The Lov3 Experiment

Here are some truths about love that I have been taught since childhood.  

• A smile toward a stranger can change their day.
• The gift of time is one of the most costly and expensive gifts one person can give to another.
• Words of encouragement to a friend cost nothing but have a lifetime of dividends.
• Grace will teach, encourage, and motivate.

I rejoice when any one of the theses things happen to me and I'm even more blessed when I'm able to give some joy to another person on their journey.  Today I was blessed by one of my co-workers.  

You see I work in a contact (call) center environment for a fairly large corporation.  It was almost lunch time and a call comes through.  The person on the other end was looking for a supervisor but instead they got me.  They asked me if I would be able to assist them.  Thankfully I was able to assist them and I thought the interaction went well just as I had with all of the previous calls today.  Lunch time came and so I proceeded to go.  This afternoon is where everything changed.

My supervisor approached me with a document I needed to look over.  I looked it over and as I waited for him to leave he handed me our companies reward and encouragement certificate called a You ROCK award.  Printed on the document is the reason for the award.  The note mentioned the call from before lunch.  The very same call that if you had asked me about several hours later I would have trouble remembering because in my mind it was me doing my job.  Those words of encouragement from my co-worker, my supervisors taking time out of their day to present me the award WOW!  WOW!  WOW!  What an amazing blessing!  

What's the point?  So often I/we go about our day and the normalcy of 8 hours slips by without taking stock of all the goodness around us.  Please join with me.  Let's keep our eyes open to what God is doing and how He is moving gifts of affirmation and grace towards us and to those around us through us.

As a Christian and for my Christian brothers and sisters know this God has been intimately interested in your life since before your first birthday!

Ephesians 2:10 "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them."

Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope."

Time Travel: What is Your Target Part II

Thank you for joining me for Time Travel: What is Your Target Part II

Briefly, Part I was my attempted to define time from both a Biblical and non-Biblical view and at the end the conclusion was that everyone’s life on Earth ends (except for Jesus who rose again after being buried and his body guarded for three days).  Now I’d like to dive a little deeper into the “what’s next question”.  

The person who agrees with the Biblical definition of time knows that while time on Earth is limited, the time extended beyond earth goes on for eternity.  Eternity defined by Merriam-Webster as “infinite time”.  As humans who use planners and calendars it is hard to put this in perspective.  The emoji “mind blown” is what happens to me personally when I begin to try and quantify eternity. Biblically is the best way to think of Eternity.  You see God (The Trinity) created time and order. Before there was this order there was God and since the order and until the order comes to a close there will still be God in charge of all order and time.  The Bible in the book of Hebrews affirms this point.  Hebrews chapter 13 verse 8: “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever”.

So the obvious (to me anyway) next question is what’s next.  There are several answers to this question and this is where everyone as the human race that is begins to splinter away from the common denominator of birth and death.  The answer quite frankly is: “How do I live my life knowing that I have only a set amount of years, months, weeks, days, hours, minutes, seconds.  

The answer to the obvious question above is do you believe Jesus and his claims about who he said he is, namely God or do you not.  

If you agree and if you are doing so for the first time or have just recently began following Jesus and the Bible I would love to know about it.  Please send me a message from the comments or you can DM (Direct Message) me on Twitter @larryboy96.  

For those of you that are followers of Jesus and the Bible there are some amazing promises for you in the Bible.  For example, your citizenship from the moment you decided to follow Jesus was changed from that of simply being tied to Earth and moved to being tied to Heaven.  Amazing right!  Look at what Jesus said in the Gospel of John: John 14:2-3 “2 In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.”  

What an amazing promise!

Practically what does this mean?

It means that your citizenship has changed.  Look at the book of Philippians: Philippians 3:20-21 “20 But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.”  Those who follow Jesus aren’t waiting for death to claim Heaven as their address but rather they are living with eyes pointed to their savior and new home and all of the benefits and promises that come along with that new address.

For those who aren’t following Jesus they are staking all that they have on the address that is taped to their mailbox.  Now there aren’t any official promises or mottos but there is a fun attempt at making one for the post office: “Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds”.  According to google though this isn’t an official motto.  What does this mean. If I’m leaving as my only address is the one taped to my mailbox?  It means you can make up your life as you go.  No promises of goodness or friendship or even family that will last beyond the grave.  

If this blog is causing you for the first time to think beyond what will happen after you die I’d love to talk to you about what you think and I would be happy to provide even more document promises from the Bible about what life is like beyond the grave.

In the meantime I would like to give you the following things to think about.  

While there is a chasm between the person who doubts God is real or denies that God is interested in them, the opposite is true for the person who lives by faith (not seeing but believing).  Jesus has destroyed that chasm and brought healing and friendship between you and God!

Listen for the voice of Jesus:

John 10:27-28: “27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.”

Know and live out the Greatest Commandment:
Matthew 22:37 - 39 “37 And he said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment.  39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”  This becomes even easier to do as you read and study the Bible which is God’s love letter to you.

Additional Practical Living Tips in Light of the Good News!:
1 Timothy 2:15, 22: “15 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth., 22 So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.”
Hebrews 12:1, 2: “1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.”

When you have questions pray and ask God for answers and know this promise is for you:

James 1:5 “5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.”

Remember the chasm between you and God was never about your good work but it is all about a relationship built on faith;
John 15:12-15 “12 ‘This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command you. 15 No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.’”

Conclusion
The Bible (God’s Word to Humans) is clear; God is the creator of time, time is so much more than just your short life span here on Earth.
Eternity is coming and it is closer each day.
There are choices each day for how you want to live your life.  Will your perspective be limited to what you can see on the clock or will you pursue God in the Bible, choosing his eternal plan for you, beginning today without an expiration date?

Time Travel: What is your target? Part I

Time is something that has been on my mind a lot lately.

Recently our dog died.  My wife had surgery to repair a tendon after falling in a hole three months ago.  During both of these events the clock kept spinning.  It is funny because even as I type these words on Blogger I pause to reflect on the words I've just typed.  There isn't a pause button for me to hit so the clock continues to spin and that spinning isn't felt by you the reader unless I mention it here on the pages of my blog.  My point?  What is my point?  You must take it on faith that there is feeling in each and every word I put on this page.  Some words are more painful and difficult to type than others.  As you read this (I hope you read to the end) you will be bringing your own thoughts and experiences to this blog.  Maybe you have had similar experiences and if you have had some degree of those experiences I hope this blog gives you comfort in your time of grief and sadness.

Time.  What is it?

The first view of Time:  It is a fixed point or series of points that have been going on for centuries (some faith is involved here because no one I know or have even heard of on earth today was there when the first second, minute, or hour passed by on the clock).  The beginning and end are unclear and what you choose to do as the clock spins may or may not have any significant value for anyone other than you.

The second view of Time: It was constructed by the God of the Bible.  Realizing that maybe you haven't read the Bible or been given the Biblical view of God I will pause here and explain how God reveals himself in the Bible.  God is a Trinity.  God has three unique and separate persons in the same being.  God is Father, Son / Jesus, and Holy Spirit. God and all that he is and does will fill more space than Blogger would allow me to use and wouldn't do accurate justice to who the person of God is.  Please leave a comment if you would like to talk further about God and the personhood/personal God is.  References to God creating time are found in Genesis and the Acts of the Apostles:

• Genesis 1:5: “God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.”
• Acts 1:7: “He said to them, "It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority.”

So with that brief description of time,  why is it important to talk or think about time, especially if your mind is made up about time?  It is that very question that drove me out of blogging stagnation and inactivity.

Everyone who reads this text has something in common.  We (me included) is destined to leave planet earth. Mom if your reading this please excuse for my bluntness but we will all die.

• Ecclesiastes 3:1-2 “1 For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: 2 a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;”

Okay, so I've reached common ground with the human race.  We will all die, and where I needed to or not I've included a verse from the Bible to prove that I agree with the Bible here too.

At this point I'm going to break.  This is Part I of "Time Travel: What is Your Target".

Please come back for Part II of "Time Travel: What is Your Target.  In the second part of this blog we leave our commonalities behind us and we make choices.  Choices of how we will spend our ride here on planet earth watching the clock spin.  

Quotes

“Conviction is worthless until it converts itself into conduct.” - Thomas Carlisle

Thank you Julie Roys and Chris Fabry!

Thank you Julie Roys and Chris Fabry!

Passion can cause many results.  So many times, in my life passion about my ideals has caused me to be insensitive to the person I’m trying to share those ideals with.  You see a good discussion or debate is very exciting (to me).  It is for those reasons (passion and debate) the discussion that Chris Fabry (@chrisfabry) and Julie Roys (@reachjulieroys) recently had on Chris Fabry Live touched my heart.

You see their discussion centered around God, love, life, grace, law, and the future in an episode of Chris Fabry Live Titled Law and Grace at Graduation.
The reason for the discussion is timely and extremely relevant and the way they handled themselves should not be overlooked.  It is obvious that professing Jesus as their Lord and Savior and the display of their lives puts that truth in view for the whole world.  Examples of their love for both God and their neighbor include considering and giving light to how Jesus would have handled the subject matter at the center of the discussion.  Both Julie and Chris were respectful giving the other one time to speak their points. Both Julie and Chris genuinely wanted to hear what the other had to say on the subject at hand.  Praying together to end the episode.  Wow, thank you for displaying what a healthy Christian discussion looks like!

If you would like to hear the discussion please check out the recorded podcast of Chris Fabry Live on Moody Radio.

Get This Off My Chest || Spoken Word (+playlist)

Theology Matters

Theology what is it?  

Dictionary.com in their Cultural Dictionary defines theology as the disciplined study of religious questions, such as the nature of God, sin, and salvation.  That is some pretty heavy stuff!  I'm guessing if you are like me you may not have given much thought to theology.  That was me until I realized while casually sitting in my Connect/Sunday School class discussing different denominations and different religions.  You see being that there are so many expressions of what people call christianity as well as other religions like Mormonism, Catholicism, Islam, Judaism, etc... it has never been more important to know and understand what it is you believe.

Now you might still be dwelling on what I mentioned in the paragraph above.  Why in the world where they discussing other religions and not focusing on the religion they went to church to celebrate????  That is a great question.  We were discussing the Bible and specifically the book of Galatians chapter 5.  Galatians as a book is written to people who at one time believed in Jesus alone as their Savior.  What I mean is that the believers in Galatia proclaimed that there wasn't anything they could do to make their relationship with God (the God of the Bible) close or right. They needed a savior and the depended on Jesus' perfect life and sacrificial death on a cross as the payment needed for their offence against God.  Fast forward to when the book of Galatians reaches them and you will find that there was a group of people who were saying yes that's right you do need to believe that Jesus death and resurrection is a great start but you need something in addition to that to finish the job.  In the time the book of Galatians was written the specific issue was that of circumcision.  But fast forward 2000 years and it could be anything anyone wants to add to Jesus finished work on the cross as an add on.

Jesus plus religion isn't good news.  You may have heard the Gospel of Jesus called the Good News of Good.  The Good News is simply this.  God did what was necessary for people to be brought into a right relationship with Himself all by Himself.  There isn't anything any of us can do to add or make Jesus sacrifice better or more complete.  Face it, it doesn't matter when you began to look for God in your life, I'm willing to say that you weren't born seeking after Him.  How many of us looked to test what our mother, father, or adult figure wanted for us in our early life.  Why do you think it would be any different on a spiritual level.  If anything, it would be even harder to want and turn to God because you can't reach out and touch Him or interact with Him as you would another human.  And that's the point.  As a Christian the Good News is just that as a matter of Faith. 

As you read this I'm not sure who you are specifically or where you go to church or if you go to church.  I want to encourage you though.  Whatever you are currently doing or not doing know why you are doing it.  Don't take what I'm saying as the last word on Christianity or anyone else for that matter or if you are a Muslim, Mormon, or Jew know why you believe what you do or you may find yourself in a compromising when asked what it is you believe about Theology or how you define studying God.