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Showing posts from December, 2009

Serving the King

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This past month I've begun to intentionally train my son on how to become a warrior and a true servant for the King. In my opinion, nothing else matters than serving the King well and carrying out His plan and purposes. I want my son to get that and live that. I want him to know his life is not his own and that he essentially has one choice to make in life - to say Yes to the King or say Yes to self. Jesus is giving him the same choice he gave his disciples, the same choice Elijah gave Elisha, the same choice God gave to Abraham - Follow me or turn back. There is no room for a half hearted commitment. Being a warrior is about overcoming. In Christ there is no defeat, there is no weapon formed against His people that will prosper, but I can choose to fail, give up and turn back. Our success comes from choosing to stand firm and see the glory of our Lord prevail time and time again. I need to develop in my son the fortitude to set his face toward the King and never look back.

Thou shall have no other Santa before Me

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Time for my annual Santa rant.  I'm not a big fan of Santa Clause.  As soon as my kids were old enough to understand, I explained that Santa was not real and that anyone who said he was would be lying to them.  I think my son got in trouble at school a few times for telling kids there was no Santa Clause.  I'm so proud of him. In my humble opinion Santa is an idol because that story takes Christ's rightful place at Christmas.  The wonderful, "magical" story of Christmas is appealing and draws us all to want to know the truth, but that truth is only found through Jesus.  Those who will not accept in their heart the real message of Christmas are forced to make something up.  Just like those who are unwilling to make Jesus the Lord of their lives will resort to worshiping other things.  Parents need to lie to their kids because they don't know the story of Jesus for themselves in a personal way.  How can they share the wonderful blessings of Christ with their

Repeating History - Idolotry

II Kings 17: 41 Even while these people were worshiping the LORD, they were serving their idols. To this day their children and grandchildren continue to do as their ancestors did. I read this sobering verse today. The parallels between the "church" today and this idolatrous Israel are astounding and I'll share more on that later. I believe many in the "Church" today are worshiping the Lord while at the same time actively worshiping idols in their life. Many do not even realize they are doing so because they have silenced the voice of God in their hearts. The biggest idol we have is "Self". Self has been allowed to drive our actions and establish our motives. Self-Centric thinking has been intertwined into our preaching, our classes, our music, our books, and on and on. Self rule and authority are in direct conflict with a submissive Christ centered life. The sobering thought is that we are not only walking in disobedience in our own lives, but

Joy of Giving

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I heard an old preacher say one time "God keeps good books". I have taken that to heart and no matter how much I give of my time, my money, and any other resource that God has so graciously given me, I know that He is the rewarder and He will repay what I have freely given. Some will settle for the rewards and accolades of men, but I will sow my life into the Kingdom and expect nothing in return from men. What a privilege it is to freely give everything and withhold nothing from our Loving Savior. This past year God has transformed my thinking on money and giving. My wife and I made a decision at the beginning of the year to increase our giving by 5%, and God has blessed us. Now we are excited about increasing it another 5% this coming year. I don't say that in any way to pat ourselves on the back, but to encourage everyone that giving is the key to freedom. It is the way to blessing in the kingdom. It is very difficult to break out of our hording, me first menta