I haven’t been very good at all about posting to this blog. I guess I’ve never been much of a writer, but I do have some thoughts… We returned from youth camp a couple of days ago, and the theme for this years camp was “The Way”. The camp we went to was put on by Student Life. They do such a great job with these camps! We absolutely love them. The theme “The Way” was a challenge for us to look at our lives and answer a few questions. First, are we even going the right way? Jesus said that “wide is the gate and broad is the path that leads to destruction. Small is the gate and narrow is the road that leads to life, and few find it.” So many people, good people, buy into the lies that the wide gate and broad path are more fun and exciting. In fact, many Christians find themselves on the narrow path, only to look often over to the broad road wandering if they should jump ship and make their way through the wide gate. Still others are standing still on the narrow road with their heads down in shame because they aren’t living the life God called them to and they know it. For some reason, they just can’t get it together.
Let me encourage you today that if you find yourself at a crossroads and don’t know which way to go, take the narrow road. You’ll feel lonely sometimes because many of your friends will be partying it up on the broad road. But, remember the destination. If you’re on the narrow road, it leads to life. The broad road leads to destruction. If you have taken the plunge, entered the small gate and taken a stroll down the narrow path, let me encourage you too. Pick your head up, fix your eyes on Jesus and never look to the broad road. You’ve made the right choice, have faith. Take to a full sprint towards the life God has called you to live… a life worthy of the calling Jesus has put on you. “Whether you eat or you drink, do it all for the glory of God.” Remember at the end of your road there is a life filled with promise. The broad road can be fun for a season, but remember where it leads. Be one of the few and take refuge in Christ.
Today is my youngest daughter’s birthday. I was eating lunch with my wife and a friend today and we were recounting the events of the day four years ago when Jenna was born. We even talked about the day Addie was born and how different the two labors were. Addie came after a long uncomfortable night, while Jenna was born just a few hours after we got to the hospital. It was fun to think of those days, but my has the time gone so quickly since then. Where have the past seven years gone? I’m thankful for all the “family time” we have together. I hope you let your family know how much they mean to you this week. Make sure your parents know you appreciate them, even if you’re older. If you have kids or even grandchildren, make sure you tell them you’re proud of them today. With two small girls, it’s easy to always be “correcting” them, but it’s just as important to notice the good things they do too. Love your family, they are a gift from God!
Last Sunday in our Youth Bible Study, we looked at several verses in Proverbs dealing with words and how we use them. It seems evident that gossip is probably the downfall of most of us. It’s so easy to join in conversations that are about someone else and their problems or personality. How much different would our world be if we all looked at people and their situations with the eyes of Jesus. Imagine what kind of a place earth would be if everyone actually cared for others and spoke words of encouragement when needed. Our natural tendency when faced with a fellow human in need, I think, is to revert back to the stern warnings of our youth, “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all”. Why can’t we say something nice??? Why is it that when someone needs an encouraging word the most, we clam up and at the most mutter out a non-sincere, “things will get better.” Tomorrow night at Refuge 980, our Wednesday night youth gathering, I’m going to do something a little different. I think I’ll have our youth get into small groups, look at a picture of a stranger, read a made up back story to the picture which will include some kind of tribulation, then come up with a plan of how to encourage the fictitious person through words and actions. Maybe some role play will help to train us for the next time we’re faced with the all-too real and all-too often situation of needing to encourage but not knowing what to say or do. When is the last time you encouraged someone???
Bob
I have two friends who are both kind of in transitional periods in their lives right now. One friend lives in Colorado and has felt the Lord’s leading him into full time Law Enforcement. He has applied for several jobs, and gone through the testing procedures for a couple different agencies. He is on a waiting list for one agency and is praying a job opens up. My other friend lives in Texas and recently sold most of her belongings and “simplified” her life for her own sanity and to pursue a dream of becoming a writer. I love both of these friends and consider it an honor to take their situations before the Lord in prayer.
I was reading this morning in James Chapter 5 where it says, “The intense prayer of the righteous is very powerful.” Now I know that without Christ in my own life I would be far from righteous, but as a follower of Christ I have the privilege of prayer. This verse comes from a section of scripture speaking about praying for the sick and the unrighteous, and my friends are neither sick or separated from Christ. They both follow Christ and desire to serve Him. However, I have faith that the same loving God who can save the unrighteous and heal the sick can comfort and give direction to my friends in their time of transition.
Please pray for my friends today. Their names are Peter and Melisa. Pray for your friends today too. God loves each of us and wants to hear from us more often than from the dinner table and the “now I lay me down to sleep’s”. He wants to hear our hopes and dreams as well as our needs and troubles.
Yesterday I began the task of building a new computer from scratch. I ordered all the parts, and they finally arrived. This is one of those cool computers that would make any geek drool! Anyways, I put all the drives in, the motherboard, memory, video card, power supply, and every other piece required to make this new machine come to life. When I first booted the machine to load the Operating System…… Nothing. Ten minutes of thought pass… Try again: Nothing…. I was stumped. Why wouldn’t this new computer work? I had installed all compatible parts in their respective places. I had plugged in every cable and cord where they go. Still, nothing…. Finally, it dawned on me that I had both DVD drives set as “Master” discs. In a computer setup with two drives on the same cable, one has to be set as Master and the other as a Slave. After moving a tiny jumper on one drive, I re-booted and like magic, everything worked!
Everything had to be absolutely perfect with this setup for anything to work. This new and expensive computer full of the latest technology, sat like a huge pile of scrap metal until everything was perfect. I’m so glad that I don’t have to be perfect for God to be able to use me. If I did, I would be as useless as that computer was until everything was right. God chooses to use us despite our downfalls and bad days. Be thankful today that the God of the Universe not only loves you, He desires to use you to share His wonderful story. Our God is awesome!
Finally! It’s been a long month at church and home building this site. What do you think? Leave some comments and let me know. Are there features you wish were incorporated that got left out? Are you having any problems loading any of the pages? All feedback welcome.
1 Thessalonians 2:4-5
“Instead, just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not to please men, but rather God, who examines our hearts.” (HCSB)
Isn’t it interesting that you and I have been approved by the creator of the universe to carry and share the most important message that will ever be known to man. Why would he choose to entrust a human with this kind of responsibility? What’s even more interesting to me is that you and I get so wrapped up in “being so and so” or “achieving such and such” that we focus most of our energy on pleasing man for their simple and unsatisfying pat on the back. Meanwhile, that same creator that gives us the ultimate responsibility as Christians loves us beyond our wildest imagination and even sent his Son to die for you and I. Interesting that we don’t try nearly as hard to please Him…
Any thoughts???
I’ll be teaching the youth from this passage tomorrow night.
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