Ready for spring!

Ok, enough of winter! I'm ready for spring.

It's been too cold too long! If this is global warming then I'm really confused. Doesn't global warming mean warmer? What's up with all of this cold weather? I just talked to my brother in Iowa and he said it was colder there this winter than he can remember. I am looking forward to spring and the wind in my hair (not really, I wear a helmet) and bugs in my teeth (not really) as soon as I can get the motorcycle out on the road and not freeze. So, all I need is a little more sun, a few warm days and some time to head for the back roads.....sigh.

Repackaging ideas

I was listening to some of the political speeches yesterday and heard something I want to talk about today. I will assure you that I will not mention names here, that's not my goal. But I heard something interesting....I heard one of the politicians repackaging ideas. He said something that caught my attention because I had never heard it before. It was a very well crafted selection of words. This politician said, "I will pursue economic justice!"

When I heard that I said out loud, "WHAT?" Because these two words do not go together. I had never heard them used together, so I thought....what is he REALLY trying to say? Then it came to me, he's using this phrase "economic justice" to describe socialism. He could never say he will pursue socialism in this country, but cloak the same idea in a confusing package of words, and presto changeo.....we have the same old philosophy in a new word package that offends no one...most people really don't even think about what was said.

This same thing is happening all across our culture...the repackaging of words and ideas. We are wrapping old ideas or even rejected ideas in new clothes and selling them to the public. The rhetoric is amazing, and honestly I admire the guy for coming up with such a subtle way of selling socialism.

But my problem isn't so much with politicians as it is with those of us in the Christian world. We have become very good at doing the same thing. New word combinations to say something everyone would reject if they understood what you meant. It's like chocolate covered asparagus! You might be able to get people to try it, but when all is said and done it's still asparagus!

So listen carefully to what people say. There's a lot of repackaging going on.

Mermaid prayers

Last Sunday I preached through John 15. It's an amazing chapter loaded with final instructions for the disciples. It is a chapter addressing three relationships. In Jesus' teaching in chapter 15 he said,

John 15:7 "If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you."

This verse, and others like it, are hard to understand. We do try to abide, get into his word, and we pray....but often our prayers are unanswered. So then we ask, how do we reconcile this verse and others like it with our life?

My daughter had to deal with this recently while talking to her children about prayer. Her second daughter, Alice, said, "but Mommy, it doesn't work. God didn't answer my prayer." (She's only 5.) My daughter asked why she thought that and she said, "because I asked God to make me a mermaid and he didn't do it."

How often have we prayed like that? Prayers that we think are perfectly good and right for us, and yet we didn't see God answer those prayers. If we could just see it from what God wants to do in our lives it would often look like Alice's prayer- a mermaid prayer. God won't answer our prayer, it wouldn't be in his will or even good for us. I wonder how many of our prayers are like Alice's. We are disappointed and confused because God didn't answer, but what God heard was a mermaid prayer.

When your prayer isn't answered realize there may be a good reason- it's not time yet, God's working on it, it isn't in his will, or maybe you were praying a mermaid prayer. When you aren't sure how to pray, pray anyway. God is good, and he will sort it all out for you. He loves us too much to answer mermaid prayers.

Quote of the day

The quote of the day comes from my fellow pastor, Brent. I thought it quite funny that the quote of the day, brilliantly said, comes from a cartoon character. Here it is:

"In many ways, the work of a critic is easy. We risk very little yet enjoy a position over those who offer up their work and their selves to our judgment. We thrive on negative criticism, which is fun to write and to read. But the bitter truth we critics must face, is that in the grand scheme of things, the average piece of junk is more meaningful than our criticism designating it so."

-Anton Ego- Ratatouille

Mormonism 101

Here are a few facts for those who don't know what Mormonism teaches. You can find more information at the bottom of the article.
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"MORMONISM IS NOT WHAT YOU THINK

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Here are some beliefs Mormons resist telling you at first...

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-The LDS Church is the only true church. The Lord told Joseph Smith personally that all other churches are an "abomination." Any non-Mormon church is automatically part of the "church of the devil." No other church has the valid priesthood. The devil has even made a pact with many Christian pastors to teach Christian doctrines about the Trinity and salvation by grace. But in public we say that all religions are good and have some truth.

-There are many gods. We deal with three of these distinct gods from the council of the gods: Elohim, Jehovah, and the Holy Ghost.

-God, the Father,was once a man like us. His name is Elohim, and he had a literal father before him. (That means there is a god even higher than God the Father!)

-We can progress to become gods of our own worlds just like the god Elohim.

-Jesus is the brother of the devil, not his creator.

-Jesus was not born of a virgin. Elohim had sexual relations with his daughter, Mary, to bring about the conception of Jesus. (Not all Mormons are familiar with this teaching.)

-We are not permitted to pray to Jesus, but only to another god named Elohim.

-Celestial heaven is near a star called Kolob.

-The Bible contains doctrinal errors.

-Polygamy is an eternal principle. Mormons still believe in polygamy, but just can't practice it right now.

-Black people were cursed with their black skin because of their inferiority in the pre-existent life.

-Native American Indians are really Israelites who were cursed with red skin because of their sin.

-The current prophet, Gordon B. Hinkley, is a prophet in exactly the same sense as Moses or Ezekiel in the Bible. He has authority to write new scripture. (He just passed away this week.)

-The first LDS prophet, Joseph Smith, saw God the Father in the flesh.

-Adam did not sin when he ate of the forbidden fruit, but was merely choosing to obey a contradictory command from Jehovah.

-Jesus shed his blood to offer us the potential to be forgiven if we successfully stop our sins permanently.

-We cannot be saved (forgiven) by grace alone through faith alone.

-Secret temple rituals where one learns secret names and secret handshakes contribute to one's exaltation in the celestial kingdom. No non-Mormon is worthy to go inside a dedicated temple.

-No one who pays less than 10% of their income to the LDS Church is allowed inside a functioning temple.

-It is possible to eventually become perfect by progressing a little bit at a time through eternal progression.

If LDS members deny any of the above, as they occasionally do, they are being dishonest. I lived it as a Mormon myself, so I know what I am talking about. Extensive documentation for the above can be found at http://www.mrm.org/ ."*

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*article from- ww.exmormon.net/index.html
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I just thought you should know a few things about what those nice young men believe who will come by your home someday.

Thinking deep thoughts

I really enjoy reading different blogs. There are so many different agendas and all of them fascinate me. The atheist, the Muslim, the homemaker, the mom posting photos of the kids, the political blogs, the photo blogs. All of them provide a rich fabric of people's lives and opinions. I have really enjoyed getting to know people from all over the world through these blogs. It's a great experience to interact with people thousands of miles away that you may never meet.

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The blogs that are most fascinating to me are the Christian theology blogs....all different views from every perspective of the Christian theological mind all "defending the fort." Some are very insightful, helpful in clarifying world views, others are contentious and looking for a theological "cat fight." These are fun to read as well, but to be honest very frustrating. It often seems to me that we have groomed a new generation of Pharisees who are really good at "straining the gnat." The finer points of theology, which make little difference to eternity, become major issues of debate.

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Don't we have a lost world to win? Are these issues so important that we would fight with other Christians over them? Are your finer points of theology so important that you would hurt a brother in Christ over them? What would Jesus say to us if he were to read these blogs and respond to them? Wouldn't that be great? Is this new generation of Pharisees so sure of their "gnat straining" techniques that they would rather fight than walk in love?

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I know the answer I would get from them, "truth is worth fighting for!" And I would agree, but is what you are willing to fight over really truth or just your opinion? I think I will avoid the "gnat strainers" from now on. I have far too much to do in my own life to waste precious minutes reading about the fine art of gnat straining.

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Thanks for letting me vent....I feel better now.

The great artist

Each of these pictures is a closeup of different butterfly wing. As I looked through the photos I was amazed at what a wonderful artist God is. He is so creative! For him to even build design and beauty into the wings of a butterfly indicates his care and detail for his creation. If he is so involved in the design of a butterfly wing what are his plans in my life? Often I forget that I'm a work of art that God is painting. If this is what he does with butterflies I can't wait to see how we turn out!

Monday's cartoon

The TV writer's strike has been a really good thing for me. It has helped me sever the TV cord. Once in a while now I will scroll through the channels to see what's on and find that with hundreds of channels there really isn't anything on worth wasting my time watching. So, to all those writers who are on strike, thank you for your help....I won't be needing you anymore.

Strange signs?

Forget about crop circles, how about sheep circles?

Saturday morning

It's a cold, foggy day here in Dallas. Too dreary to do much. It's a perfect day for a fire, some coffee and time to read. I have a day today with nothing on the calendar (very rare), so I'm going to do as much of nothing as I can.

A gospel parable in real life

I read this story this morning and thought, "what an amazing example of love." This paints a wonderful and sad picture in real life of what Christ did for us to give us life.

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"A mother from the U.K. died just weeks after refusing cancer treatment so that she could save the life of her unborn baby, the Daily Mail reports.

Lorraine Allard, 33, of St. Olaves, near Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, was diagnosed with terminal liver cancer when she was four months pregnant with her son Liam. She refused to terminate the pregnancy at 23 weeks and delayed her own vital treatment to save her son.

Liam was born 15 weeks early and Allard was able to see him a handful of times before she died Jan. 18, according to her husband Martyn, 34. Liam, who was born Nov. 18, is putting on weight and doing well in the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital." -Friday, January 25, 2008, Fox News

The story of the gospel is just such a story. Christ willingly died to give us life. What an amazing love....to give our life for another. In Christ we see the full demonstration of God's love for us.

For this dear family it's a sad story, but one illuminated forever by Lorraine's love for her unborn son, Liam. We live each day in the reflection of just such a love, God's love demonstrated on a cross more than 2,000 years ago. A love that is still amazing and changing those who hear about it.

"Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his lie for his friends." John 15:13

A little jealous

I must tell you that I am a little jealous. One of our friends, Lori, is heading for Israel next Monday. As I anticipate her trip I am a little jealous that I'm not going. I have never been there.

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There will be a day when I will see Jerusalem.....

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Rev 19:11 And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war.
Rev 19:12 His eyes are a flame of fire, and on His head are many diadems; and He has a name written on Him which no one knows except Himself.
Rev 19:13 He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God.
Rev 19:14 And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on white horses.

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I guess my first view of Jerusalem will be when I fly in low with the king on horseback.....that might be the best way to see Jerusalem for the first time!

Quotes of the day

"You are just as spiritual as you want to be." -Leonard Ravenhill

And one more,

"God's not concerned with your happiness, he's concerned with your holiness." -Leonard Ravenhill

Funny article

One of my readers, Brandi, sent me this article. It's intended to encourage exercise, but in it was a funny statement that she pointed out to me,

"A little bit of exercise goes a long way," said Peter Kokkinos, lead author of the study. "Thirty minutes a day, five days a week of brisk walking is likely to reduce the risk of mortality by 50 percent if not more."

Wow! And I thought the risk of mortality was still 100%. Amazing what a little research will do.

Only God could do it

Today I did a funeral for a man I never met, and yet, as I put the service together I found that God had been working towards this moment in time for more than 30 years. The weaving together of lives, situations, relationships, notes in bibles, old phone numbers that hadn't changed, neighbors at the right place and time, pieces of paper left for me to find after more than 20 years....I was amazed to see how God wove it all together to bring lives to this very day, but he's not done yet. I know he's only showing me part of what he is doing, but I am amazed at the little bit I do see. It's like solving a mystery hidden from decades past. Clues hidden, tracking down people, connecting lives, and all of it was planned by God for one purpose- HIS GLORY! As I watch the little bit I see all I can say is, "God, you are amazing!" If you're curious I'll tell you the whole story.....it's one that only God could do.