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

Does Bad Company Really Corrupt Good Character?

Bad company corrupts good character.  That's what my mom told me.  That's what I've told my children.  That's what I've told converted Christians that wanted to witness in bars.  But does bad company really corrupt good character???

When I think about the life of Jesus I have to answer "not all of the time".  Jesus was our perfect example and, other than the disciples, He hung out with bad company.  Where did Jesus eat many of his meals?  He ate with tax collectors who were considered the worst sinners because they generally stole from the poor.  Tax collectors like Zacchaeus (Luke 19:1-10) and Matthew (Matt:9-11) hosted Jesus.  But according to Matt 9:10,11 there were plenty of sinners there.  Sinners like tax collectors, prostitutes, and Pharisees.  In Matt 9:12 Jesus went on to say that "It isn't the healthy that need a doctor but the sick", referring to "bad company" as the sick.

So bad company only corrupts good character some of the time.  Really?  I wonder which times that is.  This just doesn't make sense to me.  Jesus is our perfect example, our moral compass if you will (WWJD).  Jesus said that the "bad company" are the ones that need a physician so we need to know which bad company will corrupt good character and which ones won't.

The problem with my thinking is that I'm focusing on the bad company as being the problem.  Really, the problem with bad company corrupting good character isn't the bad company.  Bad company is bad company, we shouldn't be surprised when sinners sin.  Good character on the other hand is a different story.  Good character isn't supposed to go bad.  

When Jesus went to the men with leprosy (Luke 17:11-19) Jesus didn't catch it.  He healed them.  When Jesus hung out with sinners He didn't sin, His good character was incorruptible. In my opinion, the reason for this is because everywhere that He went He looked to serve in as humble and loving way possible.  I'm not saying that He served up booze, porn, or drugs.  What I am saying is that He served with love, providing what the bad company really needed, with love.  He didn't tell the prostitute and tax collectors "YOUR GOING TO HELLLLLL".  That's what He basically told the Pharisees.  

So with all of that, I have to make the declaration that bad company does NOT corrupt good character!  However, I will say that "bad company corrupts average character" or "bad company corrupts mediocre character".  

The type of ministry that Jesus did is not for the faint of heart.  We like to compare ourselves to the disciples and hope that we can find similarities.  The fact is that Jesus did not let His disciples minister to "bad company" unequipped.  Jesus told them to wait on the Holy Spirit (Luke 24:49, John 14: 16,17) after He was crucified.  The reason was He knew that they must have the power of the Holy Spirit to be able to endure and maintain there good character.

God has called us to witness in the highways and byways (Luke 14:23).  He wants us to server others.  You've heard the saying that "love is a verb", well Christianity should be an action word too.  Am I telling you to go to a bar alone to witness?  Absolutely not!  However, you should listen to the Holy Spirit and go where He draws you.  If you find yourself in a situation where you aren't serving the "bad company" that you are around, you should probably ask yourself why you are there.

Live for Jesus completely today so that tomorrow, you won't regret what you did yesterday.

God loves you and I do too!

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!

Prison Ministry - Day 2

After a great day at Little Sandy on Saturday, we were looking forward to an even better day on Sunday.  Sunday, was our second and final day in KY and we were at Eastern KY penetentury.  I always try to to share Jesue when I can on these trips but generally, we only have enough players for one team so while the players play against the inmates we have several dedicated men that do nothing but walk the yard and share the gospel.  We stop playing a couple of times each day to share the gospel when we get a crowd.

Sunday morning at breakfast, I was asked to "share" during one of these breaks on Sunday.   Sharing the gospel is why I do prison ministry so I was fired up Sunday morning.  God had given me a message to share a couple of weeks ago so I was ready.  The message God had given me was simply telling about 4 men that I know.   I won't give names or details because some of you may know who I'm talking about but I have 3 friends that have done time in prison and are now dead.  As I told about each man, one at a time, I shared their stories about their lives and how they died.  I shared that one man was definitely in Hell right now.  I also told them that I was uncertain about the eternities for the other two because they had no fruit in their lives.  

Then I told them about a fourth man, my best friend.  A man that told me that anytime I was tired, not sleepy tired but tired of the world, I could come to Him and He would give me rest.  This man died for me so that I could spend eternity with Him and His dad.   I explained that all we have to do is believe that He died for our sins and believe He rose on the third day, then we could be saved.  This "belief" that the Bible talks about isn't the kind of belief that we have in something because we think it to be true.  But this kind of "belief" is the kind of belief that we have that our mother is our mother.  We don't remember her giving birth to us but because she has always been there, we truly believe she is the one that gave birth to us.  That is the kind of belief in Jesus that it takes to be saved.

When I got done speaking, I simply told them that now is their opportunity to know where they will go when they die because they aren't promised tomorrow.  12 men got saved.  God was truly working in this prison before we ever got there.  I did nothing, it was all the Holy Spirit.

We were about to start playing when this man, a mountain of a man came up to me.  Now I don't want to stereotype but just by looking at him, he would not be my first choice for a baby sitter.  This guy was obviously making good use of the weights.  He was built a lot like Ray Lewis, just tougher.  When he came up to me, he just said "I was the first guy you talked about".  He told me how he has always been willing to fight at the drop of a hat.  He said that he wanted to know where he was going when he died and he has always known about Jesus.  He said he has always known he needed to get saved but thought he had to clean up first.  During my talk, I shared that we don't make our selves well before we go to the doctor and we don't fix our car before we take it to a mechanic.  Neither do we have to "clean up" before we come to Jesus.  His name was Ed and his humility truly touched me.

Have you made that decision?  Do you know that you know you are saved?  If not, please contact me and I will tell you how to be saved.

I love you and God does too!

Prison Ministry - Day one

This past weekend I went on a prison ministry trip to KY.  For anyone that doesn't know what I do, I go with a team of men from Sevier Heights Baptist Church into prisons in TN, KY, AL, and FL.  We play softball against the inmates and tell them about Jesus.  We get to spend time with them and build relationships.  I know that there are people out there that believe we should be doing other types of ministry because criminals "shouldn't get extra privaleges".  The fact is that in Matt 25 Jesus is pretty clear regarding prison ministry.  

Saturday, we saw several men saved.  I was a little disappointed because as of the last 1/3 of the day, I hadn't made a difference in anyone's life.  We were at Little Sandy prison and we had gone in for dinner at 3:30.  After dinner we had another 90 minutes before we could go back out to the yard where the softball field is so this gave us more time to spend with the prison softball players.  Our team and theres did different things to pass the time.  Some played basketball, some played corn-hole and some just hung out and talked.  

I was tired so all I felt like doing was sitting so I found an inmate to talk to.  I sat down with a guy named "Blue".  Blue and I talked for about 30 minutes about softball.  Then the Holy Spirit began to move on both of us.  Blue is from a town just outside of Memphis so I asked him what brought him to Kentucky.  He said "well, running dope and murder".  Thats when Blue opened up.  Blue is 41 and has been in prison for 19 years for murder.  He was saved in October of 2011 and for the last 6 months there has been strange things happening in his life.  He has found himself to be more compassionate to people and he is able to forgive when just a few years ago, there is no way he would forgive.   With all of this, there was still something wrong.  He said that he wanted to be closer to God but something wasn't right.

The Holy Spirit immediately revealed to me that He is working on Blue and that's why he has saw the recent changes.  He also showed me that the reason Blue is unsettled is because he hasn't forgiven himself.  I didn't beat around the bush.  When I brought it up, we spoke for a second and then he started crying.  He said "look at me!  what's wrong with me, I've never cried before".  Blue acknowledged that he had so much remorse for his crime that he doesn't think it is possible for him to forgive himself.  I explained to him that if he got saved God has forgiven him and he agreed.  I told him that by not forgiving himself, he is exalting himself above God and we talked about that for a while.  

When it was time to go back to the field I knew that God had worked through me and through Blue.  God was so good to us this weekend.  If God can provide hope to an inmate that is facing 7 more years to life in prison, imagine what he can do for you if you let him.

I love you and God does too!

John

Good for you Chic-fil-a

Have you heard the latest controversy regarding Chic-fil-a?  Seems that their CEO, Dan Cathy, said in a recent interview that he tries to run Chick-fil-a based on biblical principles.  When asked if that means they have taken a stand against gay marriage Cathy responded "guilty as charged".  I suggest you do your own research to get the details.  Now there is a big public outcry against CFA.  Chicago and Boston have both said that they do not want any new CFA restaurants.  The "Muppet's" brand has severed their ties with CFA.

The funny and ridiculous thing in all of this is that the general public believes that if you are against gay-marriage then you are also against the ethical treatment of people.  CFA says they stand for biblical principles, not only does that mean that they are against same sex marriage, it also means that they are against adultery, using the Lords name in vain, lying, and murder.  It means that they love their neighbor and and they are going to treat people humanely; gay or straight.

The world misinterprets Jesus' statement that your are either "for me or against me" (Matt 12:30), they think that if we are against something then we are against the people.  In reality, Christians are against the sin but they love the person.  I'm against my kids lying but I forgive them and love them anyway, I don't disown them.  God hates sin and we should to.  I hate it when I sin and I hate it when you sin.  Sin is sin.  The good news is that God is "faithful and just to forgive us of our sins" (John 1:9).

I'm happy that there is a company that will say "we stand for biblical principles".  What a great place this world would be if the "world" wouldn't try to attack anyone who stands for something.  Thank you Mr. Cathy for providing as much of a Christian atmosphere in a public place that you can.  I will do my best to have my family at CFA this weekend.  I encourage you do do the same. 

Dealing with People part 3 - Scorner

According to Webster, to scorn is to reject or dismiss as unworthy or contemptible.  So a scorner is someone that looks down on people.  No one is good enough for them so we find them criticizing almost anything anyone does.  Do you know anyone like that?  I do.  If I'm not careful and I let the old man out I am a scorner.  When we are saved and are operating in God's will, we lose the traits of the old man, namely; being simple, a scorner, or a fool.  No one wants to be around a scorner.  They are only happy with themselves and they reject everyone elses ideas and opinions.

So it is easy to get in an argument with a scorner.  They are not likable people and they are constantantly looking for an argument.  We want to correct them and show them the error of there ways.  What satisfaction it is to put one of these people in their place.  But what does the bible say?  Prov 9:7 says "He that reproveth a scorner getteth to himself shame".  Prov 9:8 says "Reprove not a scorner, lest he hate thee".  What the bible is saying is to not correct a scorner.  Don't argue with them.  If you do, you will look just as bad as they do AND you will ultimately turn them against you.  If you do that, you will lose any opportunity to win them. 

Proverbs says we should "smite" a scorner and to "cast them out" (Prov 19:25, Prov 22:10).  Now, most of us aren't in a position to smite or cast out.  But what we are in a position to do is to walk away from the argument.  The bible says that if we are good to our enemies it's like heaping hot coals on their head (Prov 25:22).  If we do that to a scorner, that sure does sound like smiting them.  The fact is that Jesus told us to love our neighbor (Lev 19:18, Mat 19:19, Mat 22:39) so don't argue with a scorner.  Don't correct a scorner.  Love a scorner and walk away.

I challenge you to read Proverbs and see if you are walking in the spirit and bearing spiritual fruit or are you being a scorner.

God loves you and I do too!

Dealing with People, Part 2-Simple

Many time, when the bible is talking about a simple person, it is talking about someone in their youth.  But as youth turn to adulthood they reach a crossroads where they will either choose folly or wisdom.  Unfortunately, many of us still have to deal with, work with, and/or associate with those that chose folly over wisdom.  Hopefully, today's blog will help you when dealing with them.

First, let's understand the simple person.  The bible says the simple love their simple ways (Prov 1:22) they really aren't interested in change.  Simple people can't see when they are at fault or wrong because the bible says that "the waywardness of the simple will kill them" (Prov 1:32).  If they could see that their actions would lead to death, they would surely stop.  The same goes for their actions that lead to strife, they generally don't have a clue they did anything wrong.  A simple person believes anything (Prov 14:15) and they inherit folly (Prob 14:18).  a Simple person doesn't see danger, they just "keep going" (Prov 27:12).  They are easily persuaded by evil (Prov 7).

A simple person is generally not the leader of the bandwagon but you can be assured that they are right there in the middle of an argument.  When we hear the term simple, we think of someone that is stupid, but that isn't the case.  A simple person is simply someone who lacks wisdom AND has yet to seek it.  That's why they believe anything, much like a small child.  But also like a child, they can learn and correct their ways.  A simple person learns and is corrected by example (Prov 19:25, 21:11) but they have to be shown the example because they don't necessarily pick up on it on their own.  As a simple person grows in the word they begin to put off their simple ways (1 Cor 13:11).

So once you see that you are in a confrontation with a simple person (and my guess is that they won't be alone) you simply need to offer loving correction.  Psalm 19:7 says "The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure , making wise the simple."

Of the three negative personalities discussed in Proverbs, the simple person is the easiest to deal with and the easiest to correct.  Now remember, this all assumes that in this discussion or confrontation that you are right. 

Before you begin to assess the type of person that you are dealing with, you need to assess your own life and the situation you are in (Matt 7:3).  After you do that, you will be able to help your neighbor.

God loves you and I do too!

I met a Real American Hero

In this life, there are little moments that just happen to us and we don't know why, but when they are over you sure are thankful for them. I had one on Monday, the day before Valentines day. I was eating lunch at Ryan's (great for the low-carb & cheap eater) in the back like I always do. I like eating in the back because there is usually no one back there, I guess because its not as close to the buffet as other spots. When I went to my usual table, there was one old man back there by himself. I said "hello" and sat down to lunch.

About five minutes went by when this man, Mr. Miller, came and asked me if I was with the POW meeting. You see, he thought Monday was the day for the area POW's to get together. Apparently he got the wrong date because he drove all the way from Kodak for this meeting and he was a bit disturbed that no one else was there. I told him no but I sure was thankful for his service in WWII and I was happy to be in the presence of a real American hero. I asked him if he would join me for lunch and he did.

I didn't have to worry about making conversation, Mr. Miller was happy to tell me all about his life. He told me that he had been taken captive in Italy and he weighed 188 lbs. When he was liberated 14 months later he only weighed 71 lbs. He told me that after just a few days in the camp he decided that he didn't want to come home at all. He said that if he didn't want to come home, he wouldn't look forward to being rescued and his time would be a little less miserable. He told me that when his ship landed in Boston, he kissed the ground because he was so thankful to be back on American soil.

I loved this story but for me, it just got better. He then proceeded to tell me that he just buried his wife of 65 years in November. This was my chance to talk to him about Jesus. I asked him if he was saved and he told me "ohhhhhh yessss". He said he wasn't perfect but he did the best that he could. I said, "I bet you sure loved your wife a lot, didn't you"? His eyes got very misty and he said with a whimper "ohhhh yesss". He then told me how they started.

He met his wife in N.C. right after he got out of the Army. He said that he was "hitting the bottle pretty hard" when he met his wife. After they had been dating for a week, he picked her up to take her home and she told him that they needed to talk. He said that she was so beautiful that he just knew that she was dumping him for someone better. Instead, she told him that her father was a baptist minister. He told her that if she was going to keep dating that boy he had to quit drinking. Mr. Miller said he had just bought a 6-pack of beer and he had already drank one. When she told him that, he said "I can still take you to the very spot on the side of the road where I pulled over. I grabbed the five beers that I still had left out of my '36 Ford and I flung as far into the woods as I could and I haven't drank a drop since".

Mr. Miller knew what love was and knew that it was sacrificing his vices for. We continued to talk about his wife and her burial and all that he had to go through. He told me about the three trips he made to N.C. the week she was buried. I was truly blessed to have gotten to spend an hour of my life with this 88 year old American hero. He reminded me that love can be forever if you are willing to compromise. He also showed me that after 65 years of marriage, you can still be in love.

Thank you Mr. Miller for sharing a meal with me. I hope that all of my friends that read this are lucky enough to meet a Mr. Miller.....before they are all gone.

God bless Mr. Miller and God bless the U.S.A.

God loves you and I do too!

Time to get dirty

In November, I blogged about being burdened and carrying other's burdens. Galations 6:2 tells us to carry each others burdens. I think the question we all ask is how? How do I carry my brother's burden? How do I help carry your burden?

Until now, I thought I could help carry anyone's burden simply by praying. We all want to help and we all want to be hero's but what if I told you that sometimes there just isn't much you can do to carry a someone's burden? What if I told you that it takes a special type of person that can help you with your burden? I know that will stir some disagreement but that's OK. If we all agreed all the time then we would always be right. But in Numbers 11:16,17 God told Moses to pick certain people to help him. Moses didn't just go get any Joe, they were chosen.

I formed this opinion yesterday. As many of you may or may not know, all three of our kids have stomach viruses. Kim and I went away for my birthday and Kim's mom was keeping the kids at our house when it hit, and boy did it hit. Kim and I cut our trip short and when we got home, the girls were pitiful. After cleaning several messes, Kim said "I think this is what God meant when He said we are to bear one another's burdens". What Kim was saying is that if you REALLY want to carry someone's burdens you have to be willing to get dirty. To carry someone's burdens you have to jump in the mud or the fire with them. After talking to Kim and thinking about it, this made absolutely perfect sense to me.

If you are moving, would you want me to pray that God helps you or would you want me to show up with my truck ready to help you move? If your water line breaks, would you rather me pray that God sends you someone to help or would you rather me show up with a shovel to help you to dig down to the leak? If your going through a divorce, would you rather me pray for you or would you rather Kim and me take you to dinner and listen to you?

I hope you know that I'm not diminishing the need for prayer. We should always pray and we should always pray for each other. However, there comes a time for action for someone. James 2:15,16 addresses this and then of course we know that faith without works is dead. We live in a world of hurting people. Are you willing to roll your sleeves up and get dirty? What are you really willing to do to help carry someone's burden? Unfortunately, it is much easier for people to judge others rather than help them.

Pray, by all means pray. Pray without ceasing. But you should be well aware of those around you because sometimes, hurting people are crying out for help without you knowing it. There may be people around us that are stuck in the mud and they are just waiting for someone to get in with them to help them get out.

God loves you and I do too!

I'm a sell-out!

In Matthew 13:44,45 Jesus gives some parables about the kingdom of Heaven;    

44 “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.    45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. 46 When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.

These seem like two very simple parables that when we read them, we say "yeah, I get it, the Kingdom of heaven is worth everything". But do we really understand?

In the both parables, after finding the treasure and the pearl the man and merchant hid them again after he found them. Both knew that what they found was so valuable that the treasure and the pearl just had to be had. But think about the worry that was caused. If they had found them, what made them think that someone else wouldn't find them too? They knew that they must be diligent and hurry to get the money to purchase what they wanted before someone else found them. What a horrible thing it would have been to sell everything you own only to find out that what you so desired was gone. Knowing this risk, these treasures were worth selling out for.

Next, they actually had to not only sell everything they had but they had to get enough money for their possessions that could purchase these treasures. They had to find the right buyer that valued their possessions and had enough money to purchase them. Time was critical but these men couldn't settle for the first offer unless it was generous enough to meet their needs.

Once they found the right buyers, they had to make an offer for their desired treasures. What if the owners wouldn't sell them? They couldn't be concerned with that, they had to trust if they did what they had to, if they sold out, the treasures they so desired would be theirs.

After going through so much to get what they wanted, imagine the great joy and peace that they had when they were able to purchase the field with the treasure and the pearl. It's the same way with the kingdom of Heaven. It's not always easy to attain but if we do everything we have to, it will be ours.

This brings me to the real topic today. So many times, the Gospel of Christ is watered down so we can understand it or accept it. I find this more and more often when it's being presented to youth. So many adults believe that a teenager won't or can't accept Christ on the same terms that an adult can. How sadly mistaken this philosophy is. Teens are rebellious by nature. They don't want to do what is normal.  I believe that teens are looking for something to sell out for. I believe that teens can be the most powerful evangelists we could have. Once they find something to sell out for, they have no shame or fear to try to get others on their bandwagon.

I believe we don't need to water down the gospel when trying to "convince" our teens to be Christians. I don't think we need to convince them of anything. I believe the best way to share the gospel with a teen is to show them these parables, present the gospel, and let them know that the gospel is worth selling out for. As a matter of fact, if you don't sell out you will probably come up short and miss out on the treasure altogether.

Jesus is worth selling out for. Have you sold out? Would you risk everything for your salvation? More than that, would you sell everything for your relationship with Jesus? Think about these things.

I love you and God does too!

I'm a Vols fan, why the heck am I cheering for Tim Tebow?

Hey Vol fans, remember when everyone said they hated Tim Tebow just because he played for the Gators?  I know I do.  He just didn't seem to ever to do anything wrong when he played for Florida.  Now he's in the NFL and guess what, he still doesn't seem to be able to do anything wrong.  Even if he stinks the first 3 quarters of a game like he did today, he still comes out smelling like a rose in the end. 

As much as I enjoy talking sports, it isn't Tim Tebow's play that I want to share my thoughts about.  Mr. Tebow is a polarizing person, people either love him or hate him.  The ones that love him can't wait to hear him give credit to God again or kneel to pray again or hear a commentator talk about his faith again.  Those that hate him can't wait for him to lose or they really pick apart his play.  But the haters still have a hard time attacking his faith.

For the record, Kim and I are not Tim Tebow haters.  Because of his faith and the way he played, we were never haters when he played for Florida and we both were cheering for him to win his second Heisman trophy.  But now, we are full-fledged Tim Tebow fans.  Is it because he is such a great QB?  No.  Tim Tebow is exactly the kind of role model that I want my children looking up to.  He is not ashamed of God and gives Him credit for everything.  He was an underdog that very few people thought would make it in the NFL but he has proven what hard work and a little bit of faith can do.  He showed us how to take a back seat to someone as a 3rd string quarterback with humility, dignity, and grace.  He loves his parents and is respectful of his coach.

Can you ever remember a time when the Christian faith has been talked about so much in the media in a positive way?  Commentators can't talk about Tebow without mentioning his faith.  Of course they say as little as possible about him being a Christian and they certainly don't ever mention Jesus' name.  But when they mention Tebow's faith even the most rebellious muslim knows his faith is Christianity.  As a Christian, I am proud to have Tebow as an ambassador of our faith. 

Does God need Tebow?  Absolutely not.  Does our society need someone like Tebow?  I think so.  Do Christians need to stand up and take the same type of public stand regarding Christianity that Tebow has?  YES, YES, YES!  I believe that Mr. Tebow serves as a reminder to many of us that we can take the same kind of stand at our work.  Look at Tebow, he doesn't have the most talent, he is one of the least respected QB's in the league, he probably isn't even the best QB on his team.  However, he still isn't afraid to live out loud for Jesus.  We all should learn from Tim Tebow and never be afraid to be a Christian in front of our peers.

Be courageous this week and live out loud for Jesus.

God loves you and I do too!

Why do we try so hard to fit in when we were made to stand out?

I was listening to K-love today when I heard the DJ say that she heard a line in a movie that said "Why are you trying so hard to fit in when you were made to stand out?".  In the movie, this was said to a girl that was a princess but didn't know it.  It's obvious how this applies to our teenagers today.  As adults, we tend to focus statements like this toward our teens because we don't want them to fall in with "the crowd".  However, we adults are more than guilty of falling in with "the crowd" too.

How many times have you participated in a conversation that, when it was over, you just weren't proud.  We give the devil so many tools and strong-holds to use against us that before we realize it, we are no where close to living the abundant life that Christ came to give us (John 10:10).  Remember when your mom told you "if you don't have anything good to say about someone, don't say anything at all"?  I do.  There isn't much better advice than that but unfortunately, talking about people (gossip) has become so easy that we don't know we do it because we are fitting in.  We adults have to be just as careful about wanting to fit in as our teens.

Peter said that we are a peculiar people (1 Pet 2:9).  Webster defines peculiar as distinctive.  To be distinctive is to stand out.  If this is the case, why do we think it is so odd when a Tim Tebow gives thanks to the Lord on TV.  Many of us are proud and think we would do the same think if we were given the opportunity, but don't we have the same opportunity every day?  I find that most Christians enjoy talking about Jesus to each other but when they are around non-Christians or even luke warm Christians they tend to tone it down or stop talking about Jesus altogether.  We can all come up with 10 good reasons why we don't witness to people.  We can think of 10 good reasons why we don't tell someone that is hurting that God loves them.  But isn't one reason to do it enough to overcome all the reasons not to?  When we boil away all of our excuses as to why we aren't being a peculiar people, all that is left is fear.  We are afraid to stand out, we are afraid of what people will think, we are afraid we won't know what to say....

The bottom line is that you can't mess up witnessing to someone until you first try it.  Jesus said that if we are ashamed of him on earth, he will be ashamed of us (Luke 9:26).  How awful it would be if after all of the sin that Jesus has forgiven us for, he is ashamed of us because we were ashamed of Him.

My challenge to you is, if you don't witness already, tell someone that you don't normally speak to about Jesus that He loves them.  Be the peculiar people that he has called us to be and you will soon see what a positive impact that you can have on others. 

God loves you and I do too!