Monthly Archives: March 2009

As we enter into Easter Season, I am reminded of all of the benefits that have been afforded us because of Christ’s Death and Resurrection.  The greatest of those benefits, I believe, is the power He has given us over darkness.  Simply put, His salvation.

Colossians 1:13 says, “He delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love.”

Christ secured deliverance for us and placed us in His Kingdom.  He has delivered us from Satan’s snare and given us eternal life through Christ.  Salvation is the greatest benefit from this deliverance but it has much more.  We find deliverance from sin, bondage, sickness and other tactic’s of the enemy of our souls.  Christ is much more powerful and greater than any trap of Satan.

The Spirit Filled Life Bible notes interpret this verse:
“Delivered us…darkness conveys the idea of salvation rescuing us from the tyranny of darkness.  Drawing on an important OT theme (see Ex. 6:6; 14:30), it includes rescue from such negatives as danger, death, sickness, and hostile situations in general (Ps. 33:18-19). These rescues include both present deliverances and future, consummated deliverances in the world to come.  Conveyed refers to the deportation or transference of captured armies or populations from one country to another.”

My favorite picture of this deliverance from darkness is us getting a new owner.  When we were slaves to sin, we were owned by the devil.  Now God is our owner…He has transferred us to His possession.  He has given us a new title of ownership.

Wherever riches have increased, the essence of religion has decreased in the same proportion.

-John Wesley-

I have been reading in Leviticus this morning and I am extremely thankful that I was called into ministry in the 21st century under the New Covenant. I can’t imagine the requirements for the priest in Old Testament times. Not only did they have to be consecrated and from the lineage of Aaron, but they also couldn’t have weak stomachs.

Leviticus 1, “The priest shall bring it to the altar, wring off its head, and burn it on the altar; its blood shall be drained out at the side of the altar.”

Not only did they have to wring off bird’s heads, but they had to slaughter animals.  Pour out blood.  Remove intestines.  Examine leprosy.  That’s all too much for me.  I do not have a stomach for all of that stuff. 

I am glad that Jesus shed His blood once and for all and now we do not have to get involved in those sacrifices.  Jesus paid it all so we wouldn’t have to go through the sacrifices and the tedious points of the law.  He came to give His life as a ransom so that we would no longer have to go through the Old Covenant practices.  Thank God for His Grace and Mercy!

There are but two essential requirements: first: Has any one cheated death and proved it? Second: Is it available to me? Here is the complete record: Confucius’ tomb – occupied; Buddha’s tomb – occupied; Mohammed’s tomb – occupied; Jesus’ tomb – empty.

-G.B. Hardy-

I was raised in Southeast Texas which essentially has two seasons, Hot and Hotter.  Though we had some winter weather, we never really had a winter season.  More like a long fall season.  In fact, trees would lose their leaves but it didn’t seem like they stayed bare long.  The grass was almost always green because of the warmer weather and the amount of rain.  I remember in school hearing about 4 seasons, but I had never really witnessed them, UNTIL I moved to Arkansas.

Now, granted I have only been here for 5 months, I now know what a real winter is like.  DEAD!  I love cold weather.  I have always dreamed of living somewhere that would actually get cold.  I was excited about winter because I would finally experience the real cold.  Not the Southeast Texas cold (35 degrees in the morning and 85 in the afternoon).  We have certainly experienced cold, snow and ice.  It has been a great experience for our family (honestly).

There is, however, one draw back.  When the trees lose their leaves, they are gone for months.  The grass turns brown and it stays that way for months.  The first couple of months it was cool seeing the true winter, but now I am ready for some color.  I am ready to see the trees bloom and the flowers bud.  Someone told me, “winter is nice, but you will be glad to see spring again.”  They were right. 

In our lives we seem to have winter seasons that never end.  Everything looks barren and there is little sign of life.  It is as if we are living in a desolate place with things that look dead and hoping for the smallest symbol of life again.  These winter seasons may be times of sickness or hardships in our marriage.  Perhaps it is a spiritual struggle or any other circumstance of life.  No matter what you are facing you are likely feeling that winter will never end.

Josh and I went hiking the other day and noticed a small flower coming up through the dead, dry leaves on the ground.  It was a sign of springtime coming.  Friends, winter may be long but soon the flowers of your spiritual life will bud again.  Your mourning will be turned in to dancing.  Your dark night will soon see the light of day.

Psalm 30:5 & 11, ”His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for life; Weeping may endure for a night, But joy comes in the morning. 11 You have turned for me my mourning into dancing;You have put off my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness,”

Winter seasons teach us dependence on the life-giving source, Jesus Christ.  Learn from the winter time and it will make your springtime much more enjoyable.

The longer I serve the Lord, the more I can look back and see the seasons of my Christians life.  Some have been springtime and many winters have I endured.  All in all, God has used the different seasons of life to help me grow and to certainly stretch me in my walk with Him.  It would help every Christian to recognize seasons in life and use them for spiritual maturity.  By no means should we give up in the winter seasons.  Spring is coming!

Craig Groeschel wrote an insightful article on seasons that puts them into proper perspective.  You will probably recognize the traits of winter.

“Every planet on the solar system has seasons. On Venus, seasons are very short. On Uranus, a season can last for 20 years.

You might feel like you are in a prolonged winter. And you might be correct.

• You are praying with few answered prayers.
• You’re witnessing and seeing few conversions.
• You’re laboring tirelessly and seeing minimal results.

If you’re in winter and waiting for spring, remember God is working in winter too. During the cold months, the tree and plant roots grow deeper and stronger. In this season, God is often doing an unseen work preparing His creation for spring. He does more internally than externally.

It is helpful to remember, you can’t have spring without winter.”

HT: Swerve Blog

Here’s a great post I found on Buddy Cremeans blog today:

Buddy Cremeans writes, “For months wherever I turn, God has been UP in my grill about Honor. I just can’t shake it. God has repeatedly pressed me with His principle that runs His universe…God Honors Honor. Too often God CANNOT and WILL NOT honor us and release His blessing to us because we are blocking giving honor to Him or others.

Are you a blessing blocker?

Is there someone you are blocking or withholding honor from? Maybe it is God.  Has God laid something on your heart and you are just procrastinating? If so you are blocking God.  Maybe you are blocking honor from a spouse, a sibling, a parent, a coworker, a boss, a pastor?  If so, you are blocking God. God never asked us to honor people only if they are perfect… Why? Because we are not perfect beings, we are human beings. However, God instructs ALL of us in scripture (1 Peter 2:17) to HONOR ALL PEOPLE. Show respect to ALL people and treat everyone with dignity.

WHO are you withholding honor from?

Let me encourage you today to quit blocking God’s blessing.  Send an email, make a phone call, write a letter, send a card, make a visit… Do whatever it takes to release honor to them so God can release honor to you!

God Honors Honor.”

"Man cannot be righteous in God’s sight until he repents of his own expectation that he can be righteous in his own sight. God is not mighty toward man until man is weak toward God."

Edward John Carnell, Christian Commitment, page 302.

HT: Christ Is Deep Still Blog, Ray Ortlund

Sunday we recognized the importance of BGMC.  BGMC is the missions ministry of the Assembly of God Children’s Department.  Many local churches, including ours, collect change for missionaries around the world.  Most of this money is raised by our children.  They collect change from anywhere they can find, including people’s pockets:) 

In our Sunday service we had a contest between boys and girls to see who brought the most change.  I think it was rigged but the girls beat the boys by almost double the change.  There were some church members shaking people down for money that would go to the girls, so the win may not be all that legit.  However, the real winner are the missionaries.  (and congratulations to the girls for beating the socks off the boys)

In all, the change and some bills, totaled $350.65.  Praise The Lord and great job kids!

Sunday afternoon, we took a hike at the Van Winkle trail in the Hobbs Conservation Area.  It is a short hike through the old Peter Van Winkle homesite dated back to the Civil War Era.  We were struck by the immense beauty and the natural springs and streams that run through this homestead.  We imagined having a home nestled there in the midst of God’s creation.

Read this post at the Fallen and Flawed blog.  It is a great tool for memorizing Scripture which I highly recommend.  There is no greater weapon in prayer than the Word of God.

Read on:

“Can’t remember where you put your keys? Blanked on your child’s name and the church you go to?

This isn’t a sign that you’re getting old.

Zaldy S. Tan, MD, director of the Memory Disorders Clinic at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, says it’s a sign of how busy we are.

“When we’re not paying good attention, the memories we form aren’t very robust, and we have a problem retrieving the information later.”

If you struggle with the simple things of life, then memorizing John 3:16 probably seems intimidating. And putting away Romans 8 sounds down right impossible.

In truth, it’s not as hard as you think. Yes, it takes effort and time. But there are some simple strategies to help you.

Why Even Memorize Scripture?

Lately I’ve seen a lot of interest in memorizing Scripture.  Tim Challies hosts his own Bible memory series. And Ryan Ferguson awes audiences with his dramatic recitation of Scripture.

But one of the most compelling reasons for memorizing Scripture I found in John Piper’s sermon If My Words Abide in You: memorizing Scripture shapes the way I view the world by conforming to God’s viewpoint. 

So, whether you want to memorize one verse or an entire book, try these strategies to help you remember more.

1. Read it repeatedly. Did you know you can memorize Scripture during your morning devotion? Instead of zipping through your reading for the day, pause and camp on one verse for a long time. You won’t regret it.

2. Pay attention. Sounds obvious, but often ignored. Simply forcing yourself to be aware of what you are reading can help you internalize the words. Repetition will make the mind wander. What you have to do is bring it back.

3. Visualize what you are reading. Take Psalm 1:1 for example. “Blessed is the man who does not walk with the wicked nor stand in the way of the sinner nor sit in the seat of the mocker.” Your first tasks is to see the three actions here: walking, standing and sitting. If you can see the three main actions, then you can start to memorize the surrounding words.

4. Create anchor words. In the above example, your anchor words are “walking,” “standing” and “seating.” In Colossians 1:15, my anchor words are image, invisible and firstborn. Whenever I get lost while reciting a passage I look for my anchor words to orient myself.

5. Recognize patterns. In Psalm 1:1, after the first line, the next three sentences follow this pattern: a verb, a noun and a modifier. Think of each of these as a bucket you drop the appropriate word into.

6. Start with the easy. Now, some passages are easier to remember than others. Psalm 1, easy. A page from Romans, hard. On your first effort at memorizing large chunks of Scriptures, don’t tackle Romans. Build some confidence first by memorizing Psalm 1 or the Sermon on the Mount.

7. Stagger. Sorry, not like you were drunk. What I mean is memorize an easy passage then a hard passage then an easy. Give your brain a break. This way you’ll avoid burnout. 

8. Build memorable associations.  If you want to remember difficult section of scripture like Romans 1:18-20, it helps to imagine God hovering like a brooding mountain over the world to represent all three verses.  This is a robust picture hard to forget.

9. Anchor memorable associations in chapters. These rich word pictures can also help you when you’re trying to memorize entire chapters of the Bible. They orient you on a larger scale. 

10. Cheat a little. Once you’ve absorbed a hunk of Scripture, don’t be afraid to keep a sheet of paper nearby with keywords or section headings to help you out when you need a reminder.

11. Narrate. Sometimes it helps to describe in your own words what you are trying to memorize. This will also help you build memorable associations, spot keywords and develop anchor words. 

12. Stick to a ritual. I find it easier to memorize Scripture in my car–I have a long commute–and before I sleep. Especially early on in the process of memorizing, I can’t remember my passage as easily anywhere else except these places. So, until I gain more confidence, I stick to this ritual.

13. Sing it. Try opera. Or a musical. The point is to be dramatic. As if you were in a play. [This is my favorite trick, by the way.]

14. Try mnemonic devices. Many of us learned ROY G BIV to remember the colors of the rainbow. Make up your own device to memorize anchor words or more. In Psalm 1:1, your device would be WSS, or walk, stand and sit.

15. Enlist your body. If mnemonic devices aren’t your cup of tea, use body parts. Classic example of this is Ephesians 6:10-18, the armor of God. Waist, chest, feet, forearm and head complete the armor and can help you navigate through this lengthy passage.        

16. Repeat the alphabet. Say you just can’t remember that big word in 1 John 2:2. Run through your ABCs. When you get to P, it should trigger the word escaping you: propitiation.

17. Type it. One way to memorize something like John 1:1-3 is to type it into your computer. Not once. Not twice. But ten times. Maybe more. Your call.

18. Hear it. After you’ve typed it, next, read it aloud and record it. Then listen to the recording several times.    

Don’t forget: As you work on memorizing, turn off the TV, unplug your iPod and shut down your computer. You’ll retain more.”

HT: Fallen and Flawed

“To love another person is to help them love God.”
-Søren Kierkegaard-

I am finally coming out with something that has been bothering me for years.  It has to do with candy.  I love candy.  But for the last five years the candy makers have made some changes that I am not happy about.  For some reason they thinking every body likes sour apple flavor.  Sour apple does not belong in a box with other flavored candies.  I am okay with sour apple Jolly Ranchers by themselves, but don’t mess with my box of Sweet Tarts.  I love Sweet Tarts!  This is one of my all-time favorite candies along with Skittles.  Both of these candy makers replaced the traditional beautifully flavored green candy with a sour apple flavor.  I am ticked off because of that.  I don’t want sour apple I want whatever the green flavor was before.  The problem is I love Sweet Tarts so I am not going to stop eating them because they throw in a sour apple.  I will just not eat that one.

There is a good change that Sweet Tarts has made though.  It is the blue sweet tart.  That is my favorite Sweet Tart.  I can over look the sour apple as long as the blue one is in there.  As a matter of fact, the blue ones are the ones that they have the least in the box, but I still like the blue ones.  In Sweet Tarts defense, they made a good decision in making the blue ones, even if I am not happy about the green change.  Some changes are good and some are bad.

To be honest, no body likes change.  I don’t like change…I like the familiar and you are probably the same way.  The truth is things must change.  There are some changes we like, some we don’t but we must overlook the ones we might not like and focus on the ones we do like. 

In the church world, change is a necessary part of preparing for the future.  I am not a proponent of just throwing away anything old.  I believe we can add to what has already been done.  However, there might be things that need to change because they aren’t working.  Even if we cannot see it.  For the future and building a church for the generations, we must allow God to lead us to the changes He feels necessary for our church.  We cannot focus on one thing (the sour apple) but on the whole picture of what God is doing and wants to do.

Thinking of the candy makers.  It wasn’t a conspiracy because they knew I didn’t like sour apple.  The truth is there are probably more people that like sour apple than don’t.  I am just picky with my candy.  I challenge you to evaluate things by the big picture not just the sour apples.

I just read this great post at the Strategic Dad blog:

“I just listened to one of my favorite sermons by Tommy Nelson, pastor of Denton Bible Church. My friend Chris Hill gave it to me a long time ago and I try and listen to it once a year to evaluate where we are as a family. The sermon gives 8 essentials for raising your children. I wanted to share those with you and some simple notes for each:

House of Peace- don’t expect your child to submit if you do not submit to your Heavenly Father.

Time- listen and laugh.

Truth- read your child Bible stories so they know the truth.

Examples- do you live what you teach.

Esteem- lift up a standard and love them.

Acceptance- they will get it from you or someone else.

Affection- we want to be in the presence of people who love us.

Discipline- we don’t like it because it takes time.

What essentials are missing from your house? What essentials are being given daily? Great questions to consider on your journey.”

HT: Braxton Brady