There are just times that occur in life that blow your mind and make you say, “Wow!”  I am the father of two incredible boys, Drew (almost 3 yrs old) and Sam (just turned 7 weeks old).  Those two boys are a couple of the greatest things that ever happened to me.  God has taught me so much about Himself (and myself) through these boys.  Today was  another one of those lessons.

I had taken Drew out fishing this morning before the rain came in.  We had gotten back about time for lunch, so we were eating a sandwich and some chips at the table.  Naomi had Sam and was playing with him at the other end of the table.  Drew begins to play with Sam and mess with him.  You can already tell that these guys have great potential of being really close as they grow up.  Sam begins to smile and almost laugh at his brother’s “playing with him.”  Now Sam is not one to smile nor laugh much at this time in his life.  Something about his brother just brightens him up though.

It was in that moment, as I was scarfing down my sandwich and chips that the Holy Spirit whispered to my heart, “You feel that joy welling up inside of you because them two boys are playing well with each other?  That’s what I feel when Christians live together in love with one another.”

We may have different opinions on certain aspects of our faith, but if we are what the Bible calls “brothers and sisters in Christ,” then we had better be loving one another as family because in glory, we’re going to be doing that anyways.  Jesus’ prayer for us (John 17) was that we might be “one”.  This “one” is unity.  We don’t have to see things exactly the same way in every tiny part of our beliefs (though there are some essentials).

How are you and I doing with helping Jesus’ prayer become a reality?

As I was finishing up with my midterm in systematic theology, our professor gives us something to think on during the break we have from classes this next week. He puts forth this scenario: if God is everywhere (omnipresent), how do you account for hell (separation from God)?

I thought that this was a great question. I have heard it come up before in working with students. I am going to be tossing this one around over the next week. I would love to hear your input on this question. There will be a couple of guidelines though…

1. 1. You have to be able to back up your thought with specific Scripture.
2. 2. Be careful not to just use a verse. What does the entire Bible have to say on this?

I am interested in hearing what different people have to say (mainly, what does the Bible have to say) on this subject.

This morning, I had a great time as I broke open my bible and sat down to see what God would have for me today. I found myself in Colossians 3:1-11 (via intervarsity daily bible study). This passage was so awesome and timely for me. It was speaking about the battle between the “old nature” and our “new nature in Christ.” I don’t know about you, but I find myself frequently in this battle. I was particularly drawn to one of the questions that had me thinking about “how can we set our mind on things above rather than earthly things?” As I pondered this and examined the Scriptures, I came up with four things that help in this fight…

1. Focus our hearts and minds on Christ. It is easy to just let our minds and attention wonder to and fro. If we are going to win this battle though, we must keep our minds and attention pointed to the cross and the empty tomb. It is through Christ and Christ alone that we find victory.
2. Spend time with God in prayer and His word. I find myself teaching students many times that you can tell what you love by how much time you spend with it. If we are going to win the battle against the flesh, we must take up the weapons that God has given to us (Ephesians 6:17-18).
3. Yield to the leading of the Holy Spirit that lives within us. When we accepted Christ as Lord and Savior, He placed within us part of the Trinity – the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit guides us to live a godly life. For victory in this life, we must be in tune (not going against) what the Holy Spirit is directing in our lives. He is seeking to bring glory to God through our lives. Will we let Him?
4. Be alert to the temptations all around us. Peter warns us that the devil is roaming around looking for someone to devour (1 Peter 5:8). At every turn of our lives, temptations stand there to knock us off of the path that God has for us. We must be alert and remember that we are in a war. No soldier just hap-hazardously walks around. They are constantly on the lookout for attacks. So must we be.

The main thing that stuck out to me from this time with God this morning was that I cannot just go about my day and life in any fashion. If I live life “naturally”, then I will venture away from my Creator and Lord. My flesh still seeks its own way. I have to live life on purpose and alert – for the glory of God!

What are some other tools (from Scripture) that you use in the daily battle against the flesh?

I don’t mean to take light the tragedy of cancer or make light of it.  Sadly, my family has had many experiences with this monster called cancer.  That is why I choose to compare conformity to cancer.  I was working on a lesson for our student ministry.  We knew that we were going to talk about the danger of conformity and using the obvious verse of Romans 12:2.  But it was the day before I was to speak to our students that God showed me something that I had never paid attention to before.

Conformity has been a weapon that Satan has used to try to rob God of His glory since at least the Garden of Eden.  It was in the Garden of Eden that Satan tempted humans with being “like” God.  Just blend in with the surroundings.  Israel was to be a different nation from all others upon the earth.  They were constantly tempted into being just like everyone else.  The New Testament church is also called to be “a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God” (1 Peter 2:9).  I don’t use the King James Version much due to the difference in language from modern English, but it’s translation of this verse is awesome.  Instead of saying “a people belonging to God” it says “a peculiar people.”

We were created not to conform to the things around us, but to be transformed by the Holy Spirit and display the glory of God.  God created humans in a completely different way from everything in creation.  He used His hands and breath to bring us to life when only words worked with everything else.  From the beginning, we were to be different.  We are confronted from all sides with temptations to just blend in with the surroundings.  Let’s not fade into the background of our sinful surroundings, but rather let us be a “city on a hill” and let the light of Christ shine through us like never before.

I’m sure that you’ve heard about this movie that was put out by Sherwood Pictures.  These were the same people that put out “Facing The Giants.”  I had heard a lot of stuff about this movie, but when a couple at our church said, “you guys HAVE to see this movie,” we decided to see what it was about.  Christian movies have always irritated me in the past.  The quality was never up to par with the stuff that Hollywood was putting out.  Sherwood Pictures has done a great job though in trying to correct that.  There is still some work that needs to be done, but the message cannot get any better.  This is a must-see movie for any couple out there.  It doesn’t matter if you’ve been married for two weeks or two decades, this movie has a message that every couple needs to hear. You can click the picture above to go to the Fireproof website.

Another great tool for couples is “The Love Dare.”  I can’t give a full evaluation on this yet because me and my wonderful bride are going through it ourselves.  It’s not something just for couples who are on the verge of separating.  It is for any couple that wants to see their relationship flourish.  It is filled with some great reminders and wonderful words of wisdom from people who have traveled the road and, of course, the Bible.

Have you seen the movie?  What did you think?  Have you taken a look at “The Love Dare”?  What are your thoughts on this work?

I have just uploaded a message that I shared with my students at First Baptist Church of Birmingham, Alabama in the message section.  It uses the parable of the sower from Matthew’s gospel to show that people respond in different ways to the Word of God.  Be sure to check it out and pass it on to someone who might could use it.

2009 has begun.  What will this year hold for those of us around to see it?  This time of the year always has people rethinking and making goals for their lives.  That’s a good thing in my opinion.  I’m not much of a planner, but I do like to have some goals.  They give you focus.  One goal that many Christians seem to make is to read the Bible through during the year.  I think that this is an important goal.  If you are going to base all of your life on the Bible, you should at least know what it says.  It troubles me to meet people of other faiths who know their “holy book” forwards and backwards, but to meet a Christian who has never read all of the Bible.

The people at Lifechurch.tv have put together a great tool to help people who are trying to read through the Bible in a year.  You can read about it here.  I have this on my blackberry and love it.  God’s word is with me wherever I take my phone.

What are some goals that you have set for 2009?