Athletic Director at my daughter's school so I called her. Now any of you that know me know that I don't mix words, I don't beat around the bush, and I am terribly blunt. Add these combinations to someone who feels like they have been wronged and you have a volitile situation.

The conversation was direct from the outset so because of this I put the AD on the defensive so she wasn't about to admit any wrong doing and I wasn't either. Long story short, I really handled the AD poorly and unfairly. Although I was never abusive or unprofessional, I came across as very offensive to the AD because of my tone and direct approach. She was offended, I was offended, and there was no resolution so when we got off the phone, neither of us felt good about it. She went to the game and told my wife how upset she was and I stayed home and fumed over the situation.

During all of this, I would occasionally question myself as to whether I was doing the right thing or not and I never could resolve to the fact that I was, especially after the confrontation with the AD. Nevertheless, I fumed and plotted anyway. By the time I went to bed last night, I was formulating a plan to "get them back" for what they did to me. What I didn't realize was that I was giving Satan a stronghold to try to hold me back with.

My attitude was so bad this morning that I completely missed my quiet time with God and I was still thinking about what I was going to do next. At that moment, I realized how displeasing to God I had been and was being. You see, to seek revenge or even to just argue my case to the point of offending someone was caused by pride. Something had been done to "me" and "I" had to do something about it. I looked at myself in the mirror and just said "nahhh, I'm not going to be like this". Within a minute, I felt the self-inflicted burden lift off my shoulders. I knew what I had to do next, I had to apologize the AD. I called her on her cell phone and left an apology on her VM but asked that she call me back so I could apologize directly. She called me and I apologized. I know that the hurt I had inflicted on her was deeper than I knew by her reaction to me but I think, I hope, that she accepted my apology.

I should have done this last night because the bible says to not let the sun go down on your wrath (Eph 4:26) but taking care of it first thing this morning was definitely better than letting it fester. Whats done is done and I'm not going to chase this any more.

I use my blog as an encouragement to others and today, you see how NOT to live your life. Don't be consumed by anger when you are offended. Don't take your frustrations out on anyone. Don't let the sun go down on your wrath. And I guess most of all, don't get kicked out of a basketball game.

God loves you and I do too!

PS--a special thanks goes to the love of my life Kim Knight. That woman supported me even when she thought I was wrong, without challenging me. She took some of my frustration with patience, love, and kindness without getting frustrated with me and without judging me. Kim is the best wife in the world and I this is just another reason why I love her so much.

Kicked out of the Gym

The Bible says to confess your faults to one another (James 5:16)....so here goes.

I could turn this into such a long story but the short story is that I got threw out of a high school gym on Tuesday night after my daughter's basketball game for talking to referees. Yes, you read it right and I'm not exaggerating I was talking to the referees, not yelling and certainly not cursing or threatening. Specifically, I asked them several times "did you know you were going to take the game away from the girls before the game or did you decide it at half time"? Well, I suppose if you have a guilty conscience, this doesn't sit well so one of the referees tossed me. Don't worry, I went willingly and without a fuss. I actually knew what I was doing and had a feeling that these ref's would toss me. Such is life.

Now what does this have to do with a Christian blog? Well, not much. What does it have to do with a Godly man's life? Quite a bit. I'm actually having an internal struggle because each time I think of one reason why I was wrong, I think of a reason why I was right. I didn't turn the other cheak but at the same time I let a lot of things go without losing my cool. I feel bad because I didn't forgive them immediately for doing my daughter wrong but at the same time, they didn't repent and ask me for forgiveness. I didn't act in love toward the referee's but I did act out of love by defending my daughter. So which is it? Was I right or wrong?

I'd love to hear some of your opinions. Want to know mine? Well, let's just say that I'm not looking their names up to apologize any time soon :)

I know this is out of the norm for me but this is what's going on. I encourage you to handle yourself the way God would want you to.

God loves you and I do too!

The battle is in your mind!

God laid something on Kim's heart that I just had to share with you. After reading this, I told her she should start her own blog. She listens to God's voice soooo well.

Strongholds defined...What if every negative, bitter, angry, unforgiving thought gave the devil power in your life? Would that make a difference in how you thought?

Imagine you begin each day with 1,000 coins. My mental image of these coins are much like the coins the Super Mario Brothers are trying to collect. These coins are used to buy GLORY, but we are not allowed to buy glory for ourselves. We must choose who we want to be glorified by our thoughts. With every thought you must pay one coin. If your thought is a noble, loving, good, or admirable one (Phillipians 4:8) then you give that coin to God to glorify Him. Does God need your coins (thoughts)? Absolutely not, but we all need to give them to Him (Ezekial 11:5). Because if our thought is an unmerciful, bitter, wicked, angry, jealous, unforgiving, or hateful thought then we must give that coin (thought) to the devil.

The devil wishes to have all of our coins because as long as we are giving our thoughts to him we give him power in our lives (Strongholds, Ephesians 6:12) and we do not glorify God.  Wait a minute! Did you just say that I'm giving power to the devil? In MY life??? Does that mean that my thoughts can effect my everyday living, my families lives and all my relationships? Absolutely! (Prov 23:7, Rom 8:5-8) The devil came to kill, steal and destroy our lives (John 10:10). The devil wants us to be bitter, angry, wicked, jealous, unforgiving and merciless people so that he may own us one day (C.S. Lewis says the same thing in the Screw Tape Letters). So please understand that every thought you give the devil, YOU give him MORE power and incentive to wreck your life and to destroy your relationship with God.  He feeds off your unGodly thoughts and will reproduce more unGodly thoughts once you give him the chance. Yes, we control our mind(2 Cor 10:3-6). Take responsibility of your own thoughts. We have the authority to choose to think of Godly thoughts or to dwell on the wicked(Phil 4:4-8).

Why do you think so many hurt people have said that their battle is in their mind?  It's because one angry thought turns into 10 wicked thoughts. I don't know about you but when someone has hurt me I have spent a lot of time dwelling on the subject. The most innocent thought can remind me of a time when I have been hurt by someone. That one thought if left in my mind to dwell, will snowball and eventually cause an avalanche that will ruin the next few hours or even longer time of my life.  All of the sudden I remember more reasons I should be hurt. Now I am not only hurt, I am angry. Jealousy, Rage and Revenge soon come busting in my mind and now I have all the elements for one wicked party. Truly, a wicked party taking place in my mind. Suddenly, I begin to rationalize how I need to hurt this person back....make them feel what I felt.  God's grace and mercy are no where to be found because I didn't allow them to enter my mind.

How many times have you heard, "well, I can forgive but I will never forget". They might as well empty their coin bag into the devils purse because this person is giving the devil power in their life.  The devil wants the battle to be in your mind.  He wants you to never forget the hurt people have caused you. This gives not only power, but more opportunities to take your coins. With the coins, satan purchases strongholds in your life. He uses these strongholds to keep you right where he wants you until he is able to push you further and further away from your first love, God. We think, "well I just thought it, I didn't say it" will make us a better person. It may keep you out of an argument with your spouse or friend but thinking like that makes you a targeted person of Satan and his strongholds.

If we choose to take the thought of anger, hatred, bitterness, lust or hurtfulness and immediately change it into a merciful, loving, forgiving, obedient and thankful thought based on God's grace, we glorify God! Through God's power we are able to grow closer to Him and be restored.

Do not take lightly the thoughts of your mind. Just because they are not audible to others does not mean that they are not destructive. Pray that God will help you hold your thoughts captive. Talk to God every hour(1 Thessalonians 5:17), do not eat the bread of idleness when it comes to your prayer life. Think of prayer as your line of defense against Satan. If you want to be angry about something~be angry that the devil is looking to cash in on your thoughts. Take back your coins and give them to God...the One who wants you to not only live, but to live life abundantly (John 10:10).

God loves you and Kim and I do too!

Living with the effects of sin

Romans 8:1 says that there is no condemnation for those that are in Christ because we are set free by God (paraphrased).  I don't know about you but I've done things that even though I knew I had been forgiven, I still felt condemnation sometimes.  There are a couple of things that I want to touch on briefly that I hope will help someone.

First, if you don't want the condemnation, you can't stop at Rom 8:1.  You have to get to Romans 8:5 that says "...but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires."  As you grow in Christ, you have to realize that you no longer have any rights or ownership of property.  When you mature in Christ, you know that everything we have belongs to Him and you no longer have personal rights because you are a slave to Him.  To grow into that realization you must have your mind not only on God (the Spirit in v.5) but you will also have your mind fixed on what He wants.  When we do this, the condemnation must go away because God has forgiven us, so we don't have the right to feel condemned by sin even though He has forgiven us for it.

Second, let's face it, once you have committed a sin it doesn't go away.  I can be forgiven for murder till the cows come home but that won't bring back the person that I killed.  I know that is an extreme example but the same holds true for all sin.  Sin has an effect.  Whether it is lying, stealing, murder, adultery, fornication, homosexuality, or jealousy, there is always a scar left behind by sin.  David said my sin is against you and you alone (Psalm 51:4), so why is it that someone else felt the pain of my sin?  That's what I mean when I say that sin has an effect.  I guess what I'm trying to say is that even though we are forgiven of our sins as soon as we ask for forgiveness and repent (turn away from), we still must live down the effects of my sin.

If I steal from my boss, God will forgive me but I will probably still get fired.  If I shoplift from Wal-Mart God will forgive me but I will still go to jail for shoplifting.  If I lie to my friend God will forgive me but it will be a while before my friend trusts me.  Where the devil tries to steal our joy and victory is when he tries to convince us that this act of living down the effect of our sin is condemnation.  If he can do that then he can then begin deceiving you that either A) the bible was wrong, there is condemnation in Christ or B) you really aren't forgiven.

Now comes the hard part; the people that feel the effects of our sin the most (or the one's we have hurt), tend to remind us about our sin even after they have forgiven us.  Ouch!  It can really be hard when other people are effected by our sin because people are the best tools that the devil has to steal our victory and create strongholds.  For that matter, let an old-fashioned church find out about your sin.  You'll never get away from the looks of contempt, you'll never forget your sin.  People are cruel and they forget that they have been forgiven and, like you, they aren't perfect either.

I know I could talk for days about this topic but I shouldn't so I'm gonna sum it up like this; if you have been forgiven you are not condemned.  Others will remind you of your sin but don't let that steal your victory.  Sometimes you just have to grin and bear it.  Help others get past your sin by proving to them that you are worthy of their forgiveness by being Godly.

Let me know if you have an opinion on this or if you would like me to go deeper.

God loves you and I do too!

Why the challenge?

When we stop and examine most challenging situations that we are in I think we will find that most are self induced. What I mean is that most of the time we get ourselves into the spot we are in or worse, we have given the devil the tools and ammunition to come against us. I know for me, the worst battles that I have had weren't because God has lowered the hedge and allowed Satan to test me (see Job), it was because my sin gave the devil a stronghold.

The only way to conquer the devil when this happens is only through repentance and just as important, accepting God's forgiveness. Then, when the devil reminds us of our past, we must remind him that a) we are forgiven and b) remind him of his future. Do not allow the devil to steal the victory that your God has given you.

I love you and God does too.....John