Our pastor’s message for the Graduate Recognition service this past Sunday was awesome.  It was what should be in that kind of service: something for everyone but with a hint towards the graduates.  In the message, our pastor made a great point that stuck with me and has me mulling it over.  In Luke 2:41-49, Jesus was left behind by Mary and Joseph after the Feast of Passover in Jerusalem.  Three days later, they found Jesus in the temple talking and questioning the teachers about God.  Jesus’ statement was priceless…

Why were you searching for me? Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?”

The point that our pastor made was that Jesus was shocked that His earthly parents took so long to find Him.  Didn’t they know who He was and what He was here for?  Where else would Jesus be but other than talking about His Father and making sure people understood the truth about Him?

Then the question gets turned back onto us… Where would we be found if we went missing for three days?  Would the search party find us in a church?  bar?  ditch?  football stadium?  Jesus later taught that “where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:21).  Whatever holds our heartstrings is where we’ll find our feet going towards.

Make it a point today to let Jesus be the treasure of your heart and follow Him wherever He leads.

Series: “Bonding with James” An examination of the New Testament book of James by taking titles from James Bond movies.

Message: “Goldeneye” (James 5:1-6; Luke 18:18-27).  This message was the final in our “Bonding with James” series.  We are a very wealthy and prosperous society in America.  If not careful, our riches can blind us to the things that God is calling us to.  We looked to encourage students to keep our things – wealth, popularity, toys, etc – in the proper perspective so that they do not rob us from experiencing the great plans that God has in store.

Game: “Turkey Trivia”.  This was a PowerPoint game with trivia questions about Thanksgiving topics.  It was fun to hear the answers from the students and watch their reactions to the answers.

That’s one phrase that I’ve never understood.  It describes being hit/shot by someone on your side/team.  How’s that friendly?  I actually get where the phrase comes from but still doesn’t sound very friendly to me.

It seems that the most of what I’m hearing on the radio concerning sports is not how Florida has won their second national championship in three years, but rather people wanting to run down this young man named Tim Tebow.  It seems that many in our society feel that this young man is a fake and a sham (or at least that’s what I’m hearing on sports radio where I’m livng).  With him “wearing bible verses on his eye black” and saying “God bless” with every statement that he makes, people are saying that he needs to quit selling religion.

Personally, I’m getting a little sick of this junk.  It aggrevates me to no end how people can be so ignorant sometimes.  I’m not a Florida fan by any means, but Tebow is truly one of college’s best athletes in a long time if not ever.  I think that it’s funny that everyone wants to down this guy because it seems that he is living his life as a young 20-something year old the way that we all should be living.  I don’t see where he is selling religion any more than public schools are selling the religion of atheism, agnosticism, or humanism with many of the subjects they teach in their classrooms.  When once has Tebow said on national camera that we all need to turn to Christ?  I’ve never heard one instance.

In John 17, Jesus prays that His disciples may be unified so that those who are not may see the awesome power of the living God at work and turn to Him.  Here we have some people who say (hmm?) that they’re believers but think that Tebow should keep the verses to himself and tune down the “God bless” statements and just let your life speak for God.  WHY???  God gave us a voice and a brain and a passion… He intends us to use them.  It sounds a little like the instance in Luke 19:39-40 where the religious people of the day told Jesus to rebuke the people who were shouting praises to Him and Jesus said that the stones would cry out if these people didn’t.

Let’s be careful in how we treat our fellow believers.  There are many who are watching and there is an enemy that is seeking to destroy us (John 10:10/1 Peter 5:8).