Original Love

The Original Lover of You and Me!

There are many thoughts this February 14, 2014 about Valentines.  In this text you won’t learn about the history of Valentine’s Day but rather His Story as it relates to you and me.

Did you know that before you were born God’s love letter to us states that He knows how we are formed?  Psalm 103:13, 14 proclaims that God was there for us loving us as a Father and that He the Triune God: Father, Son, Holy Spirit remembers how we were made.  Why???  Because He formed us and put the Breath of Life into our mother’s womb.

At this point you might be saying “Great” He was there from the beginning but I have to tell you the last few days have been really difficult and I’m not sure that He is still with me.  Another wonderful promise from God’s love letter to us the Bible communicates what Jesus said and is still saying today: “"Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”  The GREAT NEWS is that God hasn’t went anywhere.  God is a GENTALMAN and He is waiting for us to ask Him into our lives so that He can give us REST for our SOULS.  Now, I do have to add a disclaimer.  Your external circumstances may remain the same.  In the same love letter God tells us that this life will not be easy and that we should expect hardship but the internal peace and joy you will experience will be limitless!

Is this the first time you are reading this truth about God and His REEDEMING LOVE for you?  Then let’s take a moment to review the essentials.  I mean let’s face it you not going to marry someone before the first date.  You’re not going to sign up for a dating service without reading all the fine print.  Well are you???  I sincerely hope that you go into each relationship with your eyes as fully open as you can.

Now before we begin it is important to know who we are meaning God, me, and you. 

First, God is fully three persons; Father, Son, Holy Spirit.  Each has their own distinct personality and attributes.  Come to think of it, God was perfectly pleased before the creation to be in the presence of Himself.  God loved us sooo much that He didn’t leave His creation namely humanity alone but rather He sent the God/Man Jesus.   The Bible in the Book of Romans chapter 5 verse fifteen explains that Jesus was fully man and that through him the grace of God is available to all men. 

Second, Jesus died a very, very cruel death.  Imagine, Jesus’ clothes stolen, he was beaten, wearing a thorn of crowns forced to carry a wooden cross up a hill where then stakes were driven into his body so that he would be able to hand from that cross where in the minds of the executioners and judges he would breath his last breath.  It is important not to overlook the point that this is God fully God and Man who chose to be on that cross so it wasn’t the nails that kept him on that cross it was his love for you and me.  No longer would people be asked to make a yearly sacrifice to God in order to remain in relationship with Him.  As Jesus said from the cross; “It is finished” and that statement can be found in the Book of John in the nineteenth chapter thirtieth verse.

Third, O how everyone was surprised the third day after Jesus death on the Cross.  The tomb where he had been laid to rest was empty!!!!  Yes, Jesus was gone.  No you might ask, isn’t this where God leaves His creation?  Absolutely not, in fact, Jesus has made breakfast for Peter and some of His other followers on the beach.  This truth is found in the Book of John in the nineteenth chapter.   Amazing, I don’t think I’ve ever eaten breakfast with a previously dead person.

Forth, Jesus did return to Heaven, but He promised the Holy Spirit, the Comforter.  It is because of the Holy Spirit lives in a person who has committed to believe and follow Jesus that we can be encouraged.  And this is really where the rubber hits the road.  You see if you believe all that we have discussed in these four points but you choose not to follow Jesus and His words as they are recorded in His Bible then you will not be counted as a person who loves him.  Think about it.  When you are single and you like someone you don’t continue to like that person on a deeper level unless you are in communication with that person.  The same is true with our relationship with God.  It only works when we are in relationship with Him.  I will say it again.  Being a Christian, follower of Jesus, means you are in relationship with Him not the aloof, see you some time relationship but the kind of relationship where He is the first person you want to speak with in the morning and the last person you want to speak with before you go to sleep.

As I wrap this post up, my hope and my prayer for all those who read it is that they will be encouraged.  Encouraged to either walk more closely with Jesus as they are reminded all that He did for them personally or that as a person who has never heard this before you are interested in praying to God asking Jesus to be the sacrifice you needed to be close to God once and for all.  Now if you have made that choice, please, please, get into contact with Jesus’ family.  What is that family, those are people just like you who have trusted in the Bible and Jesus as the only way to God.  Not adding one thing like a catalog requiring you to do countless things after trusting in Him and committing to follow Him.  So, contact me, I would love to rejoice with you on your new life and commitment, in addition to helping you find a place where you can be with other people who will celebrate and encourage you also.

Color Your World

Writing in Marker Instead of Pencil

How many people have you had contact with today?  Do you know?  More than likely if you were out of your living space you have interacted with more people than you think.  Scratch that thought, if you are on any type of social media platforms you can raise the number of people you interact with in a moment’s notice without leaving your home.  So, in your life are you writing in permanent marker or pencil?  It makes a great difference. 

“What difference does it make?” you might be asking yourself.  In my mind there are no such things as random or chance meetings.  Yes, I believe that there is a reason for each and every person in your life today.  Acknowledging them, simply glancing at them, having a conversation in an elevator with them, cutting them off in traffic, or living with them makes no difference you have left a painted their life.

In the first example you may have been crossing the street and as you are going east a person is coming toward you going west.  Did you smile, keep a straight face, give them a look of indifference?  Let’s go back to your time on the elevator today.  When you saw the door open and someone either left the elevator or joined you on the elevator.  What was your expression then?  Were your arms crossed in a sign that denotes you are deep in thought so please don’t bother me?  Or were you open glancing giving the other person a smile?  Moving in traffic, where you either cut someone off by accident or intentionally or maybe the situation is reversed you were cut off by accident or intentionally.  What was your body, facial, spoken language at that time?  And finally, maybe you live with someone who leaves for work before you do.  Likewise, they may go to school, no matter where they were going what was the interaction like?

In all of the above examples, writing in pencil means that the interaction can be as easily forgotten as it can be remembered.  Writing or better yet coloring in permanent marker gives us each the opportunity to help that person have a better day filled with grace and love or the opposite might be true.

This question resonates with me in a fantastic way as I write to you today.  Several times my life has been colored with beautiful colors.  For example, my wife and I have been engaging with a new church after having moved many miles.  The people have been great the colors so vibrant I would like to call them family instead of just people in my life.  In addition, today my wife was in the hospital today.  We were met with many different people of different professions.  From the greeters, the administrative staff, nurses, and doctors.  Again our lives were colored with very vibrant colors.  Our lives are better for having them in our lives and our experiences were much better of course as you might expect. 

In all of these interactions, I am left in awe of a God who created the Universe and who cares for you and me and puts people in our lives for a reason. 

Color in vibrant permanent marker you will find that those around you will be left with a beautiful picture and the colors will even spill on to your canvas and you will be left with a beautiful picture as well.

The most important person I've met!

The Character & Nature of God

Theology.  What is it?  Theology is the study of God. 

My wife Mary and I have been married since 1996.  Through the years we have gotten to know each other pretty well.  As an example today we were talking to someone about names.  I was apologizing to someone for having called them by a wrong name.  They were very gracious and said that’s fine they will answer to almost anything.  In stereo, Mary and I chimed “Just don’t call you late for dinner?”  Yes, we can finish the one another’s sentences and at times thoughts.  While this is true of Mary and I it will never be true of my relationship with God; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as the Word of God clearly states in Isaiah 55:8.  We can through God’s Word the Bible begin to understand who He is and what His nature is.  I’m going to point out an event and use a story that Jesus told to illustrate God’s character and nature.

First, God’s desire for humanity has always been fellowship.  Please recall the events in the Garden of Eden.  God created Adam and stayed with him until a helpmate was created in Eve.  After the two were created God walked and talked with them.  You might remember Adam knew it was God who was looking for him after he and his wife had compromised their promise not to eat of the Tree of Life.  That knowledge or realization would only have been possible because there were other times Adam had heard God and he didn’t run from him.  God continues to desire relationship with Him and while we won’t hear Him walking down the street we can hear him through the pages of the Bible. Those who read the Bible and seek God with their whole heart will find Him.  In addition, God gives the reader grace, peace, and hope as only a true and intimate friend can.

Second, God is truth and understanding, you can call Him the Light because lies and corruption don’t stand a chance where God is present.  God continually shows humanity who He is with parables like the wayward son.  To summarize the son described in this story isn’t happy living at home.  His father is a man of a lot of money.  The son says, “Hey dad, I don’t want to wait until you die to get the money you will leave me.  Can you give me the money now and by the way, I’m going to split and check out what the world has to offer.”  It breaks his heart but the father gives the son what he has asked for in both money and freedom to leave.  Isn’t that God?  God allows things to happen, even those things that break His heart in order to further develop our relationship with him.  You may remember after years of living in quote unquote freedom the wayward son returns.  He know knows all the ways that the father has loved him and he is ready to become his servant because he knows he has failed miserably as a son.  The father rushes out of the house not letting him even get to the door and celebrates his return.  The good news is that God does the same for those who return to him after their try at freedom.  God wants to have a genuine relationship with humanity.  God knows that time outside of his presence will bring pain and heart ache, but he also knows we will not fully comprehend that unless we are allowed to stray.  So, does God wish us all to stray in order to have a deeper relationship with Him?  No, No, and No again I tell you.

Think about all the comforts we forgo when we choose to live a life outside of God’s presence.  Just like the wayward son who ran out of his father’s resources and found himself broke and without hope for his next meal, we too are broken and without hope of a life after death without God.  In addition, we pick up mud and grime as we walk away from God.  As mentioned earlier God is light and no darkness is found in Him so God cannot allow us to be dirty in His sight.  Think about it.  Let’s say you just cleaned your favorite spot whether that is your room, home, car, or office.  Some who just stepped through sewer smelling mud walks in and wants to have a conversation.  Our first response is going to be “Go was up and come back when you’re clean.”  That is God’s response as well.

If you have been reading this and know that you have been places that God could never be and you are smelling the consequences of those travels call out to Jesus.  Jesus took the judgment on the cross for all of humanities wayward walks from Him.  Jesus is the only way back.  Jesus is the path and the light that the wayward son found to get him back to his father.  Likewise we can find our way to the Heavenly Father through Jesus sacrifice on the cross and the teachings that are found in the Bible.

In conclusion God is a gentleman.  He will allow us to make mistakes and He is willing to take us back when we are ready to commit to him completely.  Just as the wayward son was ready to live in the riches of his father’s house and disown all of the traps of his life outside of the home when we come to God ready to live in His house under His guidance (the Bible), and forget about all the other traps this world has to offer then relationship is restored.  The great news of the Gospel is that we return to fellowship in this life but also in the one to come. 

Not convinced?  Please I urge you to take time to do Theology.  Spend time reading God’s Word the Bible and talking to Him via prayer.  It is something all of us including this writer can do more of in order to take full comfort in the relationship I have with God; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Modern day Garden?

Is it possible to re-enact the Garden Experience from Genesis 3 again in 2014?

Do you think it is possible this modern day of 2014 to relive the Garden experience as Adam and Eve did?  I think the answer may surprise you.  Yes, as it happened to me last night and each time I’m confronted with a choice to do the right / healthy option or to pick one that isn’t.  Let me describe to you what happened.

I spent the day enjoying the Word of God at church through preaching, teaching, and worship.  It was really a wonderful day.  Then it happened.  I was literally not a few feet away from the wonderful experiences of the day when I was confronted by a box of cookies.  I must confess these weren’t ordinary cookies.  These cookies were fresh from the store chocolate chip cookies.  The box of cookies in and of themselves were a harmless sweet treat.  So what went wrong????

You might remember in Genesis 3 Adam and Eve were walking through the Garden when they came across the one tree that God had told them not to eat of.  What were they doing so close to it?  Why were the cookies in my house?  And then it happened.  Adam and Eve took their mind off of God and began to examine the possibilities.  It didn’t help them that along with this really great looking fruit there was the Serpent.  The Serpent asked them to hedge around the truth of what God had commanded.  “You will not certainly die” from verse 4.  The cookies while they are sweet will not make you unhealthy, you may need to do a little extra walking that’s all.  The cookies are so small and tasty.  Just like Adam and Eve the minute I took my eyes off of God and the truth which is more than a serving of cookies really will make me unhealthy I had hurt my relationship with God.  You see I believe that God knows everything.  That my present and future are in God’s memory.  That being said I forfeited the closeness with God by finishing the box of cookies last night. 

Now you might be thinking, Larry, that is really said.  Are you worried about God being mad at you?  Taking away your health?  Striking you with lightning at any point today?  The answer is no.

How can you be so confident that you haven’t ruined your relationship with God forever?  There is only one reason, and that reason comes by way of my Savior Jesus Christ.  You see I’m not perfect.  I will try not to hurt my relationship with God by eating too many cookies again but the truth is I might.  And the disobedience that God sees in me has already been dealt with on the Cross at Calvary.  You see when Jesus was on the cross God put the penalty of my disobedience on him.  If I were to die today and stand before the almighty God and was asked ‘Larry, why should I let you into heaven?’ the only answer I can give is that Jesus paid the price for me.  Romans 5:8, Romans 3:25, Hebrews 2:17, 1 John 2:2, and 1 John 4:10.

As you read this today I hope you’re not shocked to find out that I’m not perfect!  But instead I write this to you as an encouragement.  It might not be cookies that have caused you or someone you know to lose sight of God.  Truthfully it doesn’t matter what it is.  But as I’ve said this should be an encouragement to you.  Please if you haven’t done so please confess your disobedience to God, tell Him that you would love to start over, to have a mulligan, and to experience re-birth.  Acts 4:12  I’m not sure how it happens but I do know that when we confess our sin and admit to God that Jesus is the only way back into relationship with Him we are granted the Holy Spirit to come live in our hearts and minds and nothing is the same.  All past, present, and future disobedience has been paid for by what Jesus did on the cross.  You and I are finally free to live by the Holy Spirit and seek after what pleases Him.  

No Detail Escapes His Eye!

Amazing & Wonderful is my God!

For those in and around Chicago land this weekend you know that we saw some snow fall.  Snow falling by itself is a beautiful thing.  It is clean and damp and will on it's own clean off your windshield.  Through in some street dirt and other things from the cars on the road and your window can get pretty dirty.  Imagine that dirty window for a moment and then reaching for the windshield wiper button to dispense the windshield wiper cleaning fluid.  Now let's leave the world of make believe for a moment and that is where you will find me Sunday morning.  I was traveling down the road pressing the windshield cleaner button and nothing came out.  Not even a bubble from where the cleaning solution had once lived.  I immediately became nervous because it was becoming increasingly more difficult to see out the windshield.  Just then I saw the sign for a gas station!  I pulled in and was thanking God for this oasis and thinking I would soon have a clean windshield again.  As I exited my car the empty shelves of windshield wiper cleaner stared at me head on!  I wasn't worried because I hadn't yet checked the inside of the station.  I went inside and more empty shelves where windshield wiper cleaner should be looked back at me.  The sinking feeling in my stomach was back.  I went up to the cashier and asked if they had any more windshield wiper fluid left.  He looked back and said I think there is some at the end of this isle.  I went back and found one remaining bottle of windshield wiper fluid.  A peace that I couldn't understand began to settle over me and while I didn't hear the audible voice of God I know doubt felt his peace and began to sense his telling me, "Larry, I know the future right now seems a little unclear but trust me.  I can provide windshield wiper fluid when there doesn't appear to be any so imagine what I can do with the other issues in your life."  God knew exactly what I needed, not only did I need the windshield wiper fluid when I began driving again but I needed to know that I was still being taken care of.  This is what makes my relationship to Jesus so much different than any other religion I have read about.  I know for sure that my God and Father knows my name and my every need.  I just need to be willing to call out and wait on him for He has my very best interest in mind!
I hope this entry is an encouragement to you along your journey.  You to can have this peace when you find yourself in a relationship with Jesus Christ.  

Community by Design

Y Small Groups?

I.                    Biblical Background: God is the inventor of small groups

a.      Family: It makes sense that the God of the Bible and universe who created the first people Adam and Eve could have established a similar pattern for beginning of life.  It is entirely possible that God could have allowed us to be placed on earth instead of being born to a mother and father.  Go back to a time when fertility meant that a man and a women must be together in order to have a baby. God is purposeful.  God made sure that family a small group is the way that humans are introduced into the world and from there are to grow, in all areas of physical and spiritual development. 

b.      New Covenant Examples:  God himself chose to introduce humanity the use of a small group/human family by way of Joseph and Mary.  While Jesus was conceived not of Joseph but by the Holy Spirit his physical development began in Mary’s womb. 

c.       Calling of the Twelve Disciples: Each of the 4 Gospel accounts of Jesus life recall the establishment of a small group of 12 people along with Jesus (Matthew 4:18-22; Mark 1:16-20; Luke 5:2-11; and John 1:35-42).  As Jesus went about his ministry we find these twelve men.  They were being taught a new way of life.  They were taught that two loaves of bread and fish could feed a crowd of 5,000 people.  The found out that spending time with tax collectors, prostitutes, and others who were the outcast of society desperately needed to be in community so that they could be restored to God.

d.      After the Resurrection in the Upper Room: Jesus appeared to those who waited for him in the Upper Room after His crucifixion.  Jesus’ students gathered there in the Upper Room just as just as they had while they were sharing their last meal with Him.     Mark 14:12-26; Matthew 26:17-30; Luke 22:7-23

e.      On the Beach:  Here we find Peter and his fishing friends going back to what they knew before Jesus.  They were on a boat fishing.  To illustrate the importance of community the God of the Universe, Jesus, makes the men breakfast.  He talks to Peter and encourages him.  In fact Peter is restored.  It was less than 24 hours earlier that he had disowned Jesus and wouldn’t confess that he knew him.  John 21:12-17

f.        Pau’s interaction with Small Group Community:  Saul who would later be called Paul was helped just after his conversion to Jesus by a small group as he recovered from his blindness.  Acts 9:19

g.      Paul continued to encourage and begin Small Group communities:  Evidence of how important community is to God can be seen in the instructions communicated by Paul to people like the church in Corinth.  Leaders like Timothy, were instructed on how to handle disruptions in Small Groups for the encouragement and betterment of the community.

II.                  Personal Experience with Small Group Community

a.      Now that we have taken a very brief look at the Biblical examples laid out in Scripture I would like to personally share my history in Small Group communities. 

b.      I began to follow Jesus in 1997.  It was through an experience I had called Beach Reach.  Beach Reach is a ministry where groups of college aged believers go to minister at the most populated Spring Break cities.  The ministry included van rides at night to ensure the safety of the spring breakers who were there.  In the morning breakfast was passed out free of charge to those who may have spent all of their money getting to their Spring Break destination.  As God worked around those people and the friends I had travelled with to Panama City, my heart began to soften to the realization that I had never trusted Jesus and his sacrifice on the cross as the payment required by God for my sin.  In addition, this was my first contact with a Small Group community of believers in Jesus. 

c.       God continued to put me in contact with wonderful believers who at their core where Jesus followers and committed Small Groupers.  I have to confess though that over the past few years I had forgotten the importance and the blessing of Small Group community.  I began to live my Christianity isolated from community and it has hurt my growth in Jesus.  I’m very happy to say that God in his faithfulness has brought me back full circle.  He has shown me again the importance of the Small Group Community.  God has given me a peace with his people that is very seldom if ever found in isolation.  Why you ask?  Because God never intended for the Christian to live in isolation.  I am able to encounter God in a deep richness through community.  As Rick Warren in the Purpose Driven Life stated plainly, this life is not all about me.

d.      Small Group Community must be sought intentionally by the Christian.  If you are not purposeful about reaching out and allowing others to reach you then by default you are choosing isolation.  As Jesus stated in scripture you are either for me or you are against me. 

e.      I encourage anyone reading this but especially to those who rely on Jesus for salvation.  Rely on Jesus to continue to grow you through the relationships he brings into your life through community living.  Your life will become richer than you can imagine!

f.        To God be the glory, he is always making away for the wayward.  “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” -2 Peter 3:9

Pre-Party Jitters

I can remember as a child my parents hosting several parties.  Much went into the party before the actual event occured.  For example, there were several check lists that were created.  Party supplies needed to be purchased like food and decorations.  The house needed to be straightened and every item in the house needed to be put in it's place.  Homework needed to be completed.  Everyone had a task to complete in order to make the party successful for our guests.  Whew, I'm sure there are things I'm forgetting that went into the party preparation but you get the idea, there was work to be done.  

Part of my responsibility to ensure a successful party was to clean/straighten our home.  Even this task was broken down and jobs were assigned to each member of our home.  One of my responsibilites was to clean the my room and our bathroom.  One or both of my parents would go to the store to pick up the necessary supplies for the party while my brother and I attended to the jobs at home.

Ready, Set, Go!  Our parents were out of the house.  Now my brother and I knew about how much time it would take for our parents to drive to the store, go through the isles, pick up items, check out, and finally drive home.  Between my brother and me, I always wore a watch.  I would make a note in my mind of when my parents left our house and then the toughest decision needed to be made!  Do I begin cleaning and taking care of my responsibilites now or do I watch the clock and begin cleaning just before I know my parents are to arrive back home????

As believer in Jesus Christ I don't have the same luxury I had as a child.  Yes, there have been assignments given out to the body of the church.  And just like my early family life I have been given specific tasks that I must do.  These tasks range from encouraging my brothers and sisters as long as it is called today as well as helping to take care of the building God has given us to do our ministry.  The difference is I cannot look at my watch in order to guage when Jesus will return.  I must be about the business He has given me on a day to day, minute to minute basis or I won't be ready.  What a huge problem that would be.  You see, unlike the days of my childhood where my parents would discipline me for not doing the tasks I had been assigned in the short term, not doing what God wants has eternal reprecutions.  For this reason we must take what Jesus said in Luke chapter 12 serious.

        

        Luke 12:35-40 35 "Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning, 36 like men                   waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks they         can immediately open the door for him. 37 It will be good for those servants whose master finds             them watching when he comes. I tell you the truth, he will dress himself to serve, will have them               recline at the table and will come and wait on them. 38 It will be good for those servants whose               master finds them ready, even if he comes in the second or third watch of the night. 39 But                     understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would           not have let his house be broken into. 40 You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will             come at an hour when you do not expect him."

Friends, brothers, and sisters, let's live and work together knowing that Jesus return is closer today than when he left earth the first time.