Category: Devotional Blog

Profound thoughts, often challenging the Christian.

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One Person Can Change a City.

James Blake got out of his seat and instructed Rosa Parks to move to the black section of the bus so that a white man could have her seat. She refused. This sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott. This obviously changed the city of Montgomery, Alabama. One person can change a city.

There was a young man involved with the Montgomery bus boycott named Martin Luther King, Jr. I don’t need to tell you the rest of the story. One person can change the nation.

Yet, as Christians we are not called to change a city, nor are we called to change a country. Our calling is far greater than this. We’re called to reach a generation.

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Fireworks!

I saw the most amazing fireworks show two nights ago. Seriously — it was high quality fireworks being shot up well above rooftops all around my neighborhood. I just took a walk and I saw constant explosions all around me. It just kept going and going, and it was completely random. Nobody planned it. It wasn’t organized. Lots of people in the community just decided they wanted good fireworks, and the result was an amazing show for EVERYONE!

It was amazing how such a show could be created by random people doing their thing. Lots of people got involved and ta da — there was a fireworks show for all of East Auburn. Just imagine what could happen if lots of people got involved in their churches . . .

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Dump it out.

Total Devotion.
You’ve got control.
I’ve emptied out my heart, so you can make me whole.

A few days ago I was eating dinner at my house and those words sorta popped out of my mouth in a song. That’s all the song was – but I love the third line so much. Think about it.

We want to be complete. We want restored relationships, forgiveness, acceptance, approval, love, etc. etc. Because we’re looking for a blessing from God (which isn’t bad), we hang onto our pride. Before God can make us whole, we have to release everything. That seems like an oxymoron, eh? You lose something before you get what you want.

I can remember several times having drank a cup of milk, and then filling it up with ice water. It doesn’t matter how much of the milk I had drank — if I didn’t rinse the cup before putting in the water then my water would taste funky. It just doesn’t work. Before God can restore what’s messed up — we’ve got to be broken — we’ve got to be willing to allow God to mess us up inside.

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Leeland.

Wow. This band is incredible. Michael W. Smith says they are the best thing he’s heard in a long long time. I agree with him. Check out their myspace and listen to their stuff — it’s awesome. Especially “Carried to the Table.” That one is really moving, at least for me.

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Is There Anything Wrong With “More”?

A poverty mentality is a mindset. It not only includes finances – but your attitude. Someone with a poverty mentality isn’t just someone who is poor – its someone who will stay poor. I heard a story about a single woman who lived her entire life in an efficiency apartment in the slums of a large city. After she died, the landlord remodeled her apartment and in doing so he removed the wall paneling. It was then that they realized the woman had made holes at the top of her walls and had put money down inside her walls. When they counted it all up it totaled more than $1 Million. This woman had plenty of money, but she wasted it and stayed poor her entire life because of her poverty mentality. Her poverty mentality caused her to waste her life, most likely treating human relationships much like she did her money. Scared to live; scared to move; scared to effect the world. People with a poverty mentality stay “down in the dumps” in their finances and life in general because they do not strive for anything more.

We need to be content with where we are and what God has given us, but we should never be satisfied.

I am content with my car. But I am not satisfied — I am saving money so that in a few years I can purchase a nicer replacement.
I am content with my education. But I am not satisfied — I will soon be pursuing my Master’s degree.
I am content with my church. But I am not satisfied — I want my church to be more passionate than yesterday.
I am content with my house. But I am not satisfied — I am taking care of my house and fixing it up so that when the time comes, I could sell it for more.
I am content with my job. But I am not satisfied — I want to be even more “on the ball” tomorrow and give far beyond 100%.
I am content having a relationship with God. But I am not satisfied — I want to be closer to God tomorrow than I am right now.

Someone with a poverty mentality is “satisfied” with nearly everything, but they are not content with anything. People with a poverty mentality never strive for more of anything. Think about an area in your life where you have developed a negative poverty mentality.
I will always be content, but I will never be satisfied!

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I Won’t Beat Around The Bush in This Blog.

A recent poll indicated that only around 10% of Christian church attenders tithe. That’s . . . sad.

Tithing is giving 10% of our increase to God (by giving to the local church). A Christian should (and often will song songs about) complete surrender to God. Everything we have ultimately belongs to God, but God says we need to give him 10% of it. Malachi 3 says that if you are not tithing, you are robbing God. I doubt any Christian church attender would even consider stealing something of value from another person — yet roughly 90% of them steal from God on a weekly basis.

“But I cannot afford to tithe!” Psh. You can’t afford not to. Malachi 3:10-12 says that when God’s people tithe, he will bless them! The inverse of that would be that if God’s people don’t tithe, he will not bless them. Do you trust God’s Word? If he says he’s going to bless you if you tithe — he will. You can take that to the bank.

If you are not giving 10% of your increase (i.e. your paycheck or allowance) to your local church – you are robbing God. Knock it off. Start giving to your local church. Like . . . now. God says so.

New Hope just introduced an online tithing program where you can electronically donate money to the church. If you consider New Hope your church home and you’re comfortable with “online payment” methods, I encourage you to check out New Hope’s Online Giving. It’s been tested for several months and it works great! I’ve used it myself and I’ve found it to be completely safe. Just visit NewHope.in and click on the Online Giving link in the bottom left corner.

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We All Have a Big Butt.

God has a calling for each of us. We (Christians) are all called to share the message of Jesus with those around us. We are all called to show God’s love to those we come in contact with every single day. We are all called to help develop other Christ followers (a.k.a. make disciples). It’s God’s will for each of us to spend time with Him every day. God’s called each of us to live holy lives. There also may be specific callings — for example, God might have called you to lead “Bill Johnson” (insert any specific name) to Christ. Or He might have called you to serve in the choir at church (or some other specific ministry).

We always have an excuse to get out of some of these things:

But I’m too busy . . .

But I’m so tired. I don’t feel like it . . .

But I worked in the nursery this morning, why do I need to have “God time” today? . . .

But . . .
But . . .

We all have a big but! Quit scratching your “but” and do what God’s called you to do!

This past weekend at Church our youth pastor did a fantastic job sharing the message where he used the phrase “we all have a big butt” to illustrate this idea. I thought it was great so I stole it and adapted it for my blog.