loneliness

There are a short list of horrible feelings that we encounter, one of them is loneliness.  Isolation.  How often do you go there, get there, stay there.

That feeling of:
No one understands
No one cares
I am fighting this battle alone
No one gets me
I AM ALL ALONE.

"He replied, " I have been very zealous for the Lord God of Hosts, but the Israelites have abandoned Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword.  I alone am left, and they are looking for me to take my life." 1 Kings 19:10 (HCSB)

Elijah felt this way.  That we was fighting a battle on his own.  That not one single person was there for him.  That not one single person understood.  So he was in

darkness
loneliness
isolation
desolation.

Its not hard to arrive at this point.  We get tired, we get worn down, we focus on the negative, we look at around our surroundings and see nothing good happening, then we begin to sink into this black hole of isolation trying to cut out the negative, the hurt, and the frustration.  Sometimes we get so deep into this hole that we cant get out.......

Then God comes along....

"What are you doing here, Elijah?" 1 Kings 13b (HCSB)

or

"What are you doing here, Chris?"

Elijah began to describe his situation to God, "I am all alone and fear for my life...."  In that moment, as only God can, He begins to talk to Elijah and encourage him and tells him that he is not alone, in fact tells him that "there are 7,000 in Israel - Every knee that has not bowed to Baal and every mouth not kissed him" (18b).

You don't have to be alone, to feel alone.  Sometimes we can feel like we are fighting this battle of life all by ourselves.  You are not alone, I am not alone.  When we get into this feeling of loneliness God comes along and asks, "What are you doing here?", You don't have to be there, I don't have to be there.  Open eyes to look around, there is a remnant that understands.  There are people that feel just as lonely as you and I.  We are all fighting this same battle.

When you start to feel like you are going into this pit of loneliness, listen for the voice.... listen closely as He says, "What are you doing here?", God will remind you that you are not alone, He has placed people around to lift you up.

Have a great day; Chris

The Grudge

"Esau held a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing his father had given him.  And Esau determined in his heart:  "the days of mourning for my father are approaching; then I will kill my brother Jacob."  (Genesis 27:41 (HCSV)

Grudge:  a feeling of deep-seated resentment or ill will (Webster's)

If anyone had a right to hold a grudge it would be Esau, right?  I mean his younger brother stole something precious from him, His Blessing.  The blessing was a special rite or act when the father would lay hands on and ask God to bless His eldes son.  Jacob stole that.  The unfortunate thing was Esau was holding a grudge against the wrong person.  His anger was to the point where he wanted kill his own brother.  Kill him.  Wasn't Jacob's fault.  This was actually a plot by his mother, Rebekah, she told Jacob to do it, in fact in vs. 13, she tells him to obey her and do it.  So who should Esau really be mad at...

Anger, bitterness, or a Grudge.  It's not good.  It eats away at you, Esau it was to the point he wanted to commit a crime, cold blooded murder.  Why do we even carry a grudge?  Why do we allow such a thing to change who we are?  To change us from a satified happy go lucky kind of person to someone who wants to commit such a hainus act.

Some people will carry a grudge to the grave with them.  Why?  It's bad enough when someone wrongs us, but do we really want to empower them by carrying this weight of a grudge all the way to our death?

God wants you to be free from that.  God want's you to carry a much lighter load.  Your better than that. 

What would it take for you to let it go? 

Doesn't matter what it is.

Is it fair how they wronged you?  absolutely not.

The sooner you let it go, the sooner you can be set free.

Set free from the Grudge.

Experience the freedom.

Have a great day, Chris

The Wrestler

When you think wrestler, who do you think of:  Ric Flair? Ricky Steamboat?  Andre the Giant?  The Rock?  The Undertaker?  Most would probably say Hulk Hogan....  How about Jacob?

24 So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak.  25 When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man.  26 Then the man said, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.”
But Jacob replied, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”
27 The man asked him, “What is your name?”
“Jacob,” he answered.
28 Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel,a because you have struggled with God and with men and have overcome.”
29 Jacob said, “Please tell me your name.”
But he replied, “Why do you ask my name?” Then he blessed him there.
30 So Jacob called the place Peniel,saying, “It is because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared.”  Ge 32:24-30 (NIV)

We really fault Jacob for this, I mean really come down hard on him saying, "why in the world would you fight/wrestle with God all night long it's ridiculous.  True as it may sound, we do the same thing.  Though we may not do it physically, but we do it emotionally, mentally, and spiritually.  So here are a few points to learn from Jacob's Wrestling match with God.

• Jacob couldn't win, he was determined and lasted all night long, but in the end He still lost.... Stop wasting your time, If God wants you to do something, Just do it. 
• God is more determined than you are, He will outlast you, so Just do it.
• God's not going to force you to do anything, it's up to you, so Just do it.
• Jacob walked away maimed, God touched his hip and he walked with a limp.  Your gonna get banged up a little by refusing to not do what God wants you to do, so Just do it.
• Jacob tried to force the "man" aka God to bless Him after wrestling all night.  How can you EXPECT God to bless you if you refuse to do what He says, so Just do it.
• In the end God gets what He wants, so either its from you or from someone else, so Just Do it
• In the end Jacob realized it was God (vs. 30), so Just Do it.
• Just Do it.

So what did we learn from this:  Just Do it.  You save yourself time, energy, and trouble if you and I will Just Do what God wants us to do.  God wants to use you and I.  You and I are blessed when we Just do what God wants us to do.

Just do it.....

have a great day, Chris

Make Disciples?

So this morning I was thing of "The Great Commission" or as I hear some say "the Great Omission".

"Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit".  Mt.  28:19 (HCSB)

So why do some call it "the Great Omission", well because we don't get it right.  We, as church, get this verse so messed up.  We are more concerned about getting baptisms and not disciples.  We are told to make disciples, then the baptisms will come. 

Here lies the bigger problem:  How do you make disciples out of people who don't want to be "disciples".  There is the problem.  When Jesus called His disciples and He asked them to "follow Him", they did... No hesitation, why:  because they wanted it.

People don't (as a general rule), want it anymore.  So we can try to examine fault.  Maybe its the church's legalistic point of view, maybe it is the attitude of some "church" people, maybe it's societies view on the church as a whole, or maybe.... just maybe it's our hearts.

The problem is two folded (in my opinion anyway), the first one is that most definitely that most people don't want to be disciples anymore.  The second problem is the investment on our end (the church, that is).  It takes a lot of time and energy to take someone under your wing and be willing to "disciple" them.  To pray with them, to do Bible study (one on one) with them, and to just listen to what is going on in their lives.  Let's face it, it's hard enough to get people to commit in the church to worship on Sundays and Wednesdays, let alone taking more time outside to "disciple" a believer.

So here we are, with a HUGE problem in the church, or Christianity as a whole.  How do we disciple a nation, a county, a state, or a world that doesn't want it?

It begins with me.  My attitude.  My willingness. 

Make Disciples, it's what we are supposed to be doing.  I'm on it!!  I will make the time.

Have a great day, Chris

Pick me, Pick me

You remember when you where in school and in P.E. when they would pick teams for basketball?  You know how they would always get down to where there was just one or two left and nobody wanted them on their team because they where so bad.  I mean really really bad.  That one kid left standing, well It was almost always me.

I love sports, although I have never been good at them, ever.

I remember always standing there thinking, come on, someone pick me, please don't let me be last yet again.  It's an awful feeling.  Things like that happen and you start dealing with lack of self-confidence.  It got to where I would make up excuses to not have to be there.  "I dont' feel good", "my asthma is bothering me", "coach i forgot my clothes to dress out".  Yeah that was me.  It was sad, cause i really wanted to play.  Then if I did play, whoever team I was on would NEVER give me the ball, so what was the point of me playing then.  Could i really blame them?  I mean i was pretty awful.  I wanted to play, I wanted to be part of the team,  I wanted to shoot the ball!!!  I never got to be team captain, i think if i had ever had the chance I would have picked the ones who stunk first, just so we would know the feeling of what it was like to not be last.

This is why I struggle so much with John 15:16:

"You did not choose me, but I chose you....." (NIV)

He chose me....

Sometimes I can't quite wrap my head around that.  I don't feel special.  I don't feel equipped.  I don't feel worthy.  I don't feel like I'm worth choosing.

But Jesus did.  He Chose me.  He made me special.  He equipped me.  He sees more in me than i ever will.  He chose me to be part of His team.  He chose me, He chose me, HE CHOSE ME!!!!

He chose you too, He hand picked you out to be, well you.  He has a plan for you.  He chose you to be on His team, all Jesus asks is that you join Him.  He wants you on His team....

Join me I love being on His team.

Have a great weekend, Chris

"I Don't Care".......

Webster's Dictionary defines Apathy as:  a lack of feeling, emotion, interest, or concern.  Apathy is a life killer, and it's killing the life of Christians and churches across this nation.

Apathy
Indifference
It's not so much our action as it is our passiveness.  Maybe it's society shift.  Maybe its generational.  Maybe it's not our fault.  Maybe it's just me?

or maybe:

it's our hearts, or lack of...



In Acts 18, Paul had went from Athens to Corinth, He was teaching weekly in the Synagogues, which was not going well.  So he began to leave the Synagogues and visit homes.  Which went really, really well.  People where being converted, lives where being changed.  The Jews didn't like it, they tried everything to to stop Him.  The Lord spoke to Paul in a dream (Acts 18:9-10) and encouraged him to keep it up.  Meanwhile Paul was brought before the Governer of Achai (Gallio), and charged with being a "troublemaker".  Gallio decided he didn't want to deal with it, so he had the Jews and Paul kicked out.  In Acts 18:17 we read that they are mad so they attack a person named Sosthenes, who is mentioned in 1 Corinthians 1:1 as a strong supporter of Paul.  Now as Governer Gallio had the power and authority to do something about it but unfortunately Acts 18:17 says:

"But Gallio showed no concern whatsoever"

Apathy
Gallio didn't care....

People are hurting, torn, confused, struggling.....

Does that bother you?  Does it bother me?  Should it?  Why does it matter?  Should it matter?

In every pew beside you every week are people that are hurting, everyday you work with people that are broken, in every neighborhood in America there is a family shattered, in every family there is someone that is on the verge of giving up, in every school is a student that thinks no one cares, in every elementary school is a child without a parent, in every store is a family trying to decide what food they can afford or not, in every state is a senior citizen that has to decide on a prescription or providing heat, in every county is a teacher that finds out they have a student that will not eat that night because there is no food at home, and in every home in this country on this day someone that we know will die and go to Hell.

Apathy, how can it be part of our lives?

Lord, let it not be part of mine....

Chris

When was the last time you cried?

"As he approached and saw the city, He Wept over it" (Luke 19:41, HCSB)

This verse has been in my mind since before Easter.  As I had been teaching about Palm Sunday, and Jesus' triumphal entry, this verse has just stood out..... and stayed there.

So I ask the question:  when was the last time you cried?

Not at a movie
Not over a relationship
Not over a loss of love one
Not over hurt
Not over anger

When have you cried over the state of your city, your state, your country, your world.

Jesus stood before Jerusalem and wept, because in less than a week so much would change.  They would go from faithful followers worshipping Him to blood thirsty people who wanted Him crucified.

People can debate all day about the state of our society.  We can debate about life and when it starts, when can debate about marriage and how it is defined, we can debate about prayer and when its appropriate, and we can debate about 10 commandments and where they could be posted. 

My perspective is simply from a Christian Conservative point of view.  Our society is far from being a morally acceptable state.  Does that bother me?  Does that bother you?

So what do we do about it, what do i do about it?

The morally decaying state of society today does one very sad thing, It breaks the heart of God.  Our society has gone from a majority that follows Christ, to a minority.  A society now that questions everything moral, and justifies as much as they can.

"He Wept"

Breaks the heart of God.

"He Wept"

Breaks the heart of His Son

"He Wept"

Does it break the heart of His people?

Now, here is where it gets personal....  Instead of breaking our hearts, it makes us angry.  We argue, we fight, we are down right mean and hateful to a society that doesn't agree with us.  There is a "righteous anger" that we need to have mind you, but that righteous anger does not justify us to become that which is opposite of our Jesus.

"He Wept", It broke His heart.

The very people that followed Him that day would turn their backs on Him later.  The very country that followed Him years ago is turning theirs backs on Him today.

"He Wept", it breaks His heart.

Instead of being angry, it should break our heart.  Then we would be moved to righteous action.

Lord break my heart, for what breaks yours,

Chris

(I know this blog probably reads jumbled, but my mind is jumbled this day)

The Good Old Days???

I know this has happened to you:  Your talking to someone about something (life, family, church, job, etc.) and inevitably this comes out, "I miss the good old days"....  So i wonder, where the good old days really that good?

Great Depression
Civil War
High unemployment
low paying jobs
few graduated high school, let alone college

Now don't get me wrong times where a lot, well, simpler, but was, or is, simpler better?

I used to sit and listen to my great-grandmother talk about the "good old days", living in the depression, working long long hours because she was a single mom raising a lot of children.  The good old days?

I'm getting to the age now where life is passing far too quickly.  I'm past 40 now, and have accumulated lots of "memories".  A lot of good, but also a lot of bad. 

I disdained my middle school years, so they are not the "good old days"
I loved my high school years, but i don't want to go back there, so it's not the "good old days"
College was OK, but it definitely was not "good old days"
I made alot of friends at my first "real" job,and was there 13 years, but don't want to go back to those "good old days"
I enjoyed my first church i served at, but was it really the "good old days"

We hold on to the past, the good old days, because it's familiar.  It makes us comfortable.  Time is always passing, ALWAYS.  Truth is you can't go back, but seriously, if you could...... would you?  Not me..... I look back, and yes its been great, but i know the best is yet to come....

Do you know what holding on to the "good old days" does?  Stops progress.

So reflect on the "good old days", enjoy the memories, laugh about it with friends.  Just don't hold so tightly on to it that you can't enjoy the "good new days".  Each new day will hold a new memory.  Each new day will hold something new, something great, something different, and something for you.  In 5, 10, 20, 30 years you will look back on today and think of it as "good old days".  So make it a good one, make it count.

"My days vanish like smoke;... but you remain the same, and your years will never end. (Psalm 102:3,27)

Have a great day, Chris

Passionate Persuit

Luke 9:23, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me."

I've read, studied, and preached this message many times.  Follow Christ, Identify with Him, Deny self.  Simple, and yet hard. 

I was at a Missions conference this weekend, and the first night of the conference, Kyle Idleman from Graffiti ministries in New York spoke on this very subject.  He said something that got to me, something that made me really think, something that made me realize I'm not as well off as I thought I was with my relationship with Christ.

Two simple words, "Follow Me", am I following Christ?  Most of the time, well some of the time, maybe?  possibly?  Hopefully?

But it went beyond that he talked about the "passionate pursuit", that's when it struck me.  Am I pursuing, chasing, trying to catch Him?

Not only am i pursuing, but am I doing it with a passion?  Is it what I really want?  Is it at the top of my list?

Think about it, when you first meet that special someone, we go after them and we do it passionately.  We can't wait to talk to them, we cant wait to see them, we miss them terribly, we would travel great distance to see them, we would do anything to see their face, to hear their voice.  We get antsy when we are apart from them.  We get excited at the very sound of their voice.

Am I that way with Christ?  Am I passionately pursuing Him?

Lord, Help me to..... Chris

Dysfunctional FAmily

If I where to ask you if you felt like your family was dysfunctional, the majority would probably respond "yes".  Let's face it we are all a little dysfunctional, I know I sure am.

I was doing some reading last night and this morning about King David and His family, and realized that his dysfunctional family takes the cake.  Check this out (all out of 2 Samuel)

• Amnon (David's Son) rapes his sister Tamar (13:14)
• Absalom (David's other son) finds out about it and kills him two years later (13:29)
• Word gets to DAvid that Absalom killed all his brothers (13:30), He found it later to be untrue
• Absalom flees and is gone for three years (13:38)
• Even though Absalom killed his brother David wanted him to some back desperately (13:39)
• Absalom gets married and has children, moved to Jerusalem and is there two years yet still never comes to see David (14)
• Absalom comes to see the King at the end of chapter 14, David blesses His son
• Absalom begins his quest/conspiracy to become king (15)
• Absalom gains such a following in his conspiracy to take over that David flees (15:13-37)
• after awhile David builds an army, his army marches back to battle Absalom and his men
• Absalom (while riding a donkey) doesn't duck while going underneath a big oak, and his head gets stuck in tree limb, donkey continues on and he is stuck hanging in mid air (funny right?) (18:9)
• Joab (David's Nephew) drives three spears into Absalom while he is hanging there (18:14,15)
• David mourns over his son Absalom's death (18:33)
• Then David returns to Jerusalem to regain kingdom (end of chapter 18)

What a journey David has had, what a dysfunctional family.  Through it all we are told that "David is a man after God's own heart".  Why?  How?

David kept a cool head and he kept is eyes and heart on God.  It's hard to do, especially if you have a lot of "junk" happening.  David understood that no matter what the circumstances where that where surrounding Him that God still had it under control.  When your world is spinning out of control, remember God has it handled.

When you begin to think that you have it bad, that you have the most dysfunctional family out there, remember David and it should help you get a better perspective.

Have a great day, Chris.