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Where has will power gone. I know this is a daily fight and struggle, but it is the recipe for your character. You could spend 20 years building up a well respected image and make one decision and ruin your reputation. We have seen this happen time and time again from athletes to politicians to preachers. Our will power is a great guide to a better life. The more self control you have the less trouble you will manage to dive into. You must have will power to be obedient to God. I use to be so very weak in this category, but I have worked and prayed over the issue. I have definately made progress but am still quite a ways from home plate. One story that comes to mind on the topic was an interview I watched on Pastor Rick Warren. The interviewer asked Mr. Warren what his views on homosexuality were. He replied that he didn't approve of it but didn't frown upon it. The interviewer then said that homosexuals were born that way and how could he not approve of it. He replied that he was born with the urge to sllep to with every beautiful woman he saw, but that was not biblically right either and that we must have will power. I love this explanation and it so very true. There are many things that would be fun to do, but that doesn't make them right. When my wife makes chocolate chip cookies I want to eat the whole batch, but my will power kicks in and I stop after 2 or 3. It seems as though that society has slowly transitioned into this mentality that everyone owes them something and they are gonna do what they want. Maybe this is why are economy is in the shape it's in. Doing the right thing will not always be the most fun, but it will be the most rewarding. That is if you have self respect, morals and ethics.
Heard a great message Sunday by Chris Stapleton of The Rock Church. His message was titled Guarded. The point that he made that really hit home to me was that God is not looking for perfection, he is looking for availability. God is well aware that we as humans are not perfect. He doesn't want us to be perfect. What he does want is for us not to repeatedly sin intentionally and when we do mess up and sin to repent. He also wants us to be available to spread the good news of salvation and The Kingdom. This is something that I defiantely need to work on as well. There are many times I have an opportunity to be more helpful or to take the extra time to help, but don't because I am in a hurry to do something that won't matter a week from now. I think we all get wrapped up and lost in our careers and our narcissistic mentality. Being available might also require that you crawl out of your shell or comfort zone. A touching story relating to this that I heard recently was about a woman who was in line with her family at McDonald's. She said as they got in line they smelt a perpetual stream of breath taking body odor. As they peered to the front of the line they saw to homeless men buying a cup of coffee. The woman over herd the men saying that they only had enough money for a cup of coffee, but were more appreciative for the warmth that the restuarant was providing from the sub zero temperature. As the woman approched the apologetic cashier and placed her order, she also oredered to extra meals and asked that they be placed on a seperate tray. She then took the tray over to two homeless men, smiled, and said that God was blessing them through her. At that moment one of the men looked up at her with tears running down like a thawing ice cube. He looked her straight in the eyes as he gently clutched her hand and kissed it while exclaiming his utmost gratification. Her generosity touched the hearts of everyone in McDonald's as well as the employees. This is a great example of the availability that God is looking for. Forget perfection and focus on being available to those in need. Spread the word and show God's grace and love through your actions.
I heard a great message by Pastor Kevin Bennett from Mountain View Baptist in Black Mountain. Their current series is Christmas is For-giving. He took this message a step further Sunday with Christmas is For-going. He challenged the congregation to humble themselves by apoligizing to anyone that they had upset or made mad. He explained that our peers judge us by our actions. We judge ourselves by our intentions. Sometimes the two can produce skewed outcomes and emotions. Sometimes we didn't intend to hurt someone, but our actions did. If you have ever thought you might have offended someone, then you most likely did, so go ahead and clear the air and make amends. As Christians we are suppose to be forgiving and love our neighbor and brother. God forgives us on a daily basis and sacrificed his son to pay the penalty for our sins. Matthew 5:23 says: "So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come offer your gift." God doesn't want you honoring or praising him if your not honoring your neighbor and brother. It says in the scripture that if you can't honor and love someone in the flesh, you definately can't honor someone you have never seen. Pastor Kevin also talked about how we will be in a store and see someone we don't want to take the extra time to talk to, or don't want to talk to them because of other reasons. So we act like we didn't see them, or head in the other direction, or we duck like were hiding from a sniper in battle. We are guilty of this behavior at some point in our lives. However, that doesn't make it right. Everytime we do this we add gasoline to negative thoughts, emotions, attitudes, and relationships. It's kind of like letting a cavity turn into a root canal. If you had addressed the cavity earlier you would have saved some coin and alot of pain. This kind of makes me think of how nice and sincere strangers were right after 9/11. Even Yankees would take the extra second for a smile or pleasant greeting. This behavior lasted a couple of months and then society dove back into their seclusive self centered ideology of life. Lets remember that it is the Christmas season and that we are judged on our actions not our intentions. If you need to apoligize or mend a relationship I encourage you to do it. When you ask, right now, tommorow is not promised. Take the extra time to serve and love others, it will be worth it. I hope that this is enlightening and that you can take something away from it. I know I have!
God Bless!
I go to a leadership lunch and learn bible study on Tuesday's. It's a great time of fellowship with godly men and a chance to escape the hustle and bustle of a busy work week. This past Tuesday we discussed John 3:22-30. In this scripture John the Baptist's followers point out to John that everyone is going to Jesus to get baptized instead of John. John immediatelty refocus's this comparison to God. He replies "A person cannot recieve even one thing unless it is given him from heaven."
He then tells his people that he is not Christ, but he has been sent before him. He then says that the one who has the bride is the bridegroom. Then in modern day language he says my joy is complete in being the best man. The scripture ends with John saying "He must increase, but I must decrease." What unbelievable humility John the Baptist showed us in this passage. He combated comparison with total humility. Whenever someone gives us credit or praise it is because they are comparing us to others in someway. It is human nature to want to soak it all in and take all the credit. However, like John the Baptist said we can't recieve anything unless it is given from God. Stay humble and give all the glory, honor, and praise to God.
Hurry, Hurry, read all about it!!!!!!!!!!!! Why does society get so excited, baffled, and let down when someone who is famous like Tiger Woods is hit with multiple affair allegations. Maybe it's because too many people in society idolize famous people, actors, and athletes. Society needs to remember that these are people just like everyone else. They will mess up and sin just like the rest of us. It is actually probably harder for them being exposed to the media and having millions of dollars at their disposal. Not only are they human but most of them are of the world. People that are of the world are gonna walk in sin. As Jesus said they know not what they do. They will pursue the worldly trinity of status, money, and power. They are trying to fill a void that can't be filled. A big part of being a faithful christian is obedience, faith, and love towards God and God's children. It's not about focussing on yourself and your desires, it's about honoring God. Tiger Woods like most of society was worried about pleasing himself, instead of being faithful to his Creator and Redeemer. I'm not sure if Tiger is even familiar with the concept of being the spiritual leader of the household. Most of the people that are mad at Tiger have done the same thing or carried out their fare share of sin. They need to take the log out of there eye before they tell there neighbor to take the speck out of his eye. Tiger broke one of the 10 commandments like most of society does on a routine daily basis. Just like alcoholism, lying, and divorce, affairs have became socially acceptable. It gives society something to gossip about and fuel their euphoric state of self deprivation. After all, the name is extremely hard to live up too, lets just pray that the big cat repents and gives his heart to God.
One of my good friends, Hajo Engelke, came and spent Thanksgiving with me and the fam. Hajo was a foreign exchange student while I was at Christ School and we became great friends. I actually went and spent a couple weeks in Germany with him and his family. Hajo graduated with an MBA from UNC's Kenan Flagler School of business and started his company. His company is called Custom Choice Cereal. It is a web based business that offers cerealaholics and shoppers a unique opportunity of building and naming your own cereal. Hopefully you won't be as crazy creative as the last shopper before the Thanksgiving holidays. he named his cereal: I've got nuts, thats what she said. Rough economic times and all these comedians out of work and this guy is trying to be one. Custom Choice Cereal is also gluten free, but don't let that fool you. All that means in lamens terms is that the ingredients are organic and it does not contain wheat, rye, or barley. This tranisitons to more healthy and a much more tasty. I hope that the 2 or 3 people that read this blog will take a few minutes to check out my buddy's website and at least order and try a bag if you ever eat cereal. If you don't eat cereal pass the good news and company name and website on to someone who does, especially if they are a celiac (auto immune to gluten). I promise, you will not be dissapointed. You can find a link to the Custom Choice Cereal on my blog page or visit them at www.customchoicecereal.com
