By Your Side

It's Been A While

I haven't posted in a while but here goes. I was reading this morning in Joshua chapter 2. I have heard the story before but it never clicked with me like it did today. In Chapter one God tells Joshua to go take the land that He is giving him. Moses has died so Joshua is going to pick up where he left off. So in Chapter 2 Joshua sends two spies out to look over the land. They end up at Rahab's house where they hang out for a little while. All of the people in the city heard that the men were there and asked Rahab where they were. She told them they had already left and pointed in the direction they "went." Little did these men know Rahab had them hiding on the roof. She asked the men since she didn't' tell where they were hiding and if she didn't tell anyone anything about them, could they spare her families life. They agreed, made an oath and Rahab sent the men out of a window of her home. She told them where to go so the men that were looking for them would not find them. But, what really shows me how awesome of a God we serve is the fact that Rahab was a prostitute. So many Christians look down on people because of their sin. We write them off so to speak and don't give them a second chance. In reality we should be talking to people in sin and telling them about Jesus, not condemning them to hell. Anyway, now that I'm off that little soap box I will get back to the point. I learned from this that God is God no matter what we say or think. God told Joshua to go get the land, so Joshua sent men out to look over the land. If it weren't for a prostitute named Rahab these men would have been killed. In God's overall plan, He used a prostitute. God can use anyone anytime, why? Because He is God. So when we see people openly living in sin, lets not send them to hell, lets pray for them, strike up a conversation, tell them about Jesus. You never know what God will do. If He can use a prostitute, He can use you.

Easter Service at Adventure Life Church

Ok, I don't really know where to begin about last nights Easter Service. I do know that we had been planning things for at least a week. I had a setlist planned for worship, Johnny had a message planned along with some other interactive things, and Easter was going to go off perfect. Right? Well, it did go off perfect, but it happened God's way, not ours.

We were about three songs in to our worship set and all of a sudden the power goes out. So without missing a beat, we ended the song we were on and went into Amazing Grace my Chains are gone, no mics, not amps, no keyboard, just an acoustic guitar and our voices. It was AMAZING.....after we ended that song, Paula Cox came up, she is our pastors wife. She said keep playing that song, so I picked the strings in the background while she shared what God laid on her heart during that song, then we sing another chorus. Then our Student Pastor Brandon Higgins got up and shared what was on his heart, then we sang another song, then I shared what was on my heart. After this happened, Johnny came up, shared some things that were on his heart and told us what was about to take place. He had three tables set up. One table had a basket on it. That was for our offering. If we had an offering we put it in and prayed over it. We did this by families. On the next table was the word of God. Each family took turns praying over the Word that we would be obedient to the Word and live it out by our actions, at the last table we prayed and took communion. We did all of this in the dark, and the only light we had was the soft glow from outside shining in the big windows. While families were praying Josh shared something that was on his heart as well as Terry. After Terry finished the worship team gathered at the front and sang songs while people were praying. God let that service happen His way and for me, the song Heart of Worship rang so loud and true in my heart. God was speaking to me last night. I am so thankful He allowed me to be a part of it all.

Even though it was dark in that room, it was as bright as it has ever been, because God was there and in Him there is no darkness. I wish you all could have been there!!

Easter is on it's way

Christmas and Easter have so much in common. I think in toady's society the one thing they have in common is that is when people come to church. On these two occasions you could plan a family reunion after church. Easter is this coming weekend and there will be churches filled with people that are in church for the first time this year. You know what? I think that is ok! A lot of times we get discouraged when people only come on Easter and Christmas, but most churches on Easter will present the Gospel. Those people that aren't in church on a regular basis will hear the Gospel and one or more of them might get saved!!! That would be awesome, regardless of how often they come to church.

So remember this year that the Gospel needs to be presented and pray for the lost to come to know Jesus and follow Him on a daily basis. We shouldn't be discouraged, but be encouraged and let God do a work. All we can do is point them to Jesus.

I never thought the day would come, but it has.

I have always kind of looked over this passage of scripture.

Matthew 10:21-23 Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death, All men will hate you because of me, but he who stand firm to the end will be saved. When you are persecuted in one place, flee to another. I tell you the truth, you will not finish going through the cities of Israel before the Son of Man comes.

I have never looked deeply into that scriputre until now. I never thought my own family would persecute me for being a Christian. I have heard that I am a hypocrite, that my church is a cult, that I am not a man. Jesus says in this scripture that when you are persecuted in one place, flee to another. I never thought I would have to flee from my family, but I have to follow Jesus and not a man or woman on this world. I'm not perfect, but I am forgiven.

I don't know who all reads this other than my family but whatever the world throws at you, stay true to Jesus, follow Him and read His Word. He will put you where He wants you, if you let Him. He has stayed faithful to us, so please to all of those who follow Jesus, stay faithful to Him.

The Sheep and the Goats

Have you ever considered yourself to be a sheep or a goat? Well, I haven't either, until I read Matthew Chapter 25 verses 31-46. Jesus is using sheep and goats in this parable as He is talking to the Disciples. He says when the Son of Man comes back He will be coming back with all of the angels and the nations will be set in front of Him. He will separate them just like a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on His right and the goats on the left. So Jesus will separate everyone, the people on His right will be the blessed ones. He says He will tell them that when He was hungry they gave Him something to eat, He was thirsty and they gave Him something to drink, He was a stranger and they let Him in, He needed clothes and they clothed Him, He was sick and they looked after Him, He was in prison and they came to visit Him. Then Jesus says the righteous, the ones on the right side of Him, will ask "When did we see You like that Lord?" Jesus says that what they did for the least of these they did for Him. Well, then he turns to the ones on his left and told them that they didn't do any of those things. They didn't clothe Him, feed Him, give Him a drink, invite Him in, visit Him in prison, or take care of Him when He was sick. Then they will answer "Lord when did we see You like this?" He told them that whatever they did not do for one of the least of these , they did not do for Him. So the ones on the left will go away to eternal punishment and the ones on the right will enter into eternal life.

That is a powerful section of scripture that can teach us a lot. The Bible tells us in James that we should not show favoritism. We tend to treat people that appear to have money a lot different than those that don't. We sin when we show favoritism. We should treat all people the same because Jesus died for all for us. James 2 also tells us that our faith without works is useless. If we see someone in need and we tell them we will pray for them and not do anything to help them then our faith is useless. We should love others like we love ourselves. That means that when we see someone in need we should put our faith into action and do what we can to help. Just think about Compassion International and other organizations that have children that need to be sponsored. It costs normally 20 to 30 bucks to sponsor a child a month , but we would rather hold on to that money so we can go eat at Outback, after we have already eaten out 10 times that month. We could not go to Starbucks everyday, or McDonald's everyday and use just 20 bucks to help a child get food and clothing, because they need a lot more than we do. We are selfish human beings but what if we started treating others like we treat ourselves. I believe that we would see a revolution take place. Kids would eat, the homeless would be warm or have a home, people would have shoes, etc... and Jesus would be lifted up. So lets all be sheep and be on the right side of Jesus. Remember what we do for the least of these we have also done for our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Darkness and Light

1 John chapter 1 tells us that we should not associate with darkness. When we have fellowship with Jesus then we are walking in the light. If we walk in darkness then we are having fellowship with the world and with Satan or evil. We were once walking in darkness but when Jesus saved us we passed from death to life and at the same time we crossed over from darkness to light. We were once part of the world, now we should make sure that we stand apart from the world. We should stand out like lights because Jesus is light. Just like a city on a hill that can't be hidden, as we are here on earth we should be lights that can't be hidden. Yet so many times we want to turn our lights on and off depending on where we are, who we are with and what we are doing. We treat Jesus like He is a toothbrush. When we need to be clean we take Him out of the holder and use Him, when we are finished we put Him back until the next time we need Him. It doesn't matter how much we think we need Him, the truth is we always need Him. Without Him we would be nothing and would always live in darkness. We think we have got it all figured out but we are nothing without Him, so we should keep Him at the head of our lives so that other people can see Jesus in us. We could lead so many people by example, but we have to make the decision. Are we going to keep the light on all the time or turn it on just when we need Jesus to help us. The decision is ours. If we are His then it should be an easy decision to make. Be a light in a dark and hopeless world because our light given to us by Jesus just might change someones life.

Psalm 97:10

Psalm 97:10 says You who love the Lord, hate evil. We who love the Lord hate evil. Do we really hate evil? I would like to think that if we call ourselves Christians that we would hate evil. So if we hate evil then why do we participate in it? You may be thinking that you don't, but the truth is that most of us do. A lot of times we gossip and tell some one's business and call it prayer requests. We tell lies to the people we love, we have affairs, we make shady deals so we can make money, we drink alcohol to be drunk, we steal, we talk bad about others, and there is more but for the sake of typing I'll stop with those. Have you seen yourself in any of these that have been mentioned? If you have you have practiced evil. Sometimes we participate in evil and don't even know it. We call it pride, and when we take pride in ourselves that is when it becomes evil. Any pride we have should be put in Jesus, the One who died a horrible death so we wouldn't have to. So how do we stop participating in evil? Well that is simple, we must fully surrender to Jesus and let Him do with out lives what He wants to do. When we fully surrender to God we become sold out followers of Jesus. We can then live lives of faith, wisdom, truth and worship. When evil comes up in our lives we will be able to recognize it, rebuke it and keep following Jesus. So to all that truly love the Lord, fully surrender to Him so we can really hate evil and turn from it. Be followers of Jesus, not the world.

Haiti

Check out the link below. Pastor Marc Driscoll went to Haiti a week after the big earthquake that rocked that part of the country. He shares details of his trip as well as pictures and video.



http://www.marshillchurch.org/media/special/32-hours-the-church-in-haiti

Sinners Not Saints

Have you ever been to religious? Ever felt like you were above someone else, or that God is more proud of you than He is others that live in sin? Ever thought you were God's friend just because you go to Sunday School, Church, Discipleship Training, church again, visitation on Tuesdays and church again on Wednesday night? Maybe God thinks your awesome because you attend all of these meetings. I have to admit there was a time in my life that I thought God was proud of me for going to churh, but the whole time thinking this, I was a sinner that hadn't yet been saved by grace. These things came to my mind today when I was reading in the book of Matthew. Chapter 9 verse 9 through 13 is the calling of Matthew. Matthew was a tax collector. Jesus went by the tax office and said to him, Follow Me, and Matthew got up and followed Him. It goes on to say that Jesus was reclining at the table when many tax collectors and sinners came as guests to eat with Jesus. The Pharisees, who were very religious, saw all of the tax collectors and sinners come in so they asked Jesus' disciples, "Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?" Jesus heard them asking this question and told them that well people do not need a doctor, sick people do. He says too that He didn't come to call the righteous, but sinners. Talk about a wake up call!! Jesus came to die for sinners. Although they don't see it themselves the Pharisees thought they were religious and didn't need Jesus, they thought they were better than these sinners. Jesus tells them this is who He wants, He died so all the sins of the sinners could be forgiven and covered by His blood. Jesus also died for the Pharisees because they were sinners and though they didn't recognize it, they needed a Savior as well. I pray that your not a Pharisee and you realize you are a sinner and let the blood of Jesus cover your sins.

Why are the wicked prospering?

Have you ever wondered why a lot of wicked people, or people that could care less about Jesus seem to have everything they want and then some? I have often wondered why people that are living for the world and not Jesus tend to have all these things. They have the big houses, fancy cars, they can eat out every night, have plenty of money and don't have to worry about anything. Then on the other hand you have people that follow Jesus daily that tend to struggle in life. I realize there are Christians that have nice things and plenty of money, so this message would not be for you. But from my perspective I see the wicked enjoying life with all the things they want. Things that tend to make them happy, while I'm following Jesus and I live paycheck to paycheck. It doesn't add up in my human mind. Well, as He always does, God points me in the right direction when I started thinking about this. I was reading Psalm 92 today, and in verse 7 it says this. "Though the wicked sprout like grass and all evildoers flourish, they will be eternally destroyed." After reading this I realized that our treasures are in heaven. Matthew 6:19-21 says this "Don't collect for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. But collect for yourselves treasure in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves don't break in and steal. For where you treasure is, there your heart will be also." Let me tackle Psalm 92:7 first. God says that the wicked will be eternally destroyed. This means that when these people die without Jesus they will go to hell where they are eternally destroyed. So while they are enjoying these things and putting their hearts into their possessions instead of Jesus they will lose all they have never to see it anymore. So back to being a Christian and Matthew 6. We should put our hearts into Jesus, follow Him daily and gain treasures in heaven instead of on earth. Don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with having nice things and being able to enjoy them, just don't put those things before God because it is by His grace you have them to begin with. So do we really need anything on earth? Not really, God will meet our basic needs, beyond that everything else is an extra gift from Him. Besides when I die, I know God has a mansion waiting for me in heaven. There are no mansions in hell, so I will follow Jesus while I'm on earth and praise Him for what I have and what I will have in the future, but I know my treasure awaits in heaven.

The Raging Sea

Psalm Chapter 87 verse 9 says "You rule the raging sea; when its waves surge You still them." After you read this verse sit back and reflect on what you just read. Take a look at the picture to the left. That is an image of a somewhat raging sea. We serve a God that can calm the seas. He also told the water where to stop, He placed the sun in a certain place as well as the moon, but to think that when a sea is raging violently God can calm it in an instant. This is the same God that sent His son Jesus to die for us. So as I sit here thinking about the power God has to calm the raging sea, I wonder why so many times we think God can't control our lives. A lot of times we try to control our own lives. We want to do what we want to do and that is it, we don't want help from anyone else and a lot of times we don't think we need help from anyone else. If we would all fully surrender to Gods power and let Him control every aspect of our lives, then I have to think that just like a raging sea that He can calm, He would also calm our lives. This doesn't mean everything will be perfect with us but we will have a peace when we face storms in our lives because we will be focused on Jesus. Jesus is not an author of confusion or chaos but of peace (1 Corinthians 14:33). He wants peace in our lives, but for that to happen we have to surrender to Him and let Him control our lives. Just like that raging sea that was stilled, our lives can be the same way. Lets let Him use His power in our lives so we can live lives of praise and worship filled hearts.