Worship the Lord.

I was praying this morning for all kinds of requests.  I prayed for people, their problems, people in the hospital, people with family problems.  After a while, it gets a little heavy.  I try not to carry worry for others, that is unhealthy.  I do my best to pray hard, trust God and move on.  I can not be mentally bogged down into negativity by others problems and often, bad choices.

Then, I remembered to worship the Lord Jesus Christ.  He is Lord.  Not the elected leader, but my king and the King of Kings.  He is also first among many brothers and that makes me his peer in another sense.  He is fully man and I feel his desire to be connected to me in his humanity.  Jesus is my Lord and I daily make him my master, but his is also my friend.

When we worship the Lord Jesus Christ, we are lifted from the weight of our troubles into the glory of his presence.  We enter his majestic court with praise, where he is seated on the throne.  When I worship him, I am reminded that he is my foundation, my corner stone, my provider, and the giver of the Holy Spirit!

I worship the Lord because he is worthy.  But when I worship the Lord, I often receive so much more from him than I could give back to him in worship.

See these: Mathew 6:25-34; 1 Timothy 2:1; Revelation 19:16; Romans 8:29; Philippians 2:6; James 2:23; Psalm 100:4; Matthew 7:24; Psalm 118:22; Philemon 1:6; Matthew 3;11

What is Truth?

“'What is truth?' retorted Pilate."

John 18:38 records the statement of Pilate to Jesus Christ.  Think about it.  Pilate asks this snippy question to the only person in all of history who claimed to be, "the truth and the life..."

NPR reported on December 2^nd that the Oxford Dictionary chose “post-truth” as the 2016 word of the year.  In a year where “post-truth” is the word of the year, we sure seem to be hearing a lot of cries for the truth!

In recent years, we have seen the disintegration of truth.  “Truth is relative.”  Relative truth has been the cry of liberal thinking people for the last 20 years.  Everyone has their perspective.  All perspectives are valid.  Those who reject the concept of a God who is absolute would say, “there is no absolute truth.”

If one thing has emerged through our difficult election cycle this year, it is the necessity of truth.  Suddenly, we are furious about “Fake news.”  I am not writing to defend fake news.  We need a fair, unbiased, and free press to help inform the public.  While thinking about this saga of fake news and all the commentary following it, I am hearing some news outlets suddenly backing off of relative truth.

We cannot consider truth as relative one moment and then absolute the next.  We are crying for absolute truth when considering intelligence regarding weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.  We want absolute truth about Russia and our elections.  But, we want relative truth when we are faced with the proof that Jesus rose from the grave.  I guess we prefer relative truth when we don’t receive the truth standing right before us.

Passed Over

Have you ever been the last one picked for a team at recess?  Have you ever been invited to an event at the last moment, like they forgot you or you were the last choice to fill a empty seat?  If you are like me and most people, you know what it feels like to be passed over.  You know what it is like to not be picked for the team.

Many times we miss God's direction for our life.  In big things and in everyday little things.  Most of the time, when we miss those moments they are gone forever.  We can not turn back time and re-make decisions and opportunities.

Maybe you feel passed over today.  I want to encourage you.  You have not been passed over.  God still has a plan for you.  His favor and presence are still offered to you.

Valuable Questions

John 16:19 says, "Jesus saw that they wanted to ask him about this, so he said to them, “Are you asking one another what I meant when I said, ‘In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me’?"  Focus in on these words, "Jesus saw that they wanted to ask him..."

There are times when a speech is necessary.  There are times when a press conference is necessary.  A speech is important because there are times when all the thoughts need to be expressed and defined before unnecessary questions side track a clear and efficient presentation of information.   But even after a clear presentation, questions may be very important in good communication and learning.

As Jesus taught his disciples, he noticed when they wanted to ask him something.  Maybe they were timid to ask.  Maybe they were embarrassed to ask.  They wanted to ask, but were not asking him directly.

As a parent, teacher, leader of a Bible class or small group leader, you need to lead like Jesus.  Look for times when those you lead want to ask a question.  The best moments for learning are usually when the student has a question.  Don't just wait for the question, anticipate it and promote the question when people are timid to ask.

Back to the blog.

The last blog entry was in June of 2016.  I stopped writing for several reasons.  One was lack of readership.  After praying about it for several months, I feel like I need to start again.  Why start again?  Here's the list.

1.  I have many thoughts I want to share with everyone at Life Stream Church, but don't have time to share in the two sermons I preach each week.  Sermons would be way to long.
2.  Sharing these thoughts and writing them down is a form of Spiritual renewal for me personally.
3.  Social connection sites like Twitter, Facebook and Instagram did not give me the ability to post things in a context that will be taken seriously.

I hope that you will consider following the blog and share it with your friends.  I hope this will be a blessing to you.