Choices, Part 1

Why do bad things happen? Why do bad things happen to good people?

That can best be answered back in the beginning, in the Garden of Eden. When God made man he placed him in the most perfect place to have ever been on earth. He gave him everything he needed, including a wife. God gave Adam and Eve

• Genesis 2:15-17 (New International Version)
  15 The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. 16 And the LORD God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die."

God gave them one command, just one, "you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil." One rule, and what do they do, they do it. I wonder if God had not told them if they would have eaten it? Some people will do the opposite just to see what happens. Of course they were deceived by Satan.

• Genesis 3:1-6 (New International Version)
  1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?"
  2 The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, 'You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.' "
  4 "You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman. 5 "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."
  6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.

Notice how Eve repeats the rule back to the serpent. Also notice that Adam was right there with her. Also notice how Satan appeals to her pride of being God-like. Funny how the men always blame Eve for this part, but Adam willing broke the rule with her.



Good or bad, God gave us freedom to choose. We are free to choose our own path, make our own decisions. I have the freedom to walk out in the middle of a busy road, drive with my eyes closed (or text, same difference), kick a wild grizzly bear, run with scissors, stick a fork in an electrical outlet, etc. Maybe if I do these things my eyes will be opened and I can be like God? How did their choice affect us today? How does anyone's choices affect others?



Think about the choices you make this week and come back here next week for the rest of the story.

The Perfect Dad???

Does anyone remember watching the "Andy Griffith Show" or "The Cosby Show"? Andy and Cliff seemed to always be able to say or do the right thing in their families. No matter the situation they had the right answer. Back in the day, being a dad meant something. A dad was wise, protective, caring, etc. The kind of dad we all wanted to have (if you didn't). Now we have "The Family Guy" where Peter is a horrible example of a dad. It seems that on most modern media that dads are shown to be clueless, brainless, dysfunctional losers. Why? What happened?


God designed fathers to be His example to the their families and the world. We are called to be the spiritual leaders of our families. Though not perfect, some of us have, or try to be, Godly dads. Unfortunately many did not have, or are not, the dads God called them to be. That's when you look to the one who is your true and perfect father, God. How cool is it that we can call the creator of the universe daddy.

He cares for us and every facet of His creation.

• Deuteronomy 31:8 (New International Version)
  8 The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged."

• Matthew 6:26 (New International Version)
  26Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?

• Matthew 10:29-31 (New International Version)
  29Are not two sparrows sold for a penny[a]? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. 30And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31So don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.
  

So God wants you to be part of His family and loves us so much that even though He created us He gives us freedom of choice to choose Him.

• Galatians 4:5-7 (New International Version)
  5to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons. 6Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, "Abba,[a] Father." 7So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir.

Fathers, look to our heavenly father and strive to be like Him. Being a Godly father is not easy, but the rewards are eternal. Sons and daughters, honor your father's today.

Be Christ to someone this week.

Steve

OBJECTS IN MIRROR ARE CLOSER THAN THEY APPEAR

This is the message I gave at our event at Bent Creek Baptist Church a couple of Saturdays ago.

Do you remember in the 1st movie of Jurassic Park when they are driving the jeep away from the T-Rex and there is a camera shot of the passenger side mirror and it shows "OBJECTS IN MIRROR ARE CLOSER THAN THEY APPEAR". The T-Rex is right on them.

As I got in my car the other morning, having a rough morning, I looked in the mirror and read that warning and thought that is how Satan works. He wants to bring things up from your past and make them huge. Think about it. Everyone of us has sinned and think about something you've done in the past that you still feel bad or guilty about. Satan is the great accuser and stands before God and says look at how he/she lives, see how they do...

• Revelation 12:10 (NIV)
  10Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: "Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ. For the accuser of our brothers, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down.

Sometimes we are so far into our lives of sin that we have become trapped or enslaved. However, if you have been adopted into God's family through Christ, you can be free from that life. Meaning that as a Christ believer/follower He bought you out of that slavery and set you free.

• John 8:34-36 (NIV)
  34Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. 35Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. 36So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.

Did you get that last part, verse 36? Check out these next two verses:

• 1 John 1:9 (NIV)
  9If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.



• Psalm 103:12 (NIV)
  12 as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
  

So basically if we ask God for forgiveness, with a sincere heart, He forgives us and it's gone. So when Satan brings up junk that you have asked God to forgive you of, remember that you were already forgiven. Tell Satan to get lost because God has forgiven you. In fact, if you were to ask God to forgive you of something you have already asked to be forgiven of He would say "what sin?"

Mom

What would we do without our moms? Okay, we wouldn't have been born. They have kissed our boo-boos, wiped our tears, taught us right from wrong, protected us, and on the list goes. To me there is no more important jobs than that of a Godly mother. Think about it, the creator of the universe chose to save us by being born of a human mother

• Luke 1:26-38 (NIV)
  The Birth of Jesus Foretold 26In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 27to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary. 28The angel went to her and said, "Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you."
  29Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. 31You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. 32He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end."
  34"How will this be," Mary asked the angel, "since I am a virgin?"
  35The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called[a] the Son of God. 36Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. 37For nothing is impossible with God."
  38"I am the Lord's servant," Mary answered. "May it be to me as you have said." Then the angel left her.

God thought moms were so important that one of the Ten Commandments were given for moms.

• Exodus 20:12 (NIV)
  12 "Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you.

Even Paul when talking to Timothy's faith because of the Godly influence of his grandmother and mother.

• 2 Timothy 1:5 (NIV)
  5I have been reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also.

God gave moms unigue gifts, super powers that only they seem to posses, like eyes in the back of their heads, knowing when were lying, and making the boo-boos better. Thank you moms for being what God blessed and ordained you to be.

God blessed your mom with you and you with her so honor her on this Mother's Day.

In His service,

Steve

Busy, Busy, Busy

I don't know about you, but it seems like I am always busy. Family, school, soccer, baseball, plays, band, two or three jobs, church, cutting grass, etc. In our family we have a hard time just sitting down to a meal together. On top of all that we have TV, cell phones, mp3 players, gaming consoles, etc. taking more of our time.



When was the last time you heard the silence? Did you even know what it was? I know sometimes while driving down the road I will turn off the radio and have some quite time with God. During that time I am reaching for the radio because it's too quite. Sound familiar?

Ironically I have been trying to do this particular blog for several weeks, but have been too busy...

Please watch this video from Tangle (previously God Tube):

http://www.tangle.com/view_video.php?viewkey=0edec55cb25411422efd&sp=1





The Bible says in Psalm 46:10 "Be still and know that I am God".

• Psalm 144:4 (NIV)
  4 Man is like a breath; his days are like a fleeting shadow.
  

We are all guilty of being to busy or distracted, but did you think that it was Satan trying to keep us too busy for our own good? Is that TV show more important than spending time talking with someone you love? Is that text or cell phone more important than spending time with God? God, the creator of everything, wants to spend uninterrupted time with you, do you have time?

• Mark 13:33 (NIV)
  33Be on guard! Be alert[a]! You do not know when that time will come.
  

You know we are never promised tomorrow so make the most of the time you have. Sometimes it's good to be distracted, but don't let it control you. So turn off your cell phone, ipod, computer, etc. (believe it or not you will survive) and have some quite time with God on a regular basis and see what happens.



In His service,

Steve

The Moth and the Cross

One night, while on a hike, I came upon a church. As I looked around I saw a cross made of 4x4s and painted brown. Kneeling down at the front of the cross I prayed for a while then and sat down on a post that was a few feet back. Looking at the wooden cross I thought about all Christ had endured to get there. The people that he loved, all demanding “crucify him!” because of lies spread by the religious leaders.

• Luke 23:20-24 (NIV)
  20Wanting to release Jesus, Pilate appealed to them again. 21But they kept shouting, "Crucify him! Crucify him!"
  22For the third time he spoke to them: "Why? What crime has this man committed? I have found in him no grounds for the death penalty. Therefore I will have him punished and then release him."
  23But with loud shouts they insistently demanded that he be crucified, and their shouts prevailed. 24So Pilate decided to grant their demand.

The thought of His flesh in shreds from the whipping and the cat of nine tails (a whip with pieces of bone and metal on the ends of straps, designed to damage from impact and pull flesh away when it was pulled back). I also thought about Him being nailed to the cross and raised up to hang there for hours of more suffering. All these things that he endured for my sins…

• 1 Corinthians 15:2-4 (NIV)
  2By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.
  3For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance[a]: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,

Then I prayed about seeing Him, to be able to talk with Him. That’s when I heard a sound coming from some tall grass. I looked down and saw a large moth stuck in the grass flopping around. While helping him escape his prison of grass I noticed a broken wing. I placed him on an arm of the cross realizing that Jesus had revealed Himself through the moth. It’s broken wing representing Jesus’ broken heart. A broken heart for the people of this world who still reject Him when all He wants a personal relationship with each of us.

This may not seem like big deal, but it shows me that God is still with us and wants to be part of our lives. What about you? Have you looked around to see if Jesus is revealing himself to you or maybe some who needs Jesus?

Pastor Steve

What's the Big Deal with Palm Sunday?

Palm Sunday is Sunday April 5 this year and good many of us have been around church, especially at Easter, and observed Palm Sunday. But you may not really understand it's significance. Was this about people having their palms read to see the future? or maybe it was the first Arbor day and they were planting trees?

Actually, it should be called donkey colt-branch-coat parade or something more catchy than that. What do I mean. Well about a week before Jesus' crucifixion, He rode Jerusalem on a baby donkey on a road lined with peoples coats and branches. This wasn't because the town was dirty and the street sweepers haven't been out yet. It was out of honor and respect for the one the prophecies were about. Check out these verses to get the story:

• Matthew 21: 1-11


• Mark 11: 1-11


• Luke 19: 28-44

Why a baby donkey? Donkey's were associated with leaders and by riding a young donkey would have shown humility and gentleness. This also fulfilled what Zechariah had seen. Putting coats and branches on the road was customary way of welcoming a triumphant king returning from a victory. So they were treating Jesus like a king who has one a major battle...

• Zechariah 9:9-10 (NIV)
  The Coming of Zion's King 9 Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your king [a] comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
  (This was written around 900 years before it happened)

The problem is that the people saw Christ as a political leader that had come to deliver them from Roman rule. Christ did come as the King of Kings and to deliver us from the enemy, but that enemy is the sin in our lives. Within one week this admiration and respect will change drastically.

Check back next week for the rest of the story.