I'm back!!!

It's been a crazy busy summer. But I'm back now. Going to get the blog back and going a few times a week now. You'll see my pic here with my great hair from VBS. It was a great time and lots of kids. It led us to feel that we were being called to start an Awanas ministry.



Awanas is focused on scripture memory. Which gets me thinking about our commitment to the Word of God. As a child I remember being told the importance and taught the reverence for the Word. I was challenged to memorize verses and even chapters. I was asked to repeat the stories and poems. But now as an adult, no one asks me to do these things. When I teach the youth or share the Gospel with other, those things come in to play. Yet these are not imposed from an external force. In fact there is a message that says - I need not worry about such petty things. Even more so - the Bible is about me, my feelings, and improving me.

By now your brain should be saying "uh...NO!". Scripture is God's story. Scripture is God's love given for me, but it's not about me. It's about Christ. It's about the Father. It's about the Spirit. It's about sacrifice, patience, waiting, creation, movement, beauty, and love. No one will be giving us stickers for memorizing the scriptures this week, but perhaps it will stick on our hearts. No one will give us a gold star, but perhaps we will realize the treasure that is scripture. No one will pat us on the back, but perhaps we will realize the embrace of God.

Hey wimp!

I have been reading Paul's letters quite a bit lately. At first it was for prepping a Bible study but then I left my personal study of Luke to jump into what Paul is saying. Let me just say I have a huge issue. I have heard a lot of messages that water down Paul's message. It seems to me that Paul has really high standards for Christians. Yet I have heard many messages and read many books that make excuses for Paul's standards. "We are sinners and can't help it," seems to be the mentality. Paul doesn't by it. He calls the people out on the carpet over and over and over. Did they sin? Of course! But Paul did not excuse it. He said it's time to change. Paul sets high standards for getting along, marriage, lawsuits, food, worship, the Lord's supper, love, spiritual gifts, forgiveness, and generosity to name a few. I have to believe that these things are applicable to me as a follower of Christ. We need a detox from the 'Christian wimp' mentality. We have set low standards but that must change. Will we sin? Of course! But we do not have to be stuck there.

1 Corinthians 1:8-9 'He will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful.'

We have been saved by grace. We have been given this gift. How will we respond? In weakness or in the strength that comes from Christ himself?

Devotion

The disciples "devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer." Acts 2:42

A thought crossed my mind today. Perhaps a prompting of the Holy Spirit. What if God called you to give up all movies, tv, books, etc and asked you to study the scriptures only? What if we were to give up video games, surfing the internet, and tuning out the world with mp3's and devoted ourselves to building up the body of Christ? What if we were to give up a little sleep, that cherished latte, and our comfy couches and dedicated ourselves to worship and Bible study together on Sundays? What if we gave up our sins, our faults, our pride, our grudges, and our lives and devoted ourselves to prayer?

What if when Acts says the disciples devoted themselves, it was actually true?

We have to ask ourselves...are we disciples? Really and truly?

Into the Garden

Jesus comes to Gethsemane in the dark. He steps into the darkness of the Garden knowing that there is no other way. For us who desire to follow Christ – there is no other way. We too must make our way into darkness of the Garden.

Jesus knew he was called to die, to surrender fully to God. We are called to die, to put to death the sin in our lives, to fully surrender to God’s will, to walk away from our past.

But we are the disciples falling asleep when we should be in prayer. We are an unwilling lot, clinging to our old lives. We find comfort in our sin. We find solace in our dysfunction. The cross becomes our crutch. Grace becomes our excuse.

Let this be no more.

Tonight let us enter the garden.

However fearful we might be let us come into the garden.

However reluctant we might be let us come into the garden.

Tonight let us put to death our selfish pride, our greed, our anger, our darkest sin.

Tonight in the garden let us lay bare our souls before God.

Let us fall to our knees and pray that God’s will might be done.

Let us pray