BIG NEWS

Jesus loves you! It may not be a surprise to some, but to others it is such a great relief to know someone loves and forgives you.Christ came for those that knew they were sinners not those whom thought themselves righteous.

One way in

I wish that if there were one thing we could do better as Christians is get along better with ourselves. How can we focus all our time on seeking and saving the lost, or being in our community planting seeds and reeping the harvest that is so ripe when we are spending too much time complaining about one another or trying to prove how we are the only way to heaven? Christ says, I am the way the truth and the light no one gets to the father except through me." (John14:6)

    We need to realize that salvation has nothing to do with us but by the sacrifice of Christ, the free gift of salvation. Through that gift Christ gives us a simple command. He tells us really to do just two things he says, love The Lord your God with all your heart with all your soul with all your mind and with all your strength and love your neighbor as your self. Do we need to be aware of false teachers, yes! Do we condemn people, no! Jesus didn't give us the authority to judge others, in fact he says, "Matthew 7:1-6 “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye. “Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces. 

    I think we need to evaluate where we are at and strive to love God more and everyday by the love we have for God we learn to love His creation more and more! 

God I pray that you help us be the example of love to the world around us using the example of your son Christ. The perfecter of our faith, and we can walk in the light as he is in the light and have fellowship with one another, and with that the love of Christ will cover our sins. I pray that I don't just use words but actions, and I pray that I start with my family, by being a better husband, better father, and a better man. I pray as a leader I lead better by being a better follower of you! And I pray that you open our eyes more often to your eternal plan for us, and I Pray this in your son holy name, amen.

ALL IN

I love that I get the open forum to talk with people about their faith, the bible, Christianity, life ETC.. The other day I had a conversation with a friend about a verse in the bible where Christ comes across as being pretty insensitive. The verse is Matthew Chapter 8 verse 21-22:  21 another of his disciples said, “Lord, first let me return home and bury my father.”

22 But Jesus told him, “Follow me now. Let the spiritually dead bury their own dead. [f]”

    You might read this and say WOAH Jesus eat a snickers you are grumpy when you are hungry. But we need to read this in context and also understand that Christ knows our hearts and where we stand in our thoughts. Jesus was taking a moment to let us know when he calls he wants us to be all in, this may seem like a drastic case but it serves a point for the crowd that was following that hey if you want to truly be my disciple I need all of you, don’t worry of things of this world put all of your energy into what matters most, giving us an eternal perspective. 

     In Luke chapter 9:23-26 he gives us more instructions of what we need to do is we are going to follow him her says, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross daily, and follow me. 24 If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it.25 and what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but are yourself lost or destroyed? 26 If anyone is ashamed of my message, and me the Son of Man will be ashamed of that person when he returns in his glory and in the glory of the Father and the holy angels. 27 I tell you the truth, some standing here right now will not die before they see the Kingdom of God.” We are called to take this approach to deny ourselves, to pick up our cross daily and understand that yes, daily I need to be restored by Christ and humbled, I do this by lifting up this heavy cross that I cannot carry alone, but only by the grace of God to I get a chance and redemption, and only through Christ may I have a life that is eternal. Jim Elliot said, “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.” Ultimately we cant be all in if we are stuck on things of this world, we aren’t able to be, I don't want to hold on to something I cant take with me and lose something that I will have for forever.

     Christ wants us all in, and as we take this journey further the next month or so we are going to learn that when we go all in we have nothing to fear because God has already dealt us a winning hand. 

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