Keeping the Reason in the Season

this is the written form of what i preached on December 12 2010 at Iron City Church

www.ironcitychurch.com

What's the big controversy right now? Every year its the same thing, Christmas, Xmas, Holidays.. People become divided over what to call this time of year, and the Christian world defends it with "Jesus is the reason for the season."

What purpose is there in this season to have a reason? Why do we celebrate? Jesus IS the reason.. whether He was born on December 25th or not. The truth is in Christ's birth. His existence

This was the only time I would openly say it, but I do believe we should say Merry Christmas. Christmas is what gets everyone shopping on the day after Thanksgiving and Dr. Seuss didn't write "how the grinch stole columbus day". We don't say "happy holidays" in the spring/summer time when Memorial Day and Independence Day are celebrated. The Birth of Jesus Christ changed the world FOREVER. Our timeline revolves around it. (ie. BC and AD).. Hannakah is a fine example of God's provision, but not the world's salvation.

There are people that will fight tooth and nail to keep the name Christ in Christmas, but with how commercialized and self seeking this world has become.... really? Lets look at the fistfights on Black Friday.. and when a friend of mine had her shopping cart overturned and emptied just so someone else could use it. Working in retail for 10 years and seeing all this, I wanna know why we would want to put Christ's name on this behavior.

I heard the argument, "not all christians act this way." True. Not all germans hated jews, but World War II was against GERMANY. Who's to blame? I'd like to say "all of us".. and to a point I'd be correct. But the culprit is The Devil. John 10:10 says "the thief comes to steal kill and destroy." The devil is the thief and has come to take God's glory. He has blinded us with the idea that we serve and celebrate by a mere name instead of our actions.

Be not deceived, God is not mocked.

He will have His way in declaring His glory . What He needs is for us, as Christians, to keep the real reason and not worry about Holiday Crap. Everyone celebrates in their own way, and some don't even celebrate. Romans 14:5 One person regards one day above another, another regards every day alike Each person must be fully convinced in his own mind. We can't force people to celebrate in the same ways if they don't believe the same things.

Its all about function over fashion. Seriously, this is the most wonderful time of the year!! (no one gave me an amen). It's really hard to believe. Who can say they don't have problems or hurts? Everyone has something going on in their lives and this time is "so wonderful" that everything just magnifies. Suicide rates escalate around this time.. so how wonderful is it, really? How can anyone celebrate?

So seriously. What IS the reason for the season? If all it brings is troubles and controversy... why have this season???

Advent Calendars, Santa Claus, Poinsettias... all these are really nice.. but when it comes down to it.. Jesus REALLY is the Reason... and we need to remember the purpose..

Psalm 147:3 + 6 He heals the brokenhearted And binds up their wounds.

The LORD supports the afflicted; He brings down the wicked to the ground.

The Devil tries to blind us of the psalm's truth. He makes us forget that with all our problems and hurts, that this IS the most wonderful time of the year because Jesus came to heal us. He's gonna take all our crap and say "My Blood covers that."

As His children, we need to be His light in this world; His instruments of healing. Helping the homeless, visiting the sick and hurting, lending a hand to those in need, this is true celebration of the season. This is the reason. We can't let the devil steal our blessing by attempting to get us focused on our problems. We can't focus on the commercialized nature of this world...

Remember.. it was JESUS that cleansed the temple and overturned the money changing tables... NOT the Disciples...

The Disciples were sent to spread love and healing and touching people with Christ's LOVE...

This

Is

The Reason.

Relational Trash

i can relate to trash. i was asked how.. it's quite simple...

trash is not created. trash happens. no one wakes up one morning and says "i'm going to make something that people will just throw away.." in its created form, the thing we call trash has value and worth. empty paint cans could be considered trash. but were they created to be empty? no. they were created to hold paint.. to keep it protected until the time of use. it is after being used that the trash happens. trash is the left over product.. the result of being used.

when i was created.. God had a purpose for me.. God created me.. as well as everyone else.. with a purpose in mind.. to serve Him.. to do His will.. to carry His Holy Spirit.. however.. having been used and abused by sin and sinful lifestyle.. i became empty.. no longer holding that Holy Spirit.. left over trash..
God did not create me to be empty.. but filled... and blessed so that i could be a blessing..

for the paint cans.. their original use may have been spent.. but paint is still created.. paint is still poured.. and even if the purpose of carrying paint is no longer.. there are still other uses for a paint can...

one man's trash.. is another man's treasure. and what if that Man is the Son of God...

even in my empty state.. Christ sees me.. and sees what i CAN be.. and He loves me.. and He pours out Himself into me... so that i can go from trash to treasure..

Equipped

i was mowing the lawn the other day... something i typically do weekly..

at one point last year i came across a black snake in the woodpile, but i had no way to dispose of it.. so since then i have carried a machete.

every time i mow, however.. i ended up getting cut up and scratched up by branches and bushes.. tree limbs that hang down smack my head and rip my glasses off.. i usually just suck it up and take the pain.. then it finally hit me...
i have a machete on my side... it is used to chopping limbs... so i removed the problem..

i was equipped to remove the hinderances in my task, but failed to use it properly..

how many times in daily life do we stumble or run into things that hinder us... things that could be easily taken care of if we just pay attention to what we are equipped with.. God gave us His word.. His Holy Bible to help us deal with pressures.. pains.. temptations...
it's more than just something to follow along with the pastor on sunday.. but a training source and motivator..

delight yourself in the Lord.. draw near unto Him..

equip yourself with the sword of the Holy Spirit.. the word of God.. and cut through branches that scrape and cut your soul...

Next Week, and thensome

I'll be preaching at Little Hill United Methodist Church. the passage to be preached will be Acts 2...

it's gonna be called Tongues of Fire and Common Men..

it's amazing how God can use just about anyone to fulfill His purpose.. He used Nebuchadnezzar and even the mouth of a jackass to speak to Balaam. the kingdom of Christ was not accelerated by religious leaders, even the ones that followed Christ... but it was common men.. fishermen, tax collectors, shepherds... that spread the word and changed people's lives...

this means we can all be used by God.. in one way or another...

what bothers me the most is when people who claim Christ in their lives, live like He's not there... they try to get people "saved".. but act like they're going to hell with everyone else... there is no fruit... no reason for people to even see a change that will want them to take up this radical belief.. i've been guilty of this... but i know the error of my ways..

Clayton King wrote in a book that he drove past an old church... it was 200 years old and had seen countless revivals and acts of God... but as the years wore on.. politics and less spiritual things came into it.. and eventually.. the church was dead.. . he was sad at first.. but then realized... if it was no longer effective for Christ.. it needed to die.. so others may grow..

people that make God a mockery... would be better off dead than living their ineffective lives... being a stumbling block to those that are actually seeking Him..

harsh, yes.. but Christ said that if anyone causes one of these little ones to stumble.. it would be better that they have millstone tied around their neck and thrown into the sea...
there is no such thing as a Grace Period when you know that you're not living for God.. its' a deception period where you're in the devil's sights... do i lack compassion? probably.

but i think the church as a body lacks committment and values.. we all wait for the big time preachers to cause change.. and then persecute them when they collapse under pressure.. we commit sexual sin and then burn the evangelist in effigy when he gets caught doing something that we were worse with...

i'm a hypocrite... deal with it.

if i were dead

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

i'm dead.... (not really) Current mood: artistic Category: Religion and Philosophy (before anyone gets all screwed up about this blog.. i am NOT suicidal.. this is not a cry for help.. it is how i am dealing with something that i never got over... ..) [i had wanted to write a letter as if this was my last day on earth.. and the words that i would wish everyone to know] Dear Friends, Family.. and almost lovers.. the journey has ended and i am with God. i have not lived a perfect life but served a perfect King.. even tho i did it in imperfect ways.. tho my work has not been finished, my job is done, and i pass the gauntlet on to the next soul that feels God's call to take it up. to my family... i am sorry for the shame i brought. to my friends.. i am sorry for using you. to my almost lovers.. i'm sorry i wasn't more... in death i will find peace and the spiritual battles will be ended.. i will stand before God and praise Him in His holy temple.. in my life all i ever wanted was for you to know that Jesus Christ was love... that .. my words.. even tho masked with death and destruction, were meant to love.. and never hurt.. there is nothing i can or could do to make you believe me. i could only live the way i knew how to live.. will i call you out by name? no. you know who you are and you know where you stood in my heart. you know where you stood in my life. i may never speak to anyone ever again.. but i pray my words ring loud and true in your ears.. the words i spoke or wrote by God's urging... death has no hold over me.. and has no hold over any of you that are born again in Christ's forgiveness. the world has nothing to offer but pain and grief. posessions and status only create ways to fall from grace and into oblivion. too many times i and my loves ones have cared more about what others think, than what God thinks... i pray for our forgiveness. i pray God's redemptive blood over our vain souls. i wish there had been a way to go back in time.. to see the ones i loved.. the ones that have gone before me... and tell them of Christ.. and tell them of His love.. and show my love... but i was too busy with my own agendas... and i had lived in regret. i did not truly die to self and in turn.. they died before me.. so i go on.. praying.. and hoping that maybe someone else reached them... that someone else picked up the gauntlet beyond where i dropped it. and i pray that you who read this... will know that what i have believed is not just a phase.. not just a delusion, but something i know is real.. My God was not and is not and never will be a magic 8 ball.. He is not the amazing kreskin, nor is He santa claus that gives us everything on our list of wants. He is the King and Creator of the Universe and He holds the powers of death and life... He sent His Son to correct a corruption that occurred. rather than destroy everything and everyone, He chose to save them. no more redos.. no more drawing boards.. just a patch that.. when accepted, was a fix for eternity... to those that never believed.. never understood.. i wish you well.. to those that do know and understand.. i will see you on the other side... in my dreams i have seen the visions of the life i had lived.... and the hurts and joys brought before me... every hurt.. every passion.. every joy.. created me... formed me... and as i am gone...my God lives on... and i will only be remembered as a name.. in His Grip Bones

Obedience

For 10 years I had two callings on my life. I had run from them. I was unsure how to go about them so I put them on a backburner. About a month and a half ago, I was speaking to a minister and he began speaking to me as if he could read the first calling I had received. It was amazing..

I had run for so long I had finally tired out. I met with my pastor to speak of the calling. This is, the calling to preach. I accepted it, and now am on the steps to achieving said goal. I went back to the minister that I had first mentioned, and he said.. "I can't wait to see how many souls are going to be in heaven because of your obedience."

WOW!! How do you respond to that? When you look at it in the grand scheme. Obedience is good for us... but it also affects the WHOLE WORLD.... like.. if you take a dog to obedience school.. not only does the dog learn to listen, so he doesn't get in trouble... but he also keeps from biting people or eating their shoes...

Our lives are not our own and the choices we make, the things we run from, will affect the lives of multitudes. I had often thought of myself as a loner.. or an island.. and in fact.. removing myself from humanity.. just meant I was missing out on the blessings others had for me.. and being a blessing towards others..

I am learning so much more with each passing day. It is amazing and I'm blessed by the people in my life that are supporting me on this journey.

Blessings
Bones

The Storm

Friday, April 03, 2009

The Storm *funny music* Category: Religion and Philosophy Jesus Stills the Sea 35On that day, when evening came, He said to them, "Let us go over to the other side." 36Leaving the crowd, they took Him along with them Z)">in the boat, just as He was; and other boats were with Him. 37And there arose a fierce gale of wind, and the waves were breaking over the boat so much that the boat was already filling up. 38Jesus Himself was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke Him and said to Him, "Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?" 39And He got up and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, "Hush, be still." And the wind died down and it became perfectly calm. 40And He said to them, "Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?" 41They became very much afraid and said to one another, "Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?" -------Wow.. so yea.. it hit me the other day that Jesus was sleeping. you see, He was in the boat WITH the disciples and they were still being overwhelmed with the adversity of a storm. You figure there's all these guys running around in panic mode.. they're not in sin.. God is actually with them... IN THE BOAT.. yet they finally wake Him up and freak out that they're all gonna die.. ITS JUST TOO MUCH FOR US!!!! how many times do we say that? and then we turn to God and He puts up His hand and says.. "hold it".. and everything stops... Jesus Christ can calm the storms in nature, and in our lives. sometimes its like we're just about to the breaking point before He finally says "enough".. It's part of what builds character, strength, endurance... faith.. the wind and the seas obey Him... and in a moment when they land.... so will the demons.. sometimes it feels like we're far from God.. or He's ignoring us.. but does anyone really think Jesus was unaware of the storm? sure the boat was rocking and waves crashing and lightning flashing (i'm gonna start singing People on a Boat).. but it didn't worry Him.. because He knew the authority which He had and has.. being in His fold... He uses that same authority over our lives.. in our lives.. and through our lives.. God has the power to calm the sea.. and He can loan us the power to do these things... and greater things... all honor and glory belongs to Christ.