The Greater Purpose…

              As a member of the media, I was forced to spend most of the day surrounded by what was going on.  So when I got home, I commented to my wife to turn off the television, “I don’t want to see this”.  She had a very poignant response.  “They can’t just change the channel to escape”.  Well said, my dear.

While the details filtered in, we tried to make sense of it all.  Do not waste your time.  We, in our limited, narrow, understanding of the universe, will not be able to come to an acceptable conclusion.

However, I think one FOX News reporter at least brought it into perspective.  Last night he said, “when you’re 5… 6 years old… 10, 11 days away from Christmas… you’re expecting Santa to be at your house in 10 or 11 days.  TODAY… the DEVIL came to their school”.

The only solace and peace I can find is in what Jesus told His disciples when they were trying to prevent the children from coming to Jesus.  Christ said, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of God”.  The fact that these little angels were flown straight to heaven makes it a little easier.

However, it will not make things better for these parents.  As a father of three, I know.

When told his sister was one of the fallen, a young boy said, “I’m not going to have anyone to play with”.  This is the mindset we are dealing with here, innocent, unsuspecting, children.

Now with what I am about to say, please do not take it as a lack of compassion.  My heart grieves for what these parents are experiencing.

Nevertheless, if you’re a Christian, somewhere in the back of your mind, you’re probably asking, “why God, did you allow this to happen”?  We know He is an almighty and powerful God.  In Exodus 34:6 describes Him as “merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth”.

It is as simple as this.  You want a gourmet eight-course meal.  However, this is impossible, unless you let the chef in the kitchen.

So why should we expect God’s protection in a place He is NOT allowed?  Now, I am not saying the parents are not God fearing.  They may be.  However, what will bring these people closer to God?  When do we call on Him the most?  When do we look to Him for answers?

When Jesus was born, the reigning king ordered all the first-born males killed for fear that a new King was coming.  Why did God allow this to happen?  Why did He allow evil to prevail.  Just like the parents today, those mothers and fathers had no idea what was coming.

There is a greater purpose beyond all understanding.  The only peace we can find is in Jesus.  The only refuge we can find is in His Word.  Just like on September 11, 2001, more people probably picked up their Bibles today.  More people probably prayed.  A nation is crying, mourning the loss of innocent lives.

Father, I pray Your mercy, grace, and peace for these families.  They are suffering a pain; no parent should endure.  In order for this to happen, I know they must find You first.  Heal our hearts Father, and bring us to a better understanding of Your will.  We need You Father, more than we ever realize sometimes.  It’s in times like this we see this clearly.  Please send Your Spirit of comfort to these families, the community, and our country.  Please be our refuge; our safe haven, our place of safety, a place to hind when the enemy is lurking near.  We humbly ask these things in the matchless name of Your Son Jesus.

 

Is Forgiveness for EVERYONE?

Is Forgiveness for Everybody?

I just read an article about a rapist who now wants visitation right with the child he “fathered” because of the rape.  The guy was 20 at the time and the girl was 14!  Making it even worse, they attended the same church.  My first reaction was shock and disbelief; first, that it happened and second that he would have the audacity to make such a request.

After that, I started thinking about forgiveness.

Please don’t think I’m condoning the rapist’s actions.

The family of the victim says the rapist only wants a relationship because the court ordered child support has finally taken affect.  Nothing was mention about the rapists reasoning.  To some, his reasoning may not matter.  He defiled her and took away something that can never be returned, her innocence.

According to the “Laws of Sexual Morality” in Deuteronomy, the guy is supposed to die.  Stoning was the preferred method mentioned.  That was under the “law” given to the Israelites heading into Canaan, which was given to keep an unruly group of nomads under control.  They were also making lamb sacrifices at the time; which isn’t needed any longer because Christ became the ultimate sacrifice.  Yes, I had to work all of this out in my head and heart.  Because as a father of 3 very beautiful girls, I would be absolutely FURIOUS.  Actually, I’m not aware of a word strong enough to describe the amount of anger I would feel.

This is where it gets sticky and starts to hurt, bad.  If we want honestly to reflect Christ, which we strive to do as Christians, if asked, we MUST forgive.  You may be thinking, “how can you say that”?  He raped her and took away her choices.  Since they attended church together, she probably trusted him and he defiled that trust.

Nevertheless, think about a man.  This man never sinned… never told a lie.  He did nothing wrong.  At all.  Still, he was killed.  In addition, while he was being killed he prayed, “Father, forgive them”.

Matthew 6:14 – 15

Peter, one of Christ’s Apostles asked, “How often should we forgive our brother”?  Jesus responded, “seventy times seven”.  That’s 490 times for each offense.

Mathew 18:21 – 35

Now, I don’t know the true intentions of the rapist.  However, if he has honestly repented and is forgiven by God, who are WE to judge otherwise.  I know it is a painful message to hear.  But I have to share with you what God directs me to.  He wants you to read this… because He loves you.

I challenge you (as I do myself) to think about someone who had done you wrong.  Maybe nowhere near as bad as this victim.  Now put it under the Blood and forget about it.  Not only will we be following Christ’s example… we will allow ourselves to loosen the burden of anger and hate we’ve carried for this person or person(s) and we’ll live a much happier and healthier life!

Do you see the rust… or the beauty?

My family and I were talking about our trip to a local spring festival.  A local business always brings in a little group with rides and games.  To me, it is a “money trap”.  However, the kids have fun, we try to steer them away from the games, and just let them ride until they (or we) drop.  One of our three girls went with one of their friends and the kids were comparing notes.

The one that went with a friend said she was on the Ferris wheel with the friend, her sister, and father.  The sister, who is five, made note of the view by saying, “I can see a lot from up here.”  She had no fear.  She was simply enjoying the view and trusting she was taken care of.  Her father, on the other hand, commented on the rust on one of the support beams.  All he could see was the potential danger of the rust affecting the performance of the vehicle.  Honestly, I think I would have had the same focus.

This reminded me of two things.

My first thought was the child and her innocence.  How should only focused on what was beautiful and magical about the event.  How she see so much from her vantage point.  Rather than the possible danger that probably was not even a factor, because these rides are inspected before people are allowed to get on them.  In Mathew 19:14, Jesus said, “let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.”  He was saying to have the faith and trust of little children.

Think for a second about how a child acts.  When mine are hungry, they come to us.  In their minds, it is just natural for us, as their parents, to take care of everything.  In fact, I am not even sure they think about it at all.  For them, that is just the way life is.  Sometimes they ask for stuff and we, as parents, know better.  They do not like it.  They fuss, cry, pout, scream, complain, but eventually get over it.  This parent / child relationship analogy, when applied to the Father / child relationship established by Jesus in the New Testament of the Christian Bible, easier to understand.  Notice I DIDN’T say, easier to accept.  We still want to be in control of our own lives.

This brings me to my other thought.

I wonder how much easier things would be if we weren’t born into sin?  If the first man and woman had not fallen into sin, how much better things would be?  The fruit Adam and Eve ate from was called the “Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil”.  Satan told Eve she would be “as smart as God”.  In disobedience, she did become smarter – but not for the better.  She knew too much.   She had a choice and made the wrong one.  Personally, I think not knowing and simply trusting God would have been easier.  The next question is probably, “why the choice”?  Why didn’t God simply wipe out all evil in the beginning?  Because He wants a relationship with us.  He does not NEED it, He WANTS it.  Therefore, without the CHOICE to love Him rather than evil, the love, trust, and admiration would not be true it would be forced.

God proved His love for us by sending a part of Him to suffer an agonizing, humiliating, demeaning, death so that we could have a choice… the choice to live with Him.  Jesus became the ultimate blood sacrifice for our sins.  Again, why ask “why”?  Make the choice to trust Him, as a child would.  Sit on His lap and enjoy being with Him.

He enjoys being with you.  Enjoy and embrace the refuge you can find in Him and in the Word.

Passion moves us to speak…

                Yesterday my oldest daughter brought home several awards to top wrap up her 5^th grade year.  It is hard to believe it has been almost 11 years since we brought her home, unable to do anything on her own.  One award she did not get was the Presidents Awards.  She met the criteria, so my wife asked our daughter why she did not receive that recognition.  According to our daughters teacher it was because of an “N” in the 1^st grade.  What!!!  An “N” in 1^st grade?  Are you kidding me?

See, there is a long story here that I will try to condense.  For some reason, our daughter felt she wanted this particular teacher.  Therefore, she was excited when we got her assignment for that year, until we met the woman.  Her room was dark and there was nothing fun on the walls, just bare, dark, cinderblock.  She was immediately stern when we walked in the room, even with us, reminded me of that Ms. Trunchbold on the movie “Matilda”.

We were constantly getting notes home complaining about our daughter’s behavior.  Our daughter was always very respectful and was with everyone else, why is this one teacher different?  After leaving the school because of a move, our daughter excelled at her new school and continued on to MASTER her Standards of Learning Tests, getting the highest score possible!  Proof it was the instructor, not our daughter.

So the fact the school system would hold this against my daughter made me FURIOUS.  One “N”! Therefore, I went to Facebook to vent my frustrations, something I do not usually do but found very satisfying.  To which a friend responded, “ I hear ya! Rant on! Passion moves us to speak does it not!”  Which is another story.  He and I had a private debate on another subject in which he was very passionate.  His comment spoke to me.

The emotion of anger moved me to speak passionately about my daughter not receiving her award.  I felt ashamed though, that I don’t speak as passionately about something I HAVE received.  The gift of salvation.  The fact the Creator of the universe would humble Himself to come to earth with the goal of becoming a sacrifice for my sins.  To me, that is an unfathomable love.  I will never be able to understand why.  But I am willing to accept the gift freely given.  I should also be willing to speak as passionately about what He did for me… and YOU.

Today, if you know Christ, share your passion about what He did for us.  If not, I’d like to introduce you to the Savior of the world.  I think you’ll like Him.

How strong is your trust?

   Conversations with my oldest daughter, who is 10, are so much fun.  She is so much like me it’s crazy.  How many guys get to have a conversation with an exact female replica?  It can be very intriguing at times.

This time just as compelling, for a 10 year old.  I was replacing batteries in my electric trimmer.  This is one of those that is just big enough to trim a gentleman’s beard and / or mustache.  Not one of those large one’s you could shave your head or the dog’s with.  Now, I don’t know if you’ve seen the commercials for “No-No” the electronic hair removal system but it plays into this.

When my youngest daughter saw it for the first time, she inquired, “I didn’t know daddy had a ‘no-no'”.  Which made my wife laugh uncontrolably for a few minutes.  Then she calmly responded, “no, that’s daddy’s beard trimmer”.
“Still looks like a ‘no-no’ to me”, the “baby” said, not to be out done.

Now, while replacing the batteries, I was turning it on and off stating, “no-no”, “no-no”!  My wife thought I was telling my youngest daughter “no”, she shouldn’t be playing with that.  My oldest was sitting on the couch, playing an old-school game I’d download on for our gaming system, laughing at us.  I said, “that was me ‘playing’ with it saying no-no”.
“It wouldn’t have hurt her anyway, see” I continued while pressing the trimmer blades against my skin while engaging the unit.

My oldest questioned, “what would you have done if it would have cut you”?
“It can’t”, I stated, “the blades aren’t strong enough.  They’re too small and designed to only cut small hair.  You couldn’t shave your head or anything with it”.

I trusted, that even though I’d never tried it before, that the blades on my electric beard trimmer wouldn’t cut my skin.  Because I knew the limitations of the product and how far out the blades could go past the metal guard.  I was protected.

The enemy has limitations too.  He can’t get to us because of our “Guard”.  This is a place to find refuge.  If we are children of the true and living God, then we have protection.  Does this mean we’ll never have trouble or pain?  No.  That’s just a part of the natural world we live in.  But having trust in  our “Guard” means no matter what happens, we know we’ll come out ahead.

Find refuge in knowing that He is there.  All WE have to do is come to Him.  He’s wanting to spend eternity with you.  That’s nice to know, isn’t it.  Just accept that you’re a sinner and the face Jesus died as the ultimate sacrifice for your sins and you’ll claim your space.

Have a blessed day!

 

 

What do you practice?

It’s the middle of the night and I’m wide awake.  My mind won’t rest, so it’s hard for my body to fall asleep.  Sometimes, this when I have the best conversations with God.  So I open my Bible app and it’s on Mark 10.  I don’t remember what I was reading before that left me at Mark 10 but I’m glad it did.  There’s a lot of great stuff in just that one chapter.

First, there’s a lot of chatter about President Obama coming out in favor of gay marriage.  In a Christian Post article, he’s quoted as saying he and Michelle are “practicing Christians”.  Dictionary.com defines practicing as, “the action of doing something“.  Christian means, “of Jesus Christ, His teachings, ect“.  So he’s saying he “acts according to the teachings of Jesus Christ“.  Read Mark 10.  Jesus was teaching another multitude when some Pharisees stuck there nose in and tried to trick Him with a question about divorce.  This is what he said: “6 But from the beginning of the creation, God made them male and female. 7 For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, 8 and the two shall become one flesh; so then they are no longer two, but one flesh.”
God made them “male and female”.  So, let’s go back to the beginning.  God saw that man needed a companion comparable to him.  At that point, if God thought another man was appropriate, that’s what He would have created.  He didn’t, He created a woman.

Then some children tried to approach Jesus and the disciples pushed them away.  Part of that decision was because of the culture of the day.  But Christ quickly told them to let the children come to Him.  Can you just imagine being a child then and the Son of God wanted you near Him?  What an awesome moment that must have been!  Then Jesus used the children as an example.  “Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of God. 15 Assuredly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it.”

Jesus practiced what He preached.  More often He practiced more than He preached.  Showing us rather than telling us how we should act.  If we are truly “practicing Christians” we should try to be “like Christ”.  He never turned anyone away, He always had time for them but He really paid close attention to those that followed Him for Him, NOT what they could get out of Him, which so many do.

Let’s truly practice being Christ-like and honor the unions that He created.

And pray our leadership does too.

President Obama Supports Gay Marriage…

© whitehouse.gov

I never thought I’d see this day.  Although, I can’t say I’m surprised.  The President, leader, man in charge of the United States of America, says he supports gay marriage.  Is it getting that tough on him?  That he has to make sure he has their vote to win?  If he is re-elected, what will he do next?  THAT is what frightens me MOST.

Remember in the Bible it says no leader is put into position that isn’t ordained by God?  What could God be setting this country up for?  If the leader is not shy about supporting homosexuals getting married when the Bible very clearly states in more than one section that it’s wrong.

Lev. 18:22-24, Jud. 19:22-24.

Of course, the argument I’ve always heard is that it’s not mentioned in the New Testament.

Rom. 1:24-27,  1Cor. 6:9-10.

What could the Father be setting us up for?  Although, it’s not His fault.  God is love.  He also can not tolerate sin.  This isn’t a time to fear though, if you know Christ.  This is a time to be cautious, diligent, and stay close to God.  Temptation may be at its worst but don’t give in.  Misery loves company and the king of all misery wants as much company as possible.

Now don’t use this as an excuse to mistreat people who are homosexual.  Remember we as Christians are supposed to love everyone.  Yes, we can hate the sin.  We shouldn’t hate the person.  Welcome the person with open arms, with love, and understanding.  Love the sinner not the sin.

Is homosexuality any worse a sin that any other?  No.  Ouch… that hurt, didn’t it.

But we can find refuge in the fact that if we come to Christ, admit our sins, ask for the forgiveness that has already been paid for, we will be forgiven.

1 Pet. 1:3-5, “3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,4 to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you,5 who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”

He IS our refuge.