Life Is Short

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Life Is Short…

Live It, Love It, and Tell People About The Reason for IT!

It’s days like this that I hate. People die and we all understand that… but sometimes people die way too young, and wrapping your head around that can be impossible sometimes.

I’ve experienced my own pain of loss that I would not wish on my worst enemy but…

Today I found out a friend I worked with for several years passed away in his mid 30’s. No reason, no huge accident, no long battle with a disease… just gone.

The guy had a heart of gold, would do anything for anybody, and loved his son like crazy!

It happens, death… and then you think… “What If!”

Don’t do it

Don’t think “what if”

Instead use those moments when your thinking “what if” as reminders that we don’t get a lot of second chances in life.

So live like it.

Live with a sense of purpose and passion.

Live life in a way that says your eternally grateful to be given the gift of life, and thank God for it!

Ask God what your life should look like… and live it that way! Live it on purpose.

Live in such a way that you will not be asking “what if” in life’s suckiest moments!

Love God… Don’t take Him for granted… He’s there for a reason

Love Others… Don’t take them for granted… they are there for a reason

So don’t do it… don’t live your life and then have to ask “what if”

Peace

Who Feeds You?

I’ve been on a break from blogging… its been a life full of so many other things to pour my time and attention into!

I do believe that many of the things I have been processing will come out in the coming weeks and months on this blog… here goes the first.

Who Feeds You? Ask yourself this question…

Is it the television, romance novels, movies about vampires or teenagers killing to live? None of these things are wrong in and of themselves, but back to the question… is this simply brain-dead entertainment or does it feed your soul? I suspect most will say it’s just entertainment without really examining the issue.

Wrestle with this… don’t just simply say its entertainment and then move on. I know for me it can be both. Sometimes it’s brain-dead entertainment, and other times these things are feeding my soul no matter my intention!

What I do know for certain is this… when Jesus is the one feeding Tony, I’m much better off… Those around me are much better off! It might take a while, but I can tell when Jesus is not the one feeding my soul and the culture around me is doing His job.

I’ll end with this… wrestle with that question, even if you don’t think you care about the question wrestle with it… Jesus said to put him first above all else, and count the cost of following Him just before He proclaims that we are to carry our own cross daily. Not so light a fluffy of Jesus to ask people to die to themselves and carry a cross!

The more I chew on this the more humbled I am, and the more aware of my own need to have something other than my culture feeding me. When I let those things feed me I become more of who I am… when I let the gospel feed me, I become more of who Jesus says that I am!

May we all wrestle with this question, and find ourselves feeding off the true vine, the bread of life, and the living water!

Peace

Should Politics and Faith Hold Hands?

 

Should politics and faith intersect? Sometimes I wish they didn’t because reading Facebook Status’s the last few weeks has been exhausting!

But according to the scriptures they intersect when we treat politicians like we do anyone else, we pray and intercede for them.

1 Timothy 2:1-4 I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people— 2 for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. 3 This is good, and pleases God our Savior, 4 who wants all people to be saved and to come to knowledge of the truth.

No matter where you fall today on the political spectrum and no matter if “your guy” won… if you’re a follower of Christ you are expected to pray for ALL people, and that includes the POTUS. I don’t agree with some of his policies (I don’t agree with everything Romney stood for either) and I hate abortion, especially partial birth abortion… but my mandate from God is to pray for the POTUS! Furthermore, it’s to be a light and a beckon of hope to those considering abortion. We can sit on idle and pray that a future President / Supreme Court overturns Roe V Wade… or we can become the answer to our own prayers and reach out to the hurting young mother or the abused woman who is considering abortion. We can offer financial help, adoption answers, and shelter for them… this is the mandate Christ has given the church when he said to care for the least of these (Matt 25). The point here is that no matter the legal nature of abortion, it will most likely always be among us because the world is broken… and the church / the body of Christ has been called to be hope and light in a broken world offering THE answer in Christ alone.

Some will say they are not going to pray for a President who believes in killing babies or taking their money… If that’s you consider this, in the above passage when Paul tells Timothy to pray for the kings, and those in authority Nero was the Caesar and ruler of the Roman Empire. Nero was one of the most selfish and evil of all roman emperors, persecuting Christians at will and had little to no concern even for his own Roman citizens… in fact Paul and other disciples like Peter were killed under Nero’s rule and edict. Paul would pray for President Obama and Mitt Romney!

So don’t blast any one particular person or political party… instead as followers of Jesus rise up! Pray for the government and our leaders, and do this while becoming the answer to your own prayers… become the hope that many people in our world need! You might just save a baby or two from being aborted, and that my friend is what following Jesus is all about!

Peace

PS… In the last debate Romney said “America is the “hope” of the earth.” He couldn’t be farther from the truth… Jesus is the only hope our country and every other country on this earth has!

Now That Was Church!

Each week we pray and we plan a service with the intention and goal that reads something like this… “We the people of OCC hope to encounter the true a living God today”. Different voices enter the conversation and sometimes those differences are noticed in the service. This last Sunday was no different in our preparation, but the results certainly appeared to be!

After a few moments in the worship time it became clear that if we continued with our plans, the results would not be what we hope for each week… so we went with it and made what seemed like necessary changes! This was a first for OCC, but I hope what happened was an encouragement and blessing to those in attendance. I hope you feel like the true and living God was present and able to move in the lives of everyone in attendance! While we don’t plan on those moments, we want to be the kind of place that is OK when it does happen… in fact I think most of the church felt like it was more than OK : )

But, a word of caution if I may. We can get so enamored by these times of worship that we feel like God is only present when they happen. I can assure you God’s promises of presence are still true and each week the church gathers because Jesus says when we gather together, He is with us. (Matt 18:20)

May we all pray that our gathering is met with His presence, because without His presence we are not the church. He is the head of the church and without Jesus we are not only missing the ability and function of our 5 senses, but the very nature of the God we desire!

See you Sunday!

Peace

Over My Head

Have you ever felt in over your head? I guess I have been there before but something about this time is very different.

I’ve been in over my head a lot in my life… My father passed away at the beginning of my senior year in high school and I was without my best friend and mentor in this life… In Over My Head!

Freshman year I took a required theology class at Spring Hill College and had never opened a bible before. I couldn’t’ tell you what Genesis or Exodus were or where to find them (First two books of the bible), at least I had heard of a guy names Moses and Jesus before…In Over My Head!

How about my first ministry experience… helping lead a youth ministry that had EVERYONE I looked up to in it. The kids in the group knew more about the bible and youth ministry than I could possibly know. Most of them grew up in that youth group and I had been a Christian for 6 months… In Over MY Head!

Getting married and then holding my son Myles for the first time realizing I’m responsible for this little guy!  Loving, leading, discipling, guiding and providing for him… In Over My Head!

Moving to Utah to learn about church planting and ministry to find out within 8 months I was going to be leading the church… IN OVER MY HEAD!

I’m in over my head again, and I’m learning so many things about ministry and myself! The last year has been the most amazing journey of my life. Its been fun, busy, scary, hard, but worth every second of it. Being in over my head has revealed some weaknesses in my life, and while this may seem like a negative I have learned to embrace when my weaknesses are revealed… its only when they are on the surface that I can see them and deal with them. As I wrestle with my weaknesses, I become a better man, husband, dad, friend, pastor, and follower of Jesus.

I’m mostly excited about being in over my head this time around… because I have learned that when your in the desert you seem to get really good at praying for rain! When your in over your head… you tend to get closer to God real quick!

If you find yourself In Over Your Head today… get to know the ONE who can help you swim in the deep waters and teach you so much about yourself… and at the same time use the moments your in over your head to make you BETTER!

May we all embrace the moments we find ourselves in over our heads, and seek Jesus who is able to turn our weaknesses into powerful reminder of our need for HIM… and may we all strive to be BETTER in every area of our lives.

Peace