Category: Devotional Blog

Profound thoughts, often challenging the Christian.

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Pet Peeve.

One of my greatest pet peeves is when people publicly speak negatively about a church. “I didn’t take their classes so they wouldn’t let me teach in a children’s class” or “I was going to play my instrument for church, but that church wanted me to do an audition! I can’t believe it!” or “That church’s theology is messed up!” or “That pastor can’t keep his life together” or “Those elders at my church are *grumble grumble*” or “The music is too *grumble grumble.”

THINK FOR A SECOND. What impression does that give to a non-Christian? It’s not a good one. Some of the complaints I mentioned probably have reasonable explanations, and some of them are valid complaints – BUT NONE OF THEM NEED TO BE SAID PUBLICLY. Don’t you realize we are part of the Body of Christ? There are non-Christians watching us. Quit portraying Christianity as the “Arguing Club”!

Some issues do need to be brought up – such as a church’s theology or the incompetence of a pastor. But it never needs to be brought up publicly. Keep your mouth shut. That stuff ought to be brought up to other Christians as they need the information.

Keep the peace. Keep unity. And KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT (That’s a great blog post – go read it!). 

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What Are You Going To Be When You Grow Up?

That question is probably one of the most asked questions to kids between the ages of 3 and 18. Many kids answer, “I want to be a doctor.”

Wow. That’s a huge aspiration. Just think of what it takes to be a doctor: Usually eight years of college — several years after that of interning before actually reaching their desired specialty of medicine. Their education is strenuous, sometimes living on next to nothing and ignoring social lives to study more. They rack up thousands of dollars in student loans. Why? So they can save and improve lives. They also are typically well financially compensated later on for their hard work.

Let me ask you a widely under asked question: Who will you be in eternity?

Eternity is such a long time, I think its reasonable to consider our lifetime to be a “zero” amount of time. Now get this – the way we live our lives in this “zero” amount of time will determine how we live for the rest of eternity. Why else would we be judged according to what we did?

Who will you be in eternity?

That cannot be answered with words. You will answer that question with your life.

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Lazy and Stupid?

I get bothered when Christians are lazy. When they’re lazy and stupid its even worse.

Many Christians are big whiners – but they’re “Godly whiners.” They whine about wanting God’s presence, they whine about wanting a revival, they whine about not seeing God move in church or in lives.

Yet they do nothing. That’s where the stupid comes in.

Somehow we have come to the conclusion that the lack of a revival is God’s fault . . . “why must He tarry?” That makes me sick when I think about it. Jesus is coming back for a glorious bride, not a whore! The lack of spiritual renewal is YOUR FAULT, if you do nothing.

If we don’t pray, seek God, or worship Him with our lives – we will not find Him. Do Something.

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Trust.

This post is comprised of thoughts I’ve had regarding trust over the past several months (sort of like a journal solely on this subject). If I was able, I would share the situations behind each of these thoughts to help you understand the inspiration of the thought, but because the events were shared with me in confidence, I cannot — so there! So, you just get to hear my after-thoughts on trust — please try to apply them to your own life’s relationships and I believe they will help you in your relationships. There are many aspects of trust. I’m writing these off of some notes, but as I detail these paragraphs I’m nearly in awe at how much trust is at the core of humans. Or maybe its just me — maybe trust is at my core. But I think its everyone — I think trust might be the backbone of all relationships.

Earned Trust
Trust is earned. We all know that — but I think its easily forgotten. When kids critically say, “My parents don’t trust me” I want to smack them — because when I ask the follow up question, “Should your parents trust you?” or “If you were your parents, would you trust yourself?” the answer is always, “No.” This isn’t just a parent-child thing — this works in any relationship. If someone doesn’t trust you, there is probably a reason! In my example, the child needs to give the parents reasons to trust him.

Free Trust
I think we all have an element of “free trust.” I think I made this word up, so let me define it myself: Free trust is the trust that is given without any prior experience. It’s free, not earned. If I buy a stick of gum with a $10 bill, I trust that the candy vendor will give me my change so I hand him my $10 without reservation. That’s free trust. I think free trust is based on your position. I will give you free trust because of your position (i.e. shop clerk or friend, parent or child, pastor or counselor, mentor or protoge’, boss or employee).

Lost Trust
One crazy thing about trust is that it only takes a single action to wipe away all trust. That really baffles me, honestly. Trust is so valuable and integrated into every interpersonal relationship — and one silly decision can wreck a life’s relationships because trust is lost.

Stupid Trusters
There is an appropriate blend of “earned” and “free” trust. You earn my trust because of past experiences. I give you free trust because of your position. These things occur simultaneously — and there must be a blend. Dysfunctional relationships will begin when there is an imbalance between these two trusts. For example, imagine an underage child who repeatedly attempts suicide and gets caught with cigs, beer, and marijuana on multiple occasions. After each incident the parents decide that since the son said, “I’ll change” they should simply give him the free trust and move on, after all – he does hold the position of “son.” That’s stupid. Those parents need to start using some more earned trust and kick the child’s butt. He needs sent to a boarding school or something before he actually succeeds in killing himself. Those parents need to not trust their son because they love him. But evidently they’re stupid, so they trust unconditionally.

Trust Is Awesome
When you’re able to trust other people it just rocks. I’ll never forget my high school band director Terry Fisher. He had this incredible ability to just trust people at the very first moment he met them. He would then continue to trust and respect you until you gave him a reason to not be trusted. But until you gave him a reason to not trust you, he would bend over backwards to help you succeed. I have never had a teacher who cared about me more than Mr. Fisher. I made the comment to him once, “Mr. Fisher, you actually trust people.” He responded, “I have to. I can’t get anything done if I don’t trust other people. Besides – that’s no way to live. You’ve gotta trust people.”

I don’t think Mr. Fisher ever knew how much he taught me that day. It revolutionized the way I looked at relationships. When I actually trusted people, the world started ticking better. Trust is relying on the humanity of another individual. Today I have several people that I whole-heartedly trust with different positions — protoge’s, friends, family, pastors, etc.

The more I trust these people, the more they trust me. And that is a beautiful thing. That’s the backbone of relationships.

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Prayer is Where It’s At!

We all remember when Zach, Lisa, Screetch, Jessi, Slater, and everyone else at Bayside High School all hung out at “The Max.” That’s where it was at! I remember when I was in High school, in marching band, everyone went to the after-competition parties at other people’s houses. That’s where it was at!

For the Chrisitan – prayer is where it’s at. God has limited himself to working through us. He easily could have spoken directly to the Israelites with a loud audible voice, but instead He spoke through prophets (still does, but not exclusively). Check this verse out, God said, “I looked for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand before me . . . but I found none. So I will [destroy them].”

DID YOU GET THAT? In that verse, God looked for a man but there was no one. The Almighty Creator of the universe was looking for a man — but He found no one.

Prayer is your opportunity to connect with God in a way Angels can only dream about. God allows us to partner with Him in prayer. Do you hear me? –PARTNER with Him. That’s heavy duty stuff. I’m not just the servant of the Almighty God — I’m His partner in fulfilling His will on the earth. This occurs during prayer.

Prayer is where it’s at, man. Prayer is where the action is.

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If You Want To Be A Wimp, Never Start A Fight

My mom always told me to never start a fight. But I think sometimes we need to be fighting.

What about “Our BATTLE is not against flesh and blood . . .” What about “Take up the Armor of God.” (Eph. 6). Why is there a battle and why would we need armor unless we need to fight.

Fight your sin. Resist the Devil. Don’t be overly concerned with the bad influence others might be to you — last time I checked, “Greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world” (1 John 4:4). Why would I be concerned about being influenced — I’m a Christian — I AM THE INFLUENCER.

If that verse is true and He that is in us really is greater than he that is in the world — then we need to pick a fight with the devil and his schemes. Don’t be a wimp – start a fight!

I wrote about this earlier this year in a blog called, “Don’t Be Such A Sissy.” It’s a good one – you should go re-read it.

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If You Want To Be A Wimp, Just Be Comfortable

It’s not God’s priority to make sure you’re comfortable.

My favorite blogger, Perry Noble, wrote a few weeks ago and I will steal his thoughts here. I love the phrase, “I’m just not getting fed.” Normally when you hear that statement it is meant to be a reflection of a church or a pastor. But really, that’s more of a reflection on the individual! What they’re often actually saying is, “I’m just too darn lazy to do anything proactive in my relationship with God.”

Babies need to be fed Gerber. There might be some of you reading this blog right now who need to grow up and stop being such a baby. Grab the fork and start feeding yourself. Get into a small group with relationships to hold you accountable, get into the Bible, and get into prayer.

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If You Want To Be A Wimp, Don’t Stir Up Trouble

Just read the book of John and you’d see that Jesus stirred up trouble almost everywhere he went! Most people do not look for ways to stir up trouble – I think that sometimes you need to. Here’s why.

Let’s say you’re with a group of friends and they start to pass around marijuana. The “go with the flow” response would be to just quietly follow suit and smoke the pot so that you don’t create a rift. But stir up trouble! Go against the flow! Or let’s say you’re entering a business agreement with a buddy and he wants to cut a few corners (that break a couple unnoticeable tax laws) in order to maximize profits. The “go with the flow” response would be to just say, “sure” so that the business relationship continues strong, no one would notice anyhow. But don’t be a wimp – stir up some trouble by going against the flow.

If I speak loudly, everyone in the area will notice my voice. If I live loudly, everyone in the area will notice my life. And if you notice the life of a passionate and genuine Christian, you will find Jesus. That’s how you sweat your evangelism.

Go live loudly — go stir up some trouble.