The Church....What has it become?

Our world of many churches has become sort of like a shopping mall with every style, type, color etc. available to those who are searching for just the right fit. I wonder as I ponder the question above, what has the church become? I will not go deeply into what the church is, but it is not a building. It is the people who come together in faith and a belief in the One True God and His Son Jesus Christ. We come together to worship Him and to bring Him Glory. Of course we are there for each other to help one another through the struggles of this life. But our purpose is to worship and glorify our Saviour.

But the question begs...What has the church become? It is miles from where the early church began. In reading through the Book of Acts some descriptions of the early church are spoken of.

They devoted themselves to the apostles teaching(Acts 2:42)so they were a learning people. Are our churches today dedicated to teaching the Word? If so then people should be growing in their relationship with Christ.

They devoted themselves to fellowship (Acts 2:42)so they were a loving people. I feel they strongly valued the fellowship with other believers. A church must provide an environment for fellowship among believers. A great pastor and wonderful music etc. are just not enough. We must have fellowship with other believers in order to grow in Christ. It is such a blessing to have fellow believers to share our hurts and burdens with. It is a joy to share our victories together. It is just wonderful to be surrounded with like minded people that will let you be you. It is essential that you have a group that you can tell anything to and know that it is kept in confidence and that they are praying and pulling for you.

They broke bread together (Acts 2:42) so they shared life together. What one thing draws people together more than sharing a meal together? I think it allows us to share in the food that God blesses us with but also to share in a time of getting to really know one another. What is it about good food and good friends that not only fills our stomachs but also fills our hearts with love one for another. This was a common and frequent practice of the early church.

They prayed together (Acts 2:42) so they were a praying people. What is more important than praying together? It is a time of sharing our hurts, our needs, our burdens but most importantly it is a time for praising God together. I can think of nothing that Jesus was more devoted to than prayer. Why should we be different. I know in my own small group we are slowly learning to pray together but I feel it is delayed until the end of our meetings when we are all tired. I would suggest that this be how we begin our fellowship and I would bet that the fellowship, the study etc. would be much richer as a result.

They were together and had everything in common (Acts 2:44) so they were a united people. They were together much like a band of brothers. A close knit group that were very dedicated to one another. They had a deep love one for another. They left knowing that the others had their back so to speak or that they were in the hearts of the others always. They had everything in common. I think this speaks to their unified love of Jesus and each other. They loved being together and coming together.

They gave to anyone as he had need (Acts 2:45) so they were a giving people or a gracious people. They recognized needs and met them. They did not depend on the government to care for those in need. The grace that brought them to Christ was present as they were gracious in their gifts to the hurting, the helpless, the poor, the widows and the orphans. This is one area that I feel woefully short in my own life and I feel the church is the same.

This particular passage closes in verse 46 with these words:"They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved." I ask the question....is this the church of today? Many churches today use every method or trick in the book to add numbers and I think they have missed the mark. The early church described in a few verses in the Book of Acts the way to grow as believers and add to the church.

Let me close today with what prompted this post. Last night in our small group meeting a question was asked as to whether we could share communion together in our group? Would we need an ordained pastor, etc. I feel that without a doubt this early small group shared communion and I doubt they had any ordained pastors. I think they had such a love for the Saviour that they remembered Him at every gathering with grateful and loving hearts. So yes I think it is OK to share the sacrament together and we are remiss if we do not do it often.

The King is Dead

Michael Jackson is dead. I have been around this planet for nearly sixty years and I cannot recall many events that have captivated the media the way this death has done. He has been called the King of Pop but I am having a bit of problem understanding the coverage this event has garnered. I as many sang along with his tunes on many occasions. I even danced to a few in my day. But this event has foreshadowed all the news on the airways. In Iran the country is being turned upside down, but Michael has gotten the news. The house of representatives passed the Cap and Tax bill yet it got little press.

I would guess that Mark Sanford and the democratic congress are most thankful for the distraction of this event. I am simply amazed that our country is so captivated by the passing of a fifty year old former star. I am not belittling the passing of Michael but it has received enough press already. We all are sorry for the turns his life had made but this is not the end of the world. I found it interesting that the only news source where I could get info on the Cap and Tax was on CSPAN. Even Fox News could not focus on the real news of the day. Here it is Saturday afternoon and the coverage continues.

The real story here to me is the wasted life that this man lived. He constantly tried to change his physical appearance...why? He holds his child over a balcony dangling him in the air....why? His problems with the charges of sexual abuse of young boys....why?? Absolutely blowing a fortune on who knows what...why? He was obviously a troubled man searching for answers that he never found. The confusing thing to me is why the obsession by people and the media in our world. He was a singer, a dancer, a performer. That was it. His impact on the entertainment world was monumental. People love his music, his performances, etc....but how can his death captivate our world 24/7 for several days? The king of my day- Elvis also caused shock waves with his death but nothing of this proportion.

The sad thing is that both of these men were floundering in their success...searching for truth they never found. They both discovered that fame and money did not have the answers. They both sought relief from drugs and they both were surrounded by an entourage to help them spend their money and feed their addictions. I guess the one question I ask is how we would have handled things had we been in their position?

It all comes down to what this life is all about. Our lives are not about ourselves. Life is for living to the fullest and for serving God and others to the fullest. When we have the proper perspective we will find that nothing except our relationship with God and others is of importance. God blesses us with many gifts and talents that were given to us for the purpose of bringing Him glory and impacting the lives of others.

It seems the past few days I have been drawn back to the importance of knowing your purpose and fulfilling this purpose. It is not about me and it is our responsibility to live life as God has predestined for each of us. We were created for a purpose and a mission that God planned before we were even born. Ephesians 2:10 says it all " For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." At the end of the day and the end of our lives this is the question we should all ask....Did I do the good works that God prepared in advance for me to do?

The life of Michael Jackson has come to an end. The question I have is did he fulfill the purpose that was ordained for him? I do not know the answer to this but I fear that his was a life cut short and that he spent his years frustrated and searching for meaning that he never found.

This same week I attended a funeral for a man none of you knew personally. He lived to the ripe old age of 88 years. He knew God intimately and did all he could to fulfill his purpose. He touched many lives and he faced his death with a longing for the other side. He now sits at the feet of Jesus and I am sure Jesus told him "well done my good and faithful servant." He never received the accolades of the masses but to those of us who knew him, he did all that he was called to do. A much better end to it all than the life of the King.

Life Is a Short Season..How's your bucket list coming?

As I sit on the porch tonight I reflect on what is happening in our world. This week Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett, Michael Jackson and countless others have left this world. A true Gentleman, Mr. Bill Carter also passed this week. You don't know him, but he was a former president of the company I work for and was serving on our Board. He exemplified Christ in his daily life and will be missed by us all for his wisdom, his attitude and his love of family. These folks are much like us....all struggled with the challenges of living. All came to know that life is short and our days are numbered.

I don't know where all these folks were spiritually but I do know that all of come to the same end. Life is but a vapor...here today and gone tommorow. I think of wasted days by all of us. Why waste the time we have here on earth? We should really live each day as if it were our last and we should count our blessings each day. I wonder what Michael would do if he had it all to do over again. How about Ed and Farrah? Would they live life differently? I would love to have the opportunity to hear from them if it were possible. Would their priorities be different? Would they cherish the little things?

I have come to realize that most of the things we spend our time doing here on earth will have little consequence in eternity. We should devote ourselves to those things that will live on. The answer is that men's souls are the only thing that will live on so we should be devoted to others. Our family should be high on our list. We have all heard of the movie The Bucket List. It is about doing all those things we want to do before we die. I am not sure if my bucket list is well defined today but it should be. However I wonder what would be on most peoples list? I would love to hear from any who might follow this blog about what is on your list. I am sure for many it would be a trip to some exotic location or some feat such as skydiving..etc.

My own list is somewhat completed such as the birth of my five grandaughters, the marriages of my children, growing old with the same woman but there are many that are not completed. I think my purpose as ordained by my Heavenly Father should be fulfilled. Am I working toward that end? Also I feel that my list should be to touch as many lives as I possibly can in this life...I am woefully short in this endeavor.

It is a good day to evaluate where I am in this life and where I want to go. One might argue that at my age I will run out of time but I think of some folks who accomplished more after age sixty than they did before age sixty. You can go down the list and find example after example. It is not too late to start fulfilling your purpose or your destiny. It is a matter of fixing on the future and not the past. Where are you today? What does your list look like. Share your thoughts with me and others. It is a good exercize that we all should go through from time to time.

Count Your Many Blessings...name them one-by-one

I am back home after 5 days at Hilton Head. I enjoyed 4 days of golf in 100+ degree weather. Also 4 days of great seafood, etc. I stayed in a room at the beach and lived a charmed life for a few days. It is interesting though when I think about what I missed during my time away. I missed my home, my bed, my front porch rocker, my pool, my schedule but most of all my family. My family members are all in other places tonight. They are in Dallas, Oklahoma City, Arkansas and I have a son-in-law serving at a camp for children with severe disabilities in Missouri. As I sit in my chair I am thinking about how thankful I am for all that God has blessed me with.

I am nearly sixty years of age with relatively good health. I have never missed a meal in my life except for medical situations. I have never slept outdoors except by choice. I have been married to a wonderful lady for nearly forty years. I have two grown children who have given us five wonderful little girls. I have a great job that supplies our needs. I have much to be thankful for. On the other hand I had made a nice income for years then chased a dream and lost most all of my possessions. Yet God taught me many valuable lessons through this ordeal. Most of all He taught be about grace and being gracious to others. I have been restored financially and the second half of my life has been better than the first half.

I say all this to say that we should regularly count our blessings. In the book by Andy Andrews "The Noticer" there is a story of a man who was destitute and ready to end his life. A friend intervened and asked him what he did first thing in the morning when he arose. The man stated that he immediately started thinking about the things he had to do that day, etc. The friend asked him to try something new. He suggested that when the man was fully awake to jot down on a piece of paper the ten things he was thankful for that day and to do this every day when he began his day. This would then change his perspective.

I remember a song from growing up in church. The song said something to the effect of "count your many blessings, name them one-by-one". I feel that we get so busy in our lives that we don't stop and reflect on the blessings that God has given us. It is when we realize the bountiful blessings of God's grace that we can then be gracious to those around us. I mentioned earlier the time in my life when I lost all that i had. It was during that time that God began to open my eyes to His grace and His faithfulness. I had consulting work really sent from Heaven. I quickly found a job in Alabama. My wife and I were off to a new life in Alabama. We met a couple who graciously without asking built us a new home (our first new home) and financed the deal at a rate we could afford. I had never seen such graciousness expressed by others. Soon after we were promoted by our company and moved to Georgia. All this at fifty-four years of age. Our income has been restored but more importantly our faith has been transformed.

So I find myself counting my many blessings and naming them one-by-one on many days as I reflect on God and His Grace. Too seldom I find that I pass this on to others. The one thing I do know is that we all will be tested and challenged when life happens, but we should never forget the One who has us in His hands and in His heart. Take a minute today to count your many blessings.

Love always protects, trusts, hopes and always perseveres

It was a beautiful but hot day at Hilton Head. First day under 100 degrees since arriving on Saturday. I played in a golf scramble that was supposed to be handicapped but my 21 hcap was the best on the team. Despite the lack of an A or B player we shot a -2 and it was a real team effort. The days have been very busy with meetings but the afternoons are free for golf.

I have arrived at the final day of the study of the attributes of love from 1 Corinthians Chapter 13. Today's topics are the always of Love. Love always protects, always trusts, always hopes and always perseveres. I think this verse speaks of the love we have for our mate but also the love we have for family and friends. Love always protects could mean from harm or disaster. I think it really speaks of protection from evil and the harm that can come from outside forces. It speaks of the destruction of marriages and families by society and from the enemy. As a father and a husband I know that my responsibility was to protect my family and keep them from harm. My children depended on my guidance to keep them from wrong living by establishing guidelines to live by that would steer them in the right direction.

Love always trusts in the other person. Our mates must trust us not only in the vows we took but also in our guidance and instruction. If trust is broken it takes a long time to rebuild this trust. Our children trust us to do what is right and also to guide their lives until they are old enough to go out on their own. Love always hopes for the other person and for the future. Love has a hope in Christ and His salvation, His faithfulness etc. Finally I come to the last attribute....Love always perseveres. This one I think is the key to any marriage or meaningful relationship. If a marriage is to last it must persevere through the hard times and I really think marriages must be built upon this principle.

Having been married nearly forty years I can say that every year was not an easy year. There were extreme days of testing but with a strong will and a trust in God alone we made it through the tough times. I also know that the tough times are not over. There will be more and again our hope, our strength and our hope is in God alone to carry us through these times. For I know whom I have believed and I trust that He is able to keep me through the difficult days. I think this is the greatest gift we can have to know that God is there, that He is faithful, that He will keep me and protect me. My hope and trust is in Him. The neat thing is that this gift is free and it's all I need.

Love does not delight in evil

Love does not delight in evil. Had to think about this verse for a bit. I feel it means that we should not take pleasure in someone slipping into evil practices. It is kind of like when someone has a juicy bit of gossip to share and we listen with great intent and want to know all the details of the indescretion. This is especially the case in one we may envy. The verse goes on to say that we "should rejoice in the truth. Or our pleasure should be in sharing the word of truth or the good things about people rather than delighting in the unfortunate transgressions of other people.

So what does love do when presented with the gossip? It is difficult but we should explain that we are very sorry to hear about this and tell the person that you really don't want to hear about this situation. It is also our duty to pray for the one who conveys the gossip and to pray for the one whom the gossip is about. If we share in the gossip by listening we must also accept the fact that the one bringing this message of evil probably shares information about us that would hurt us very much. Again the right thing to do is to turn our ear from the evil and not delight in hearing this information. This is a witness to the one bearing the evil and tells them where we stand in regard to this practice. It is likely they will not share any information with you in the future.

This is nearly the end of the study of the attributes of love in 1 Corinthians Chapter 13. I sit at Hilton Head Island where the heat has been unbearable and now we are being blessed with a late evening thunder shower. It is fathers day and I am alone here on the Island and my family members are in Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas. I miss them all and thank God for them everyday. I am about to go on Amazon.com and find a new book to read and enjoy the beautiful summer rain. May God bless you and yours on this summer day.

Love keeps no record of wrongs

Love forgets....it does not keep a record of wrongs or past sins. Love forgives...it does not dwell on the past mistakes we have made. Love does not dwell on past failures or past sins. Our attitude towards those who have wronged us should be the same as God's attitude towards our sin. God forgives and forgets. This is not to say that there are no consequences for our sin. Either we suffer or innocent ones around us suffer because of our sin. However God in His Word forgives and forgets our sins. Therefore we should be quick to forgive others and forget the trespasses against us.

One of the problems we have in forgiving others is that we may not have accepted our own forgiveness. It is by faith that we believe that God has forgiven us and if we accept this gift of forgiveness we can then forgive others. I have heard it said that "we should keep a short list of our sins." In other words we should always confess our sins to the Lord and as for forgiveness. There is great freedom in realizing that our slate is clean and that we can go to God with a pure heart. If we allow sin to linger and do not ask for forgiveness this can separate us from fellowship with the Father. I can easily say that if we do not forgive others then we cannot enjoy fellowship with these same people.

In order to forgive others we must stop and think a moment about ourselves. We were forgiven by a gracious and loving God. How can we not then extend this same love to others? Our sins are many but we can go to the foot of the Saviour and He is quick to forgive us....again should we not be quick to forgive others? I think we all need a reality check. We are not perfect....we sin....we have within us a nature to sin...this is the reason we do others wrong.

What about those that do not ask for forgiveness? How can we forgive them if they are not humble enough to ask? In reading a great book by Frances Chan (crazy love) he talks about this and suggests that we forgive people even if they don't ask. It is all about realizing the inadequacy of man and extending forgiveness even when it is not asked for. This is love.

Life is much easier to live if we don't walk around with ill feelings toward others even though they have done us wrong. I go to yesterdays post with this thought....others treat us many times the same way we treat God. Therefore we should be like God in that we can forget our own feelings and extend love and forgiveness to others even if they do not deserve it. A great example is our children. They do wrong and perhaps they are too young to ask for forgiveness. We do not stop loving them and we look past their wrongs because of our love for them. Even if they are old enough to express sorrow for their inappropriate behaviour but don't we still love and forgive them. This should be the same for all men.

I have heard it said that I can forgive but I won't forget. This is not true forgiveness. Of course we will be cautious with one that wrongs us but we must open the door of fellowship and pray that this one will truly cease the activity that resulted in wrong behaviour. After all how many times did Jesus say to forgive others? I believe it was 70 x 7 or numberous times. Mankind is still under construction and he will mess up...but thank God we have a patient, loving Father who keeps no record of our sins...we should do the same.

Love is not easily angered

Love is not easily angered. Seems like this one is also a difficult one for me. I have found that by going through these attributes of love I have been challenged each day as I write. God's Word has a way of doing this. My own spiritual growth program has been to take each day's topic and focus on that one attribute. One problem in a busy day is to stop long enough to focus on that one thing. You really have to almost write it down and glance at it from time to time in order to remember that you are to focus on it often. The real victory for me is that by doing this I have grown so much in the past two weeks by simply practicing these things each day. Also I have even heard a comment or two around the office that the folks there have sensed something different. So to God be the glory...great things His word does!

Today's subject is that Love is not easily angered. Now let's face it....it is easy to be angered in a typical day. Either by circumstances that occur or people that interrupt or intercede into our perfect plan for the day. They mess up our agenda. I think it would be great to say that I am never angered. Or perhaps to say it is difficult for me to lose my temper and become angry. By saying that one should not be easily angered is to say that maybe it's ok if you become angry when you are challenged repeatedly to the point that you finally lose it. I mentioned yesterday that I can only recall one instance where Christ was angry and that was when He wrecked the temple. All other recordings of His life on earth never mention that He became angry. How about God? Did He finally have enough and destroy the world with a flood? Was He angry or was He only doing what justice called for? How about when He sentenced the children of Israel to wander in the desert for forty years? Was He angry when He put the sins of the world on His only Son? I am not sure I can answer this but I can say that He was very patient before He finally disciplined our wayward world.

Now back to you and me. Are we easily angered? Do we lash out at the tiniest insult or challenge to our agenda? What causes us to become angry? Is it from frustration or stress? Do we take out our frustrations on others (more than likely those closest too us?) Is it because of self-centerdness that we become angry? So many reasons may exist but it is clear in God's Word that He desires that we be slow to anger. Again the Proverbs say that we should be quick to listen and slow to speak. Anger has a difficult time getting a foothold if we are slow to speak. If we think about our words and the impact they may have on those around us. Also and probably most important is if we think about how God feels about us despite our weaknesses, our imperfection, etc.....we would know that He loves us so much in spite of us. If we were to but learn to love others as God loves us it would be very difficult to lose our temper and become angry with others.

I will throw out one more question....a heavy one. Do we treat others like we treat God? In other words to be angry with others may be the very way we treat God? This is scary. Do I treat others as I treat God? Do I become angry and frustrated with God when things don't go the way I want them to? When I don't seem to have enough money or whatever am I angry with God? Perhaps if we really concentrated on God's blessings we receive and show Him the proper love and respect that He is due, then we might just treat others with love, patience and kindness. Some difficult questions that only we can answer with some real soul searching.

Love Is Not Self Seeking

Love means not seeking for self or seeking those things that please only me. Love is seeking what is best for others or contributing to the lives of other people. This is not to say that we should totally forget about self. We owe it to ourselves to seek those good things that do contribute to a full and abundant life. I think we should seek out great books and other media to add to our knowledge and wisdom. We should seek out other people who will add dimension to our life. A quote I have repeated numerous times is that "we will be the same people five years from now as we are today except for the books we read and the people we meet." This is why I feel it is so important to invest a portion of our time in the reading of the Bible and spend time with God and with other believers. As a result we will grow.

Here is the problem. Many seek only those things that bring fulfillment to them alone. They do this at the expense of disregarding others and their feelings. It is all about me seems to be a prevalent attitude in today's culture. The real purpose of our lives is to glorify God first and seek to add quality to the lives of those that God places us around in this world. So many would automatically think that they must become a Mother Teresa figure in this world and take on a life of poverty and serve the poorest of the poor. I beg to differ with this thought. God wants some of us to live right where we are and work at exactly what we do, but He wants us to look around us and observe and meet the needs of those He places us with.

The situations we find ourselves in today is a fast paced life with so many man-made pressures and distractions that we can't see the needs God has put us in the midst of. So we must prioritize our time and our days. We should set aside some time to spend with God and then spend some time simply observing or noticing the needs of others. This is truly seeking to add to the lives of others. Instead we find that our time is spent literally chasing the wind and feeling tired and frustrated at the end of our day. It is amazing what you can find out in ten minutes of simply listening to others and not talking and not rushing. I truly believe that God has a plan that we are in the middle of. He has us there with the sole purpose of lending aid and a caring heart to those who are hurting or those whom He is seeking.

Henry Blackaby in the book Experiencing God spends much time on the topic. His counsel to us is to watch where God is at work in our world and join Him in His work. He also has a great quote about knowing the will of God. People constantly say that they just can't find out God's will for their lives. His advice in finding God's will is to simply do what you know to be God's will. Then the question pops up again...what is God's will? How about the first great commandment to Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your might, and the second commandment to love your neighbor as yourself. If you do these two things with all sincerity and purpose God will fill in the blanks on anything else He decides is His will for your life. Doing these things is to not be self seeking. Once again we have made the obvious simple truth very complicated.

I charge you today as I challenge myself to put God first, others second and myself third. If we do these things it is truly an act of Love on our part.

Love is not rude!

This daily study of 1 Corinthians Chapter 13 is really tough on the writer. I must think through each of the attributes of love and how they apply to my life. I consider if the attribute is present in my life and if not what to do concerning this situation. I have learned that to write about these things requires me to focus on them. If I focus on them I am more apt to practice them. If I practice them they can become a natural thing in my life. I know this....without them I do not love others as I should. I think to hear Christ say that He is proud of me and my efforts would be the greatest thing ever.

Today the thought is "Love is not Rude". Another gut wrenching analysis of my own life and disposition is in order. Have I been rude? Yes. Am I rude even today? Yes. Is my desire to not be rude? Yes. To not be rude is to be kind and patient. Again one begets the next. If am patient, I am kind. If I am kind I am not rude. To whom are we most likely to be rude? To those we love and are around the most.....our mate, our family, those we work with. Why is this? I think the real person comes out when we are around them long enough.

Rudeness is in a way self-centerdness. Our view must be heard and accepted or we become belligerent and rude. To not be rude is to accept another view point and often to keep our mouth shut even when we don't agree with the other person. What do we gain from always airing our view? Momentary satisfaction that I have been heard? Is it pride in our own agenda that causes rudeness? Many things contribute but again I think it is putting self first and not really caring about others and their feelings.

One of the ways I fight this characteristic is to speak slowly. Think before I speak, listen carefully and then speak softly. This defeats our immediate reaction to lash out. Another cause of rudeness is that we take out our frustrations over completely unrelated issues and those around us suffer the brunt of our assault.

The thing that enters my thoughts at this moment is to be a gentle person. This does not leave room for rudeness. By being gentle I do not mean to say that one should be a wallflower with no opinions or one who hides in his shell. I feel that we will always have disagreements but these should not lead to rudeness. There is not a lot that I respect about politicians but I do hold in high regard the man who can be lashed out at and not lose his temper and still present his argument. This is a wise man as he will never accomplish his task to present an argument if he gets caught up in rude behaviour.

I think on Jesus and His reaction to harsh words, criticism and being treated unfairly. I can really only think of one time in the New Testament that He really lost it and this was in the temple when he overturned the money changers tables. I do think on the many times he was verbally and physically abused but did not resort to rude tactics or getting even. He left room for God to take out any vengeance. Romans Chapter 12 tells us to get along peaceably with all men (as much as is possible). It tells us to not return evil for evil. This is a difficult calling but one for which we will receive reward if we are faithful.

Once again as I have said from the beginning....we must focus on those things that we desire to change in our lives. If we have a problem with rudeness we must focus on kindness. The best thing we can do in addition to prayer for strength is to listen quickly and speak slowly. To think about the words we may say and to consider how our statement may impact those we are addressing. If we are rude to others how can we show the love of Christ to those same people.

Love is not proud

Continuing on with the attributes of Love we come to the statement that Love is not proud. Our past two posts were Love does not envy and Love does not boast. If one is not envious and one does not boast one is not proud. I think about the word proud and I think of the fact that I am proud of my children and I am especially proud of my grandchildren. It feels good to have someone close to you say "I am proud of you". I think the key here is that we are proud of others and not of self.

The other word that comes to my mind when I think of pride is humility. The greatest achievement I grasp for is to be humble. I am not doing well here. I like many can get all puffed up about my accomplishments. Whereas God would have us to be humble not self seeking nor arrogant and especially not prideful. I mentioned in an earlier post that Moses was called the humblest man who ever lived. What a statement for one who led the Children of Israel to the promised land. Yet Moses was humbled by the days in the desert, the bickering followers and the insurmountable challenges. He learned that God was truly in control of his every movement and his every moment. Then I think of Christ who could sat in the heavenlies with the Father and left this position to come to earth. He lived as we live and took upon His shoulders the sins of the world and died that we might live. He was a humble servant and died a submissive death that we might have life.

Proverbs 16 says that pride comes before the fall. God says in His Word that He hates pride. It is all about realizing the God is the one who is in control and humbling ourselves and allowing Him to live and work through us. In my work it is easy for me to say "I did this or I accomplished this" when in fact many others were a part of anything we do. Pride is thinking I am great, I am brilliant...etc. and not acknowledging that God gives me the talents and the gifts to accomplish whatever I am able to do. Eugene Petersen's Message Bible says it well in Proverbs 16:18 "It is better to live humbly among the poor than to live it up among the rich and famous".

I close with a final thought. If I am proud I do not make room for bringing glory to God. I am so full of myself that God cannot live through me and be glorified in me. I pray that God will show me how to be a humble man (this may hurt some). I pray that I would live for others and never think too highly of myself. I urge you to check out something I found on You Tube. Go to You Tube and in the search box type in "Validation". It is a long video (16 minutes) but it will show you how important it is to think of others and help them to have a better day. I practiced this at Subway today. Only one employee was on duty and she not only prepped and prepared my sandwich but she also took the money, etc. She was very busy trying to keep up. I told her how impressed I was with her efficiency and I saw a wide smile come to her face. A little thing but amazing results. Our reaction in this situation is to lose patience with what we deem as slow service. But with a little thought you can humble yourself and make the other person feel good about themselves and what they are doing.

Love does not boast

I begin today's post with a quote that is really not related to the subject today but it is one of those quotes that stayed with me today and I think it says a lot to all of us about our lives in the future. It is especially meaningful to those much younger. The quote is from Truett Cathy, the founder of Chick-fil-A. He says "You will be the same person in five years as you are today except for the people you meet and the books you read." I have urged my children and the young people I work with to seek out books....books of great value (not cost) and read constantly...daily if possible. What you read will aid you in the pursuit of knowledge and wisdom. Books will make you more aware of the world and those that inhabit it. I think this is why it is so important to be a student of the Bible. It is a great work and worthy of our time and devotion. It is also interesting what you can learn from the people around you if you will but listen.

Now for today's subject. Love does not Boast. It ties in with yesterday's subject of envy. Love is not envious nor does it boast. I wonder why some people boast? I think it is perhaps due to a lack of confidence in themselves or their place in life. We always called it "tootin your own horn". When we center on self we cannot get to know others. Part of showing our love to others is to have a genuine concern for them and their situation. If you are calling attention to your self or boasting, you are not showing an interest in the other person.

Boasting can be done also through the things we possess. Our cars, our homes, our clothing or anything we possess that calls attention to us. Bragging about our accomplishments our standing, etc. is a form of boasting. The question begs us to think about what we want to be known for. What is our desire for a legacy? Do we want a building named after us or do we want to be known throughout the world for the things we have, say or do? I struggle with this one as one of my dreams is to write. What is my purpose in this? Is it to be known as a great author and to have people tell me how great I am? This is boasting. The real purpose for exercising the gifts God gives us is to bring glory to Him. My motive should be to encourage and help others. This in turn brings glory to God. I wonder about many of the great orators of our day, such as pastors, teachers and especially politicians. What is the motive. As Timothy says in 2 Timothy Chapter 4, "men will gather around them teachers who say what their itching ears want to hear." He also says in Chapter 2 of 2nd Timothy that in the last days people will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud...etc. I did not intend to go off into a study of the last days but his really points out where we are today and defines how much we need to understand and practice love in the midst of those all around us.

To be boastful is really to call attention to ourselves for whatever reason we find. The opposite of being boastful is to be humble. Moses was called the "most humble man who ever lived" and this should be a great thing for us all to strive for and attain. For when we are humble we put other people first and we are not boastful. We define what love truly is to those all around us. If our great desire is to truly love others but more importantly to love God above all else then we need to be humble servants who put God First, Others Second and ourselves Third.

Today brings us to another attribute of Love. " Love Does Not Envy" from 1 Cor. 13:5. What in the world does envy have to do with love? I guess if a person has a problem with envying others he then has a problem with loving them and perhaps he is predisposed with efforts to attain what others have rather than focusing on loving others. I must confess that I have struggled with this problem myself. I desire a bigger home, a newer car, a set of X22 golf clubs..etc. We are instructed in the Bible to be content with what we have and where we are.

The question still begs to be answered....what in the world does envy have to do with love? Perhaps you can share your thoughts on this question by commenting on this blog at the bottom of the blog. I do think that we as a society are preoccupied with gaining possessions so that we can keep up with our neighbors and friends. Why are some blessed with a multitude of assets while some struggle to get by? I think we all know someone who has the biggest and the best but they spend all their energy trying to figure out how to pay for these things. Also we know those who attain wealth and the things that go with only to be in a constant search for bigger and better. There is no satisfaction.

When we literally read the Word of God we find that he tells us to give away our possessions. We are to help those less fortunate. This is Love. At the same time we have a responsibility to provide for our families. This I feel is speaking of food, shelter and our base needs. I find nothing wrong in having a comfortable home, nutritious food, adequate transportation and even an occasional trip to the beach or other places to relax. But do we need more house than we need or can afford? Do we need a Cadillac Escalate when a Chevy Tahoe or for that matter a Ford Focus will meet our needs to get from one place to another?

I feel God will meet our basic needs of an adequate comfortable home, good food, warm clothing and adequate transportation. I also feel He expects us to give away to others a portion of what He has given to us. This is Love. So envy can become a barrier to our fulfilling the 2nd great commandment to Love others. Again I welcome your thoughts and comments on this issue.

I will cite a couple of examples of sharing our wealth and truly loving others. Pastor Rick Warren has been wildly successful with his book the Purpose Driven Life. He chose to return to his church his salary for the past twenty five years. He tithes 90% of his income and lives on 10%. He has lived in the same adequate house for many years. Much of his income from book sales is given away to missions. Frances Chan is a pastor in California and has written a new book called Crazy Love. In this book he tells of being convicted of his lack of love for others. He is compelled to sell his home and buy a smaller adequate home so that he can have more money to give away. This is an example of putting your money where your mouth is or putting feet to your faith. I am not advocating selling all you own and giving it away but I am urging all of us to find contentment in what we have and asking God to direct your finances, your giving etc.

I will ask a final question....are you truly in love with God? That is a tough one. If we are then we will follow His commands and love others...more than we love ourselves, more than we love things. I will ask us to search our hearts and see if envy is a problem for us. I am speaking as the kind of contentment Paul speaks of when he wishes to not have too much or too little. It is a walk of faith to depend on God to supply your needs. One should not become destitute in seeking to give away his wealth. We should be good managers of what God has given us, but we should also realize that it is His and He means for us to share with those less fortunate that ourselves. Remember, Love does not envy. Search your heart today and ask yourself if this is a problem. Learn to be content and depend on God to meet your needs.

Love is Kind

Now for the second attribute of one who loves. Remember the first was patience. The second is kindness. I won't go back over how the two are knitted together. I will just say that kindness is not an easy task. We are surrounded by influences that would cause us to act unkind toward those around us. I don't think we are surrounded by people with kindness as a natural part of their makeup. When I think on kindness it causes me to consider the word KIND. I use the word to describe things such as "that is a kind of tree" etc.... so when I think about it to be kind is to be kind of like Christ. To do so embodies love. Christ is Love and He is all about Love. So if we are to be kind we must be Christlike or like Christ. Talk about a challenge.

Once again I feel that I must really focus on being kind. It is not natural to me. I wonder if I took a survey of men and women what the percentage of each sex would be considered kind people? I even think it is more difficult for men to be kind than women? I wonder why this is? It probably all goes back to our growing up years. Remember these are my opinions....not necessarily facts. But I think we grew up to believe it was not manly to be gentle and kind. In fact I think it is something we must learn to be. One might argue that kindness will be the natural overflow of the Holy Spirit when a person accepts Christ and begins a relationship with Him. You could support this argument by examining the lives of men who were bitter, mean, depressed etc. and then after their relationship with Christ began their lives changed immediately.

For some of us this is not the case. To become kind and gentle is a process that can take some time. I really believe in my own case I had to be broken bit by bit for kindness to begin to take a foothold. So much had to be torn away...especially my pride. I am slowly learning to put others first. A great phrase I have heard is that "I am third...God First, others Second and I'm third." If we focus on this thought and practice it we will become people who are kind. I truly doubt that many people would describe me as a kind man. While I have known people over the years that are always described just that way. You know that when you are with a group of believers say on Sunday morning you can be the kindest most polite person in the world until you get in your car after church and tear your way out of the parking lot.

• So this being kind can be a mystery. It can be a real challenge for us. I think again that I come back to this conclusion. Kindness is something we must focus on and then practice. When we focus long enough and practice kindness long enough it will become an attribute just like patience. So I would urge us all to not be discouraged but simply focus on being the kindest most Christlike person we can be and as always pray...pray hard for God to help us in this quest.

Love is patient= kindness

I have been delving into 1 Corinthians Chapter 13..."the Love Chapter". I have spent many days digesting this passage. Beginning in verse 4, the attributes of love are listed. The first two have been my focus for several days. Love is patient, love is kind. The attributes are grouped in two's for the most part. I spent a considerable amount of time on the first "patience". I asked myself if I am patient with those around me? The answer was not good. I lose patience with chatty cashiers who spend too much time talking with other customers and we all relate to other drivers who don't fit our idea of how to drive...etc.

I am convinced that whatever we focus on will grow within us...both good things and bad. I focused for many days on patience and it actually began to grow in my life. I prayed for patience, I thought on patience and I practiced being patient. While not perfected it is growing within me. I then moved on to kindness and it struck me that if I am to be patient then I must be kind. I cannot be kind and not have patience. So I conclude that the two go hand in hand. If I am patient then I am kind. In order to be kind I must be patient.

While reading a great new book by Andy Andrews titled "The Noticer" a question is asked of one of the charachter in the book. The question was " what do you think other people would change about you if they could?" It hit me immediately that the answer would be that I would be more patient and kind...not harsh....not critical....not vindictive. I knew without a doubt this was my nature and this is not a nature of one who loves others. I knew then that this is where I needed to go to work. People like being around people who are patient and kind....not around impatient, harsh people who seem to be more concerned with their own agenda. So it was time to go to work.

I am happy to say that after focusing on this issue for many days I am beginning to see some progress. I know that I have a long way to go but through prayer and the power of God, I think I can do it. In blogs to follow I will touch on the other attributes of the "Love Chapter". I invite you to slowly read and absorb 1 Corinthians Chapter 13 and if you get a chance get a copy of "The Noticer" by Andy Andrews. The two go hand in hand and I think God gives us these multiple sources in His divine wisdom to help us grow if we so choose to focus on His Word. Patience does equal Kindness and I desire to be both to others around me.

Go Fish!

I had an interesting study tonite with my small group. We were in the midst of a study titled "Go Fish". Andy Stanley does the series. Tonite's study centered on what is the Gospel and what is required for one to accept and know Christ and more importantly how does one obtain eternal life? Essentially the answer to these questions are found in John 3:16...There are four very important words.

1. God Loves (us so much)
2. He Gave (His only Son)
3. We Believe (Trust in Him)
4. We Receive (Eternal Life)

So it is simple...God Loves, God Gives, We Believe and We Receive

Note there are no works here, no ritual in fact there is no prayer (the sinners prayer). As was pointed out there is not a mention in the Bible of one praying to receive eternal life or praying to receive Christ. As I thought on this I could not remember an instance in the Bible where anyone was asked to say a sinners prayer. It was always you must believe and receive. So how did we get things so complicated? I think as in many things in our churches today we (man) has come up with methods or programs that are not always Biblical but serve a purpose.

I am not saying it is wrong to say a sinners prayer of faith to receive Christ. But it is not a prerequisite. I remember a very good friend of mine who came to Christ on his deathbed. He could not speak due to tubes etc. in him mouth, down his throat etc. I told him the way to Christ and he simply nodded that he accepted Christ. He then had a wide smile break out on his face and I know without a doubt that he is now with Christ. No invitation, no walking an aisle, no repeating of a sinners prayer. He was to weak to ever walk again, to be baptized or to even talk with others about his decision.

Today we have so many dogmas that tell one how to receive salvation. Folks do not think they can ever achieve enough or be good enough to enter into a relationship with Christ. Why not make it simple.... God loved, God gave, We believe and We receive. The key to fishing for men is to build relationships with people and when God opens the door share this simple way to Christ. You don't have to know anything about theology or for that matter you don't have to know a lot about the Bible. Just one verse...John 3:16.