Your Faith Family and Prayer

I have come to realize how important my Faith Family is in my life. Stephanie and I are so blessed to have a group of Christ followers that love us, pray for us, and encourage us on our path. Yes, I also have a great biological family that also does these things. It is just UNDERSTOOD that they are an important part of my life. I think people often take for granted or don't even use the power of their faith family to walk through this life. In 1 Samuel, Hannah really needed encouragement. Her husband Elkanah was oblivious to her troubles. She was barren and wanted a son so dearly. Her husband truly loved her, but did not understand the tears and deep anguish. (1 Samuel 1:10) Finally, when things got particularly bleak, Hannah cried out to the Lord. Her prayer was overheard by Eli. He saw her pain. He was touched by it and gave her great words of encouragement;

'Eli responded, “Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant the petition
you’ve requested from Him.” 1 Samuel 1:17

Eli had no idea how his kind words affected Hannah. She poured out her heart to the Lord and he sent Eli to affirm her. Hannah was so distraught before her prayer that she couldn't even eat. After her prayer and the gentle, kind words of Eli, she began to eat and was no longer sad. Praise God for Eli and his willingness to serve the Lord.

We often do not realize how important we are to our Faith Family. We need to put real effort in listening to our brothers and sisters in Christ. We need to be open and transparent together. We need to spend time ENCOURAGING, NOT offering advice. Eli and Hannah weren't particularly close, but Eli heard her prayer. When he finally realized what the prayer was about, he didn't offer advice. He didn't come up with a plan to cure her pain. He supported her and extended her prayer to the Lord.

I am so thankful for my Faith Family. I am thankful for their genuine love and kindness through all of the good times and the bad. I hope and pray I can be there for my faith family.

ALL Lives Matter

All Lives Matter

'But Ruth replied, “Don’t ask me to leave you and turn back. Wherever
you go, I will go; wherever you live, I will live. Your people will be my
people, and your God will be my God. Wherever you die, I will die,
and there I will be buried. May the Lord punish me severely if I allow
anything but death to separate us!” When Naomi saw that Ruth was
determined to go with her, she said nothing more.'
Ruth 1:16-18

I love this story. I love that the Lord chose a widow from a despised enemy of
Israel to be in the DIRECT lineage of Jesus. Naomi had absolutely no reason to
Love the God of Israel, but she did.

God chooses ALL of us to serve him. In Acts 10:35 - 'In EVERY nation he accepts
those who fear him and do what is right. ' The Lord does not discriminate against nations,
peoples, or any other reason. IF WE CHOOSE THE FOLLOW THE LORD, in all our
sin and weaknesses, he will love us JUST AS HE LOVES his chosen people.

Our country is so divided right now and yet the Lord sees us all the same. Yes, he mourns
our sins and our denial of him. He wants nothing more than we come to him. He wants us
to make him our Lord. He wants us to follow his specific plan for life. He wants us to
search his word to receive the blessings of life. He wants us to accept his love right now
and to die with him so that we can meet him in our eternal home. He does not care where
we started our journey. He does not care what we have done before TODAY. He forgets
all of the past when we come to him. ALL LIVES MATTER, not just the chosen ones.YOUR
LIFE MATTERS. PRAISE GOD!!!!!!!!!

How GREAT is your life?

'This is the length of Abraham’s life: 175 years.
He took his last breath and died at a ripe old age,
old and contented, and he was gathered to his people. ' Genesis 25:7-8 https://my.bible.com/bible/72/GEN.25.7-8



This week marked the 19th anniversary of my fathers passing to his Heavenly home. My Dad had
a great life. He loved his Lord, he loved his wife, he loved his kids, and he loved his grandkids.
He worked hard when he was in retail and he worked just as hard when he led his congregations as
a full time pastor. His life was well lived. He was not perfect, none of us are. In reality, if any of us live
the life my father did, we would consider ourselves successful and completely satisfied. I am not
sure the world would consider my Dad's life exceptional. He was not a "PROMINENT" figure
even though he was loved and respected by so many people. By Biblical standards his life would
be considered Righteous as he loved the Lord and the Lord was the center of everything he did.

My Dad was not the father of Nations. He did live a life of righteousness through Jesus. His Life was
SO, GREAT.

Abraham was a righteous man. His life in
Genesis (Genesis 12-25) was spectacular?


You can certainly look to the near sacrifice of Isaac as an amazing act . It certainly is a pure act of faith.
It was spectacular. Although his Faith made him righteous, I am not sure this
act of faith made him a great man. I really think the single act that made
him a great man was him being chosen AND accepting the call of the Lord.
He never hesitated and never looked back. Yes, he had some times where he FORGOT the Lord.
He went his own way, without consulting the Lord, a few times.
He felt the consequences of those choices throughout his life. His relationship with
Hagar is the best example. Not only was HIS life thrown into turmoil
because of his choice to join with Hagar, the nations he fathered were also constantly at odds
because of this decision.

Abraham was chosen by God to begin a legacy of faith. He accepted and worked hard to live
the life he was called to. THAT MADE HIM GREAT. My Dad also was called.
No, he wasn't called to FATHER a NATION.
He was called to serve and bring people to a life of faith. HE ACCEPTED THAT CALL.
That is what made his life GREAT.

Stephanie and I have also been called to live a somewhat NOMADIC life of Faith. No, we do not
equate ourselves to Abraham and his life. We do have a great desire to learn more about the life of faith
we have been called. We do PURSUE the Lord each day.
We pray our choices will help others to see the power of Jesus.
We believe we are all called to serve the Lord. Many ignore that call. We don't want to miss
a moment of service to the Lord and can't wait to see what the Lord has planned for us.

Maybe YOU are being called to serve the LORD. Make your life great
by ACCEPTING the call of the Lord. Serve ONLY him. Pray for guidance
and then YOU will have the same GREAT life that Abraham had, that my father had,
and the Stephanie and I are not living!

DO IT TODAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Abraham, he wasn't that great!

I have made a commitment this year to DIG DEEPER into the scriptures. Besides my daily readings, I am also digging into the PEOPLE of the Bible. I finished Jonah, one of my favorites, and am now looking into the life of Abraham. I am so fascinated by this GIANT of the FAITH. I am also fascinated about what I DIDN'T KNOW about his life. I blame that on my Sunday School Teachers. Ok, I'm just kidding. Besides the cute song about Father Abraham having many sons,  I really did not learn much about his life. I think everyone learned of his blessing from the Lord. We also learned that he and Sarah were given a son when they were VERY OLD. We learned of God asking Abraham to sacrifice that son and then saving him at the last moment. But, as Paul Harvey would say, we need to know THE REST OF THE STORY.

The Blessing

If you are like me, you always think of Abraham as being a Rock Star for our faith. He was chosen by God. He was granted a special blessing:

He took him outside and said, “Look at the sky and count the stars, if you are

able to count them.” Then He said to him, “Your offspring will be that numerous.”

Abram believed the Lord , and He credited it to him as righteousness.

Genesis 15:5-6 HCSB

I mean that is amazing to be called by the Lord to be the FATHER of his special Nation. But, even more amazing than being called is WHEN he was called. In my early study, I was trying to find out how old Abram was when he was first called. What do we know of Abraham BEFORE he was called by the Lord.  I was reading a commentary by Chuck Swindoll who said he was called REALLY early in his life. In Acts, we get a hint of WHEN Abraham was called:

“Brothers and fathers,” he said, “listen: The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when

he was in Mesopotamia, before he settled in Haran, and said to him: Get out of your country

and away from your relatives, and come to the land that I will show you. Acts 7:2-3 HCSB

Chuck Swindoll shared in his book "Abraham:One Nomads amazing journey of faith", that Abraham was raised, most of his young life, in a town called Ur of  Chaldeans in Mesopatamia. He lived here before he traveled to Haran. Not to overstate the obvious, but there was no JEWISH faith at this point. As a matter of fact. Chuck Swindoll said, Abram, his father, and all of his relatives probably were worshipping the Sun God. They believed in many gods, not just ONE GOD. He would never have heard of "THE GOD" that we know today. IT is not like he heard about God from some Evangelist and said, "Yeah, this is what I've been looking for, I will follow God!"  God appeared to him, even though Abram didn't know the Lord! HE APPEARED to him while he was still a sinner, far from being a ROCK STAR in the Faith, worshipping some Idol. He appeared to him, told him to leave his home town, travel to a place he had no idea existed, and begin a journey with massive uncertainty. He was asked to do this by a GOD that he didn't  even know. Why did he decide to go?  We don't get the same message we got when the angels appeared to the Shepherds in Bethlehem. There was no "Do not be afraid" moment or a throng of Heavenly Hosts. We really don't know how God appeared to Abram. But I am guessing it was an amazing experience. He could have been in human form like he was when he appeared to Abraham later in his life or some other form. But, his appearance had a huge impact on Abram. He left and did exactly as God told him. It was clear to Abraham he was being approached by God and he was completely convinced to serve him. Wouldn't it be great if the Lord made a HUGE appearance to YOU?  Yes, and you know what? God WILL appear to you. It will be obvious and clear if you just give him a chance. If we sit back, call on the LORD, he will show up in a powerful way. I have seen him. No, I can't say I have seen him physically. But, there is absolutely no doubt in my mind how powerful God has been in my life. He has been with me. His presence is everywhere!

God knows. 

Long before Abraham was even Abraham, God knew. God knew who he was going to become. He not only knew Abraham was going to be the father of his chosen people, he knew that Abraham was going to mess up, often. He knew Abraham would still sin, even after becoming God's chosen one. He knew Abraham would have doubts. He knew he would lie. He knew he would make his own plans, outside the plans of the Lord. God knew Abraham had serious flaws. Yet, he still chose him and he chose him, not because he had a great track record going to church every Sunday. He didn't choose him because he gave his 10% every week to the church. He didn't choose him because he was a powerful, rich person. God chose Abram because He had faith in what he would become. Abram was not righteous because of what he did or even what he was going to do. Abram grew into Abraham and became righteous through his faith in the Lord.

"Just as Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him for righteousness, " Galatians 3:6 HCSB

Guess what?

This is not the only time God chose someone NOT worthy when he chose him. Paul is another great example. He was going around killing followers of Christ and yet God still chose him. God chooses you in the exact same way. He doesn't have some set of rules you MUST follow before he chooses you. He has chosen Stephanie and I to minister through CMA, not because we are some great fantastic people of faith. He knows our flaws, he knows our weaknesses and the mistakes of our past. Yet, he has chosen us. I am AWED by his faith in us. I am awed that he would take the risk. The fact that we are chosen to serve, drives us. It motivates us to draw closer to him and constantly search opportunities to be his hands and feet in this world. We are still weak, but we are growing. He has blessed us beyond belief and we feel he is challenging us to step out of our comfort zone and serve in more and more ways. But, you know what? It is not easy. Stephanie and I still have urges to DO OUR OWN THING. We pray together often, yet we get busy and forget. We read and study the Bible. Yet, sometimes we do it out of obligation and not through great desire. Our faith is not rock solid, and we are not as bold in our faith as we should be. But, God has called us. He is transforming us every day. We are not what we want to be, but are on a path today that is ONLY BECAUSE OF OUR FAITH IN THE LORD.

Trust me when I say, GOD WANTS YOU!  We are not special and he has called us. YOU have a future with the Lord. All you have to do is call on him, realize your faults, acknowledge those before the Lord and promise to be open to his guidance and direction. Abraham wasn't special before being called by the Lord. He was special because he answered the call. He took the step to follow the Lord and THEN he became a father of a nation. I'm not sure you will be the Father of a Nation. God may not make your relatives as countless as the stars. But, he has a unique purpose for you. He has SPECIAL things planned in your future. Take the step NOW and find out what those special things are. 

The rest of the story - Jonah!

If you spent any of your youth in Sunday School, you know all about Jonah. I think Jonah and I have a lot in common.   I HAVE ignored the calling of the Lord on occasion and I certainly have argued with him over the direction of my life. I guess God has given me a break by not having me thrown into the sea and he hasn't sent a BIG fish to devour me.

My Sunday school teachers always emphasized Jonah running from the Lord and him changing his mind after getting swallowed by a big fish. But, why was Jonah running?  As a kid, I always thought after Jonah went to Nineveh he lived happily ever after. My Sunday School didn't spend much time on the less spectacular part of the story.

 Jonah's reaction AFTER he went to Nineveh says a lot about his reasons for turning and
 running from his calling.

                     Jonah 3:10 When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil 
          ways, he relented and did not bring on them the destruction he had threatened. 

                    Jonah 4:1 But to Jonah this seemed very wrong, and he became angry. 2 He              prayed to the Lord, “Isn’t this what I said, Lord, when I was still at home? That is                  what I tried to forestall by fleeing to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and                  compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from              sending calamity. 3 Now, Lord, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to            live.”

Jonah didn't run from the Lord because he thought he wasn't up to the task. He KNEW how effective he would be and he knew the Lord would show mercy to this sinful people. He was MAD that these people were going to be forgiven! He wanted them to suffer for their wrongdoing. 

Are we any different than Jonah?  

My wife and I went to Peru this fall on a mission trip. It was our first trip outside our country. The conditions these people lived in were unbelievable. Their housing conditions, their financial status, and their lives were so different than our own. We went into an open market and saw STACKS of dead rotting fish being sold. We saw live "grubs" being sold as delicacies. We witnessed young children chasing flying ants to eat just like candy. It would be easy to claim we were so much more superior than these people. Our carpeted, 3000 square foot homes, our $30,000 vehicles, and our College Educations are so superior than their own thatched roof huts with no walls, there three wheeled "Moto-cars", and their lack of advanced education. Or are they?

In reality, when these people find the Lord, THEY REALLY FIND THE LORD. When they accepted Christ as their savior, their lives change and they devote EVERYTHING they have to him. In our country even many of the MOST devoted followers of Christ sacrifice very little for their faith. An "Evangelist" in Peru, travels into extreme hostile conditions to share the Gospel. He walks miles and miles to attempt to convert people whose entire lives have been devoted to witchcraft and have never heard of Jesus. They have no Bibles and most of the villagers can't read or write. The gospel has to be shared by word of mouth or more importantly straight from the hearts of believers. 

We are so much like Jonah when we pick  and choose who we share the gospel message with. We want to make sure we share the gospel with those WE choose. We often look for the EASY target and those WE  think are worthy of our message. Bikers often are not considered worthy because they are a hard sell. Many people view bikers as the lowest of the low. They detest their party attitudes. They misunderstand their brotherhood and they only look at the sin that may fill their lives. They are often shunned by the community. In turn, Bikers, are skeptical and suspicious because of the hypocrisy they see in the ranks of the followers of Jesus. They view us as self-righteous and fake. They watch us. Before we ever get the chance to share the gospel, THEY want to make sure our walk matches our talk.  They want to see OUR meaning of love. We don't always set a great example. 

I see so many churches put their faith in programs and activities to draw people to the church. They plan flashy services and hire talented entertainers to share the message. I don't see anywhere in the Bible where is instructs us to put together a concert once a week to draw people to Christ. The message is simple. It just says, GO! It doesn't say, SIT! It doesn't say "Build it and they will come". We are called:

                    "Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name            of  the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit." Matthew 28:19

As we near the end of 2019 and head into another year. Let's all commit to getting out into the lost and dying world. Get out of your comfort zone. Get out of you church pew and go into the world to share the Good News that Jesus Christ is the savior of the world!  The world needs Jesus and yes there may be many in your church that don't TRULY know him, there is a great big world out there that doesn't know Jesus at all. They need to take the FIRST STEPS to a relationship with him! They may never step a foot into a church and will only hear about him if you GO!  Be bold in serving your savior! 

Going can mean many different things. I choose to go search out Bikers. But, maybe God has given you a passion for Prison or Jail ministry. Maybe he has wired you to work with the homeless. Maybe he has asked you to help families in crisis, pregnant teens, or maybe you are called to go into your own neighborhood. Regardless, GO and serve the Lord. The Lord has called you to be his hands and feet at a time such as this!