a moment of reflection

"What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes" (James 4:14b, NIV)

See that girl in the above picture, its the same exact one that is standing beside me in the below picture.  The above picture was taken some 18 years ago, the bottom one a couple of weeks ago.  The time in between seems like a mist, a vapor, has gone by so quick.

A lot is happening this year.  My oldest graduates high school, my twins are finishing their first year of school, and Olivia is growing way too fast. 

Someone once told me that as you get older its like time picks up steam and moves faster.  I am beginning to understand this.  In the verse above James states that life is like a vapor (or a mist) there for a moment then its gone.  Where does it go?

I've not always been the best of father's, not always set the best example, or even listened when I should have.  But as I sit back and reflect on my eldest child and her path I can rest assured that I gave her my all, I have done the best I could.  I have done what I can to encourage her spiritually, academically, and emotionally.  Now, it is time for her to take what has been given, take what has been poured into her and become an adult.  An adult, that seems hard coming out of my mouth, my eldest child is an adult. 

Her mom asked me a few weeks ago if it was "bothering" me yet that our daughter was graduating.  At the time I hadn't dealt with that reality yet.  Then I started going through pictures for "Graduation Sunday" at church.  Then the reality started to set in.  My oldest child is grown.

Eighteen years of blood, sweat, and tears now has prepared and formed her into a young lady, a young woman, a young adult.  One who is getting ready to go into the world and become a productive responsible young adult that will spread her wings and fly to give the world what she has to offer.

In 9 days I will watch my daughter walk across that stage and accept her diploma for graduating high school.  This young girl that I was just rocking in my arms as she cried from tummy ache as a baby, this girl I was just picking up from Kindergarten, this girl I was just spending May Day with at TC Henderson Elementry, this girl I was just picking up from Rosman Middle, this girl I was just at her Chorus Concert at Brevard College as a Sophmore, to now this young woman who will be a graduate from North Buncombe High School. 

June 9 will be a glorious day of celebration, June 9 will be a day of beginning of transition for my daughter as she begins her journey as an adult, and June 9 will be a day of somberness as it sinks in that my little girl is growing up.

So proud to call Virginia Leigh Reese Daughter, and so proud for her to call me Dad.

Love Dad.

What if??

So I was reading the book of Ezra, and when I was getting towards the end of the book chapter 10 really jumped out at me.

"While Ezra was praying and confessing, weeping and throwing himself down before the house of God, a large crowd of Israelites - men, women, and children gathered around him.  They too wept bitterly" (Ezra 10:1, NIV)

So, what if??  What if we got serious about repentance and prayer?

What would you do if you walked into a church, and the scene was what you read in that verse.  What if you walked in and EVERYONE there was weeping, confessing, and praying? 

It would probably scare most, or they would feel awkward, and uncomfortable and leave.  OR.  Would the power of God so overwhelm you that you would be in the group that is weeping, confessing and praying.

The church described in the book of Acts had more power and less money, and the church of today has more money and less power.  Why???

Prayer and confession.  Real repentance.  Allowing God to move.  Not money.

What if this Sunday we got real with God, what if this Sunday we quit putting on this act like we are all "ok", what if this Sunday you and I got before God and truly repented of our sins, what if this Sunday you and I prayed, confessed, and wept before our Creator.  It would unleash the power of God in our churches and in our lives.

so, What if?

My Time

So breaking from the norm today...

Today I want to just tell a little more about me, what is it that I would do if i had free time, or we will call it "my time"....

Well first of all, this is a hard concept to grasp anymore.  Parenthood changes that.  I'm not complaining, Love my kids, love my wife, and love my life.  However, I had to really think long and hard about this.  It has been a very very long time since I had "me time".  Life is consumed daily now with do they have homework done, what are we having for dinner, and oh my goodness is it bath night.....

So I will blog about what "used" to by "my time" and talk about what I would do now for "my time", so here it goes.

• Well in the "old days", "my time" used to be riding my motorcycle.  Those who ride will know the feeling I refer to.  The feeling of the open road, the sunshine bearing down on you, the wind against your body, the feeling of freedom.  Riding would always clear my mind.  Even if you where riding in a group you had time just to yourself to gather your thoughts.  Nothing like the feeling of the open road.  I used to love to go ride with no particular place or direction, just to ride.  However, several years ago I sold my bike and havn't replaced it.  No time anymore.
• Playing Golf.  I love being outdoors, playing golf was my way of spending time outdoors.  I never was any good, but just the feeling of being outside was great.  Never really let my score stress me, I wasn't there to try to impress anyone with low score, If I was any good at it I would be a pro golfer instead of a youth pastor.  Golf is one of those games where you have to play it often to be any good.  Ten years ago I would play atleast twice a month, then it dwindled to once a month, then once every other month, to once a year, and now I haven't played in probably two years.  Two reasons why:  one golf is expensive and two don't have time.

That was then, this is now:

• Jogging/walking.  This is what I do now.  Gets me outdoors (even in winter), cause i don't do treadmill I like to be out in the elements.  "my time", clears my head and gives me excersize, which are two things I need.  When I get free time, this is now what I do.  It's a great way to start the day.
• Playing with my kids.  If your a parent you know what I'm talking about when I say my kids can frustrate the hound out of me, and yet at the same time I love spending time with my kids.  When I'm away from work, this is what I want to do.  When I have free time, this is what I want to do.  I have discovered they are growing fast and before I know it they will be too old to play with, or they won't want to spend time with Dad anymore.  So I am getting all the play time in I can.
• There really isn't much time for "my time", but if I did : I like to play guitar, play xbox, read, travel, swim, hike, and spend time with friends.

Have a great day, Chris

It's time....

..."It is time to seek the Lord until He comes and sends righteousness on you like the rain" (Hosea 10:12b, HCSB)

We like to play games...

video games
board games
card games
computer games
and
mind games....

we play mind games with
friendships
marriages
relationships
teachers
leaders

and with God.

We ask what's wrong with our world?  what's wrong with our country?  what's wrong with our state?  whats wrong with our county  what's wrong with our city?  whats wrong with our neighbors?  whats wrong with our schools?  whats wrong with our companies?  whats wrong with our government?  what's wrong with our leaders?  what's wrong with our students?  what's wrong with organized religion?  what is wrong with the church today?  what's wrong, what's wrong, what's wrong???

Stop playing games with God, "It's time to seek the Lord".

We can't answer any of the above "what's wrong questions" until we ask the right question.  The right question is, what's wrong with me?  The answer:  "it's time to seek the Lord".

It's time to get serious about relationship with the Lord.  It's time.

Until when?  "until He comes and sends righteousness on you like rain".

If you want to see a morality shift in society, it begins with you.  It begins with you determining, "It's time to seek the Lord".  It's time to put God number one in life.  Nothing will make sense until you do.

I have and I feel better than I ever have before, Will you join me?

Chris.

Loyalty?

Loyalty: unswerving in allegiance: as
a : faithful in allegiance to one’s lawful sovereign or government
b : faithful to a private person to whom fidelity is due
c : faithful to a cause, ideal, custom, institution, or product (Webster's)

Loyalty is a lost art...

Now the statements I am about to make i completely understand that they are blanket statements and that there are exceptions (which I will refer to in a minute).

Loyalty is a lost art...

players are not loyal to their teams
workers are not loyal to their companies
boyfriends are not loyal to their girlfriends (and vice versa)
husbands are not loyal to their wives (and vice versa)
friends are not loyal to friends

Now there are some exception to the statement I made about loyalty, for example:

Chipper as an Atlanta Brave

Petty and STP 43

and as much as it pains me to put this one:

Jeffy (whiny) Gordon in the Dupont 24 Chevy

Then there are these guys:

My boy Brett, listen I'm a HUGE Brett Favre fan and was ecstatic when he signed the "lifetime" contract with Green Bay.  However, as we learned, the loyalty went out the door and he became a "Jet" and retired (finally) as a "Viking"

This one "pains" me too.  Prince Fielder, proof that a "chubby" guy can do well in MLB.  Contract was up and jetted to Detroit.

Didn't you always think this guy was going to wear a Colts uniform. 

Switching gears, to spirituality. Not only are players no longer loyal to their teams, we are not loyal to God.

"Your loyalty is like the morning mist and like the early dew that vanishes"  (Hosea 6:4b, HCSB)

"For I desire loyalty and not sacrifice" (Hosea 6:6a, HCSB)

Where is my, your, loyalty to God these days?  Where is our priority these days?

God's desire is loyalty....

let me state that again

God's desire is loyalty....

We make deals with God.  If you will get me out of this, if you will take care of my problems, if you will fix my life, if you will take care of my financial problems, if you will take care of my marital problems, if you will take care of my problems with my children, if you will take care of my problems of my jobs.... then I will follow you and worship you forever....

knowing you won't do it.....  guess who else knows that  (God)

Stop making deals, just be loyal.

Times will be hard, everything will not always be as you want it, finances may dry up, family may not be right, friendships might get tough, but through it all God is there.  He is totally loyal to you.

Will you be loyal to Him?

"God help me to be loyal to you, everyday with all that I am" - me

Have a Great Day, Chris

perspective

"Then He said to His disciples, "The harvest is abundant, but the workers are few.  Therefore, pray to the Lord of the Harvest to sent out workers into His harvest." (Matthew 9:37-38)

Time and time again we complain about the moral state of our society.  We complain about the people leading this country.  We complain about character of people living in our cities. 

My thought this morning is maybe instead of complaining, we need compassion.

Is the problem the people, or is it our perspective?  Is the problem that society is on a downward moral spiral because of them, or is it because as Christians we are failing to do what we are called to do?

Jesus said the above statement right before He was sending His 12 out into towns to reach people.  Twelve ordinary men against whole societies.

There are 105 Southern Baptist Churches in my county, how is it that we are not a Christian county?  That's Just SBC churches, there are a whole lot more that call themselves "evangelical" churches.....

Jesus knew then what we are dealing with today:  the harvest is abundant but the workers are few.

Our perspective shouldn't be that Asheville is a cesspool of sin, it should be that Asheville is a harvest that is abundant.  Our perspective should be that we are willing to be workers in this harvest.  Instead of complaining, we should see the people with compassion, as sheep without a shephard.

I can't do it alone, you can't do it alone.  Pray to the Lord of the harvest to send workers.  We need them, but it has to start with me.

Will you join me?

"Lord change my perspective, help me to see the harvest and send recruits to help" - me

Set Free

In the movie Shawshank Redemption the character played by Tim Robbins goes to prison for the murder of his wife (which he did not do).  The story tells of his time in prison.  Shawshank is by far one of the best movies I have ever seen.  See movie trailer:

Towards the end of the movie Tim Robbins is able to escape from Shawshank Prison and you have this epic seen of when he finally makes it to the outside (the above pic gives a glimpse).  Tim is experiencing freedom, he is overjoyed at being "set free".

"Therefore, no condemnation now exists for those in Christ Jesus, because the Spirit's law of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death" (Romans 8:1-2, HCSV)

Set Free.

Jesus died to set me free, Jesus died to set you free

free from sin

free from anger

free from jealousy

free from pride

free from addictions

free from the bad relationships

free from gossip

free from pornography

free from cursing

free from lying

free from you

free from whatever it is that is holding you back, free from whatever it is that you carry around, free from the guilt, free from the shame, free from the mistakes, free from the heartaches, free from the punishment, and free you shall be.  If you will just simply trust Jesus.

Experience freedom like you never have before, do it today.

Have a great weekend.

Chris

the bad apple

"Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for a tree is known by its fruit"  (Matthew 12:33, HCSB)

Our lives produce something, and its either good or bad.  We are the trees.  We have to make the decision every day to produce either good fruit or bad fruit.  It's what we where made for.

My heart aches this morning as I think about some bad fruit I have produced.  As I thought about the last part of that verse, "for a tree is known by its fruit".  I don't want to be known this way.  I don't want to be known as the "bad apple".

We all produce bad fruit at some point, if you think you haven't, your fooling yourself.  In fact to think that you haven't is "bad fruit" in itself (and it's called pride).  We view some bad fruit as worse than others, however the truth of the matter is that God says its all bad fruit.  Whether its a bad apple, bad pear, or bad banana, it's all still just bad fruit. 

You and I have the capability within us to produce good fruit.

When I produce good fruit, it helps others to produce good fruit.  However, on the contrary when I produce bad fruit, it helps others to produce bad fruit.  Think about it.

"Lord producing bad fruit makes me not happy about the person I am; help me to produce fruit that is good and makes a difference" - me

have a great day, Chris

change

As soon as we hear that word, we usually cringe...  But alot of changes that I have seen are good:

The cell phone, seriously try to think of your life without one
The Internet, there is a world of info out there
computers, again try to imagine your life w/o
skype, video chatting with people around the world, unbelievable
gps, umm yeah with my sense of direction, it's a life changer

technology is constantly changing, the moment I get an iphone 4, yep you guessed it 5 comes out.

Life situations change too.

High School to college
college to career
singe to married, or married to single
kids
grandkids

the world spins on and on and on and on and on

change

But one thing remains the same:
"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever." (Heb. 13:8)

Churches may change music styles, the way they dress, and what they do in the worship hour, but one thing remains the same:  Jesus.  He is the central message.

When life seems like it is spinning out of control with change, one person remains the same:  Jesus.  Let Him be your cornerstone of life.

take a break

9 There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God;  10 for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his.  11 Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest...(Heb 4:9-11, NIV)

Here is one of the biggest mistakes we make:  taking a break, taking a rest, obeying the Sabbath-rest.

I must confess, I am probably the worlds worst.  I get the Sabbath, I understand the Sabbath, and I know why we need to.

Physically we need the Sabbath because our bodies cannot go 7 days a week and function like they should.  Our bodies need that time to relax.  Not obeying the Sabbath; not resting like we should is why we get sick, anxiety, stress, high-blood pressure, and the list could go on.

Spiritually we need the Sabbath as a day to step back from day to day life, and spend some quality time with God.  Grow with Him, and in Him.  Not only can we get physically run down, we can spiritually do it as well.

Make every effort to enter that rest.  It never fails.  You carve it out in your schedule as a day to rest, and something comes up.  It will happen every time.  Keep trying, keep carving out that time, and guard that time.  I need it, you need it.

What is it that helps you to rest?  For some its fishing, some its reading, some its hiking, or biking.  What is it that you or I can do to step away from "everyday" life and rest?  I don't know about you, but most of the time its not Vacation.  Most times we come back from "vacation" feeling like we need a "vacation".

Take a rest, do it soon, and you will save yourself from a burnout.

"Lord help me to heed my own advice, and your command to take a Sabbath" - Me

Chris

stress and the Christian

So I have often heard the saying that "I am too blessed to be stressed", and it makes me cringe.  Now don't misunderstand me, i completely understand the concept of what that means.  Focus on the good and not the bad, wipe out negative thoughts with good thoughts.  Sometimes it works, however sometimes it doesn't.  Some would have you believe that if you are that stressed then there is something "going on spiritually", and that as believers we should NEVER be that stressed.  I totally disagree.

Let me explain, we can agree that David was a man after God's own heart (Acts 13:22).  There are so many reasons why He was called that.  We can agree that David messed up, and messed up alot (the list is too long).  David also learned to be humble and to follow after God.  We also know that David stressed, and he stressed a lot.  Example:

^9 Be merciful to me, O Lord, for I am in distress;

my eyes grow weak with sorrow,

my soul and my body with grief.

^10 My life is consumed by anguish

and my years by groaning;

my strength fails because of my affliction,^

and my bones grow weak. (Ps 31:9-10, NIV)

 

Distress, sorrow, grief, anguish, groaning, affliction, and weak are all signs of guess what?  STRESS.

 

Here is my point:  You can be a person after God's own heart, and be in stress.

 

David also wrote his solution:

 

 

^14 But I trust in you, O Lord;

I say, “You are my God.”

^15 My times are in your hands;

deliver me from my enemies

and from those who pursue me.

^16 Let your face shine on your servant;

save me in your unfailing love (Ps 31:14-16, NIV)

 

Very same Psalm, David wrote "I trust in you". 

 

We destress by doing the same thing David did.  Take the stress, the situation, and the dillema and hand it over to God.  Easier said than done, but is possible.  We stress because we feel things are beyond our control.  We like to control things.  However, control is an illusion.  We can't control anything, let alone circumstances.

 

So our solution is to allow the one to control Who has the ability to control.

 

"God may I trust in you, my times are in your hands, my stress is in your hands; take this from me and let your face shine on your servant;  I want to be a man after your own heart" - me.

 

Have a great day, Chris

Wait

"Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord" (Psalm 27:14, NIV)

Wait.

I despise that word.

Wait.

I am not a very patient person......

Twice in this verse David tells us to wait....wait. 

I don't think I'm alone with not liking this word.  Wait.  Wait. Wait.  ugh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If there is something in my life that the Lord shakes His head at continually with me, it's yep you guessed it:  waiting.

I want stuff and want it now, I want things to happen and I want it now......

That's not the way it works, timing is everything.  God's timing.

So in my struggle I will try better to wait.  Wait for the Lord.

Have a great day.  Chris