Rest
By · CommentsSorry for the lack of posts the last few days. I’ve been either really busy or really lazy depending on which day it was. Now I need some rest. I just wanted to drop this before bed. Perry Noble had this post Wednesday. It included this quote:
“In the Bible God calls those who will not work lazy, but He calls those who will not rest disobedient.” -John Walker
He also included this Scripture reference:
This is what the Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says:
“In repentance and rest is your salvation,
in quietness and trust is your strength,
but you would have none of it.
-Isaiah 30:15
Perry’s always dropping some challenging stuff. I don’t have anything to add to it, just wanted to point you his way.
Now I’m going to go be obedient. 
No Mistakes
By · CommentsSometimes I feel so jacked up. I mean there are times when I look at my life and wonder why God ever spoke my name. Then I wonder why He ever allowed me to claim His name. How could He ever want me to be labeled Christian? Sometimes I feel like it would be better for everyone involved if I just walked away. Mainly, I feel like it would be better for the name of Jesus if I wasn’t associated with Him.
When I think about that, I remember that it was Him who drew me in the first place (John 6:44). He doesn’t make mistakes, no matter how much I feel like one.
By the way, you aren’t a mistake either.
Unfortunately, it’s not really popular to be honest about stuff like this in most Christian communities. I hope some transparency will create some conversations that should have been happening a long time ago.
What do you think?
Louder Than Words
By · CommentsI’m reminded of the importance of character more often than I ever wished. One of those instances was yesterday when I found out about the moral failure of someone whose ministry I had been following for quite some time. I won’t be dropping the name because I don’t want to add to the gossip. I will, however, be praying for their restoration.
A few months ago, I started reading Louder Than Words by Andy Stanley. I never finished it. It’s amazing how little importance we place on who we are behind closed doors when it comes to keeping up appearances outside of those doors. I’ll be picking the book back up today in an effort to refocus.
If you spend all your time building the outside, the lack of support inside will cause everything to fall.
On a side note, it’s funny how God reaffirms things. Right when I sat down to start writing this, David Platt tweeted this:
“Mt. 4:1-17 – The purity of our lives is more important than the success of our ministries.“
Wow.
Psalm 150
By · CommentsI thought about this Psalm the other day when I finished my last final of the summer semesters. Then I thought about it again today when I found out that I made A’s in all four of my classes this summer. Praise the Lord, because I’m not nearly good enough to have done that on my own.
1 Praise the LORD.
Praise God in his sanctuary;
praise him in his mighty heavens.
2 Praise him for his acts of power;
praise him for his surpassing greatness.
3 Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet,
praise him with the harp and lyre,
4 praise him with tambourine and dancing,
praise him with the strings and flute,
5 praise him with the clash of cymbals,
praise him with resounding cymbals.
6 Let everything that has breath praise the LORD.
Praise the LORD.
-Psalm 150
How’s Your Bait?
By · CommentsWhitney and I went fishing today. It was the first time I had been fishing in quite a while. She caught three fish and I finally managed to drag in one too.
Let’s be honest here. I was just glad to catch one. I’m not much of a fisherman which would have been obvious to anyone were they to notice that I only brought a handful of baits. That’s also proof that my expectations weren’t very high.
About an hour into the trip I had had quite a few bites but I was never able to actually hook one. I finally realized my problem. My bait was too big! The only fish that were biting were six inches long at best and they just couldn’t handle the bait I was throwing out there. I didn’t have anything smaller so the rest of the day I just kept throwing that bait out there knowing it was too big and hoping one would finally come along who could get ahold of it.
It got me to thinking.
“Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.” – Matthew 4:19 (NIV)
How many times in our spiritual arrogance do we talk to people who aren’t believers in and followers of Jesus about deep doctrinal issues thinking that they’ll be impressed by how much we know and will then want to become a Christian?
We strap something else to the Gospel that might make it hard to swallow.
We strap something (like knowledge or works) to grace and by doing so we remove the true identity of this undeserved favor.
Chances are they’ll be a lot more impressed if they see Jesus in us. After all, what’s more impressive than what He has done?
They need to see someone who dies for those who rejected Him.
They need Jesus. Not whatever we want to strap to Him because of our insecurity.
So, how’s your bait? Mine needs trimming.
Hello
By · CommentsIf you aren’t reading Pete Wilson’s blog, you should be.
I subscribe to quite a few blogs via RSS. Sometimes I read the posts, sometimes I don’t. It really depends on whether the title catches my eye or not. However, I always make it a point to read Pete’s posts. You can follow him on twitter @pwilson.
A few days ago, he posted this.
After reading it, I commented,
“Cut me to the heart. You know how there’s those people that you don’t have to say “hello” to because no greeting is needed? You just start talking. I hate it when I feel like I have to say “hello” to God.”
I know God is always present and it doesn’t take a greeting to get His attention, but I’m talking about how we feel. That feeling of knowing God was, is, and will be there but you’ve ignored Him. I feel that way sometimes. Do you?
Redo
By · CommentsEver feel like you need one of those? I do.
A mulligan? A do-over?
I think I’m gonna take one here on the site. In August. Everyone needs a nice fresh start once in a while. I’m not so sure that things are going to look very much different, except that I plan to write a little more often. I think I’ve got a few good excuses for not posting. I might even write about those… in August. So come back in August.
Oh, and if you’re in need of a redo on a much deeper level, check out my friends over at People of the Second Chance. They specialize in that kind of thing.
See you in August.
Coming Up To Breathe
By · CommentsWow.
Two months since my last blog post. I’ve been somewhat immersed in the busyness of life for the last couple of months so I haven’t done much writing. Well, at least not on here. I’ve probably written about 50 pages of philosophy papers since my last post. Let’s just say writing here hasn’t been much of a priority. I suppose this is just a post for the sake of posting. I still haven’t quite got in a rhythm yet.
Stay tuned… Who knows? I might post again before July 21
My review of Stuff Christians Like Book
By · CommentsYesterday I posted about Jon Acuff’s book Stuff Christians Like. I wrote a review for it on Amazon and thought I’d share it here.
Do you have enough lettuce to support Jon Acuff’s shoe fetish? Well, apparently I do because I jumped all over this book when I found out it was coming out. I didn’t just buy it to support his shoe fetish. Actually, I don’t even think he has one (or at least I hope not) but what he does have is an incredible sense of humor. If you don’t believe me, just go here and read the introduction to this book on Jon’s site.
http://stuffchristianslike.net/2010/03/read-the-introduction-to-the-stuff-christians-like-book/
As you can see that wasn’t my random reference to a Fergie lyric. It was actually Jon’s doing. I’m sure you found yourself laughing within the first few lines of that introduction. I guess what I’m really here to let you know is that the rest of the book is no different. You will laugh out loud at almost every line.
If however you need further proof of Jon’s knack for the hilarious take a look at this post from his website that bears the same name as this book. The book is actually the result of 2 years worth of posts on the website. Jon shares his 7 favorite posts on the link below.
http://stuffchristianslike.net/2010/03/2-years-of-stuff-christians-like/
The last thing I’ll say is that within the pages of this book you’ll not only find laughter but a man who is honestly seeking God. When we seek God we often find that it’s necessary to take ourselves a little less seriously. Christians are not known for their ability to laugh at themselves. I think reading Jon’s book is a great way to take a step towards doing just that. In the process of taking yourself a little less seriously you might find that you end up taking God a little more seriously.
Stuff Christians Like
By · CommentsI’m not that funny of a guy.
However, Jon Acuff is extremely funny.
Don’t believe me? Go check out his website called Stuff Christians Like.
After that you’re going to want to go here and buy his book.
It doesn’t come out for a few more days but you can pre-order it or even wait and go support your local Christian bookstore such as LifeWay (sorry about that shameless plug for my employer).
You can even follow Jon on twitter @prodigaljohn.
You won’t be disappointed.
