Boastful people drive me crazy!

I will boast about a man like that, but I will not boast about myself, except about my weaknesses. (2 Corinthians 12:5 NIV)

What a great verse! I hear so many people brag about themselves. In education, part of our evaluation process is bragging about what you do. It's not a place to be humble. I always feel uncomfortable sitting in front of my evaluator talking about how great I am. I guess in that situation you have to do dome bragging. Yet, I know teachers appear to enjoy bragging. They view themselves as the greatest thing since teaching began. I see there posts on social media saying what great and cool things they are doing with their students. In fact they are good teachers. Yet, why do they feel it's necessary to boast like that. What ever happened to a humble spirit? Even a statement like "I should get teacher of the year...." in jest, is not what I consider humble. Politicians do the same thing. They can never admit their faults and do everything to share their "wonderfullness". Social media provides a tool that many use to build themselves up and to tear others down, If you have to tell someone of your greatness, you're probably not that great! I am confident that we are all sinners and fall WAY short of the glory of God!

Boasting about someone else is another matter. It is good to build others up with words. We need to be careful that it is deserved and not hollow praise. It's the same things with your kids. Give praise, "where it's deserved", to your kids. Praise Godly behavior, praise serving others, praise sacrficial giving, and praise hard work are all great with our kids, and others as well. My best advice, boast on others, keep praise for yourself inside your heart.

Dear Lord, help me have a humble spirit. I will boast on you and on other a Godly people. I will keep my self pride in check because I realize, I'm not that great. I am a sinner, I have rejected you on many occasions. I am embarassed to say how truly weak I am. Yet, I love you more and more each day. You are awesome Lord and I praise you for your wondeful grace and patience with me.

You get to choose!

But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” (Joshua 24:15 NIV)

This is one of my favorite verses in the Bible. It is great common sense advice. As a Christian, I'm not here to FORCE  you to follow Christ. If this doesn't sound like the God you want to serve, don't. You need to shoes for yourself. Everyone chooses to serve a god. Even an atheist who Denys the existence of God, follows his own god. Most worship themselves and they consider themselves gods, in control of their own life. They have a doctrine that puts humans at the center. Some people worship gods like the early Greeks and Romans. They have a different god for all things, winter, summer, work, etc. Some follow a doctrine of doing good, they serve others, and are great people to be around. Many of these people go to church. They "believe" in God, but haven't made the commitment to turning all life over to him.

We all worship something. We make religion of our political beliefs, our science theories, our work, our recreation, and our families. Our beliefs include nothing about God.  You can choose. You have the choice. The God I serve has made it that way. That's the irony of ll this.God has designed and granted the very freedom used against him. I recommend you look hard at what or who you serve. Who or what is your God!? You need to go all out serving that go. Don't give that god your second best. If you worship your work, you better dump your family and concentrate on your work, if you believe in the nothingness of life after death, live it up now with all you can. If you believe there is no right and wrong except what is controlled by you, sit down and make sure you know what that is and life life exactly to those beleifs.

In the end, I have chosen to follow God, the one God that sent his son to earth to die for me and my sins. I choose to believe in a single creator of the universe. I choose to believe in the God that sent his word, his plan for our lives in the book we call the Bible. My wife, my kids, my grandkids, and those that are members of my house, we choose to serve that God. Let's compare lives. Let's just compare if that would be possible. But, it's not possible, because my life will continue and yours will not. As for me and my house, we will serve The Lord!

Wordless prayer!

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. (Romans 8:26 NIV)

Have you ever closed your eyes or bowed your knee in prayer only to lose the words? Or have you moaned your way through a plea for Gods intervention? I have, so I can truly relate to this verse. The amazing aspect is that God is pleading with us in prayer to God himself., "but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans." If I understand the trinity, God and the Spirit are one. God himself then actually pleads with us TO HIMSELF! I'm not sure I can fully fathom this, but having the creator of the universe as a partner in prayer is always a good thing. In order to have that kind of relationship you must develop it long before the need arises. Although it's never too late to turn to God, in order to be instep with him in prayer, you need to know him deeply. 

My goal is to know God deeper. I want to not only know his thoughts, but be his hands, feet, and voice in this troubled world. It will take time and effort on my part to build this relationship. I can't just do it on Sunday or religious holidays. I can't just depend on my own understanding I need to enlist the help of God himself in building this oneness. My advice to you, do the same. Don't  waste any more time. Tonight, meet with God, open your heart to him, be silent and listen, begin to develop the best relationship of your life. Study his plan. Talk to him all the time, plead with him, fight with him, praise him, laugh with him. If you do all these things, when it some to a time where you just don't know what to say, he will speak for you!

Science vs Faith

so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power. (1 Corinthians 2:5 NIV)

I have written on my views about this on other occasions. This adversarial relationship between science and faith is ridiculous. I love science. I love the pursuit of knowledge. I love the pursuit of God! I can love science and love God and not compromise my faith. I completed a study from Dr. Sproals that helped me clarify some of my own thoughts. I'm by no means an expert in any of these areas of faith or science. BUT, I DO HAVE AN OPINION based on my limited knowledge!

The controversy between science and faith really centers around two main theories, although there are others. The Big Bang Theory and Evolution seem to be huge battleground topics. The Bible  does not say how God created the Earth, it's great to pursue the knowledge of that process. I think the pursuit helps prove the existence God. If you believe in the theory of the Big Bang, that created the existence of life, what is it that blew up? Where did that come from. We can not prove the creation of something from nothing. Science hasn't and can't prove HOW THE STUFF THAT BLEW UP CAME INTO EXISTENCE, it has no answer for this thought. I do -- it's God!

I believe in Evolution! I know my conservative Christian friends are cringing. What I don't believe is that we descended from Apes. I do believe that the outward appearance of man has changed over the history of humanity, I can call that evolution. I don't dispute the existence of Neanderthal man or prehistoric man. I may disagree with some of the theories we attribute to our prehistoric brothers and sisters, but our thoughts, our appearances, our skills, our entire existence has changed over the years. Did we have an ape like appearance? Yes, and who cares. I think we look like apes right now! I don't think that's a game changer. That is indisputable. But, we did not descend from Apes and there is no proof of it. The theory takes the information we have as fact and extrapolates that to the origin of man. It's a theory. But, we can't dispute the human race has evolved in many different ways over the centuries. Our skin color, height, over all appearance, and our intelligence has changed, evolved. Why are we so threatened by this. Could God have designed it this way? Could God have designed the evolution of birds, fish, and other animals? Why not? I am not intimidated by evolution. A big part of evolution is the age of the Earth. Somebody is right and somebody is wrong. I, again, don't see this as a game changer. It doesn't change the Bible. It doesn't change my belief in the infalible word of God and the truth of Christ. 

We get so caught up in minutiae. I want my science friends to pursue the truth in science, in evolution, in creation of the universe. They are going to be wrong sometimes and will be right as well. My faith friends also need to pursue the truth through their relationships with Christ. I hope that I have friends that are pursuing both at the same time!

God created the universe and the mysteries it holds. He designed it this way on purpose. He designed us to be curious, to seek truth, to have an insatiable desire for knowledge. He wants us to pursue it with all of our being, because eventually it will lead us to him. That is the real goal. He just wants to be with us. It's exciting to read a great mystery novel. It's just as exciting to try to unravel the mysteries of our existence. Life is exciting because God designed it that way. Praise God!

My inner voice!

keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. (1 Peter 3:16 NIV)

How could anybody speak against someone's good behavior, let alone speak maliciously? But, when it does happen I need to battle the urges to get even. It is confidence in yourself, but more importantly confidence in Christ, that allows our heads to be held high even through verbal harassment. I have found if I listen to my inner voice, my conscience, the voice of the Holy Spirit, I can come out on top when dealing with my critics.

My actions under duress speaks more to my faith than any thing I do. My response to tense relations will make even the strongest enemy take note. I'm not sure I've ever gotten to the point where my response "shamed" an enemy, but I will always be cautious of my words and actions with those that choose to persecute me. I will think be for I act.

It just affirms how much we are on display as followers of Christ. We are placed under a microscope and our lives critiqued by those who are not brothers and sisters. Do I live up to their standards? Can anyone? The goods news is we have only one standard to uphold. That is the standard of Jesus Christ. God has gifted us with a conscience to help us follow those standards. We may choose to ignore the message of that inner voice from God, but it is placed there for our benefit. 

Thank you Lord for your love and the protections you give me. Thank you for the gift of the Holy Spirit and  the help it provides. I want to follow your plan, even in my weakness. Thank you for your love through persecutions in all forms. Guide my actions and my words through this wondeful life. May I be a blessing to those around me! Amen!