Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Saturday, February 11, 2012
Sermon: Love unconditionally
February 12th, 2012
Sermon:
Love Unconditionally
Matthew 5:27-30
Matt 5: 27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Do not commit adultery.’[a] 28 But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. 30 And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.
Eph 5: 21 Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.
22 Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.
25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her
I Cor 13: 4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Last week we talked about avoiding lust, and guarding our hearts, this week we will talk about why we must do that. We are talking about the value of marriage.
1) Jesus is very serious about us protecting ourselves from illicit relationships. This passage is loaded. It is harsh. It catches you a bit off guard on the first read. With the loose morals of the day in which Jesus lived, this would have really made people sit up and take notice.
eyes and hands are important
repeats phrase twice
consequence of not heeding advice is hell
2) We can see from these passages that when Jesus talks about marriage, he is thinking about his bride, the church. For those who have a low view of marriage, and what it means, this passage sends a clear message. Marriage is a big deal to Jesus, and is to be protected, even if it means great cost to the individual.
3) Jesus sets the example for how we are to love, by loving us, his bride. What does that say about how we are to love our brides (and our grooms). How are you doing? How do you measure up?
4) NO OF US MEASURE UP.
5) Marriage is a very humbling experience. Nothing brings out our weaknesses, and underlines our failures like marriage. If we are going to fail as individuals it is seen here first, and if we are unwilling to humbly face our faults, they will destroy us.
6) But, in a bigger picture, this is not about our ability to follow the law, it is about our ability to accept grace and forgiveness. Remember that the point of Jesus overall teaching is not that we must make ourselves follow the law, but that we must receive righteousness, by faith in him. And that he who began a good work in us will complete it. If we have accepted Jesus, we have imputed righteousness (we wear his Righteousness), but our actions are slower to catch up, and we must grow into our righteousness.
7) We are holy, but not yet holy.
8) This does not mean we get a free pass. The Bible says we must fight against temptation, and keep our eye on the goal and run the race, and throw off the sin that so easily entangles us. We must struggle with everything within us to follow his example (not out of law) but out of gratitude.
9) Obedience is rooted in TRUST. Do you trust that following God's word is the best way to live? We become obedient as we daily surrender to His will, and this requires that we trust what He is telling us to do. We can not obey Him with our full hearts if we do not trust that the direction He is leading us is truly the best. And to be sure, our culture is doing everything in its power to convince us that God's ways are boring and pointless, and too difficult.
10) What simple strategies do you use to keep your marriage strong? Are there things we can learn from each other? What have you seen others do that worked?
Saturday, February 04, 2012
Email I received today from Kristan Hawkins: Making sense of the Komen v. Planned Parenthood Drama
Dear Friends,
As many of you know, this week Planned Parenthood announced that the Susan G. Komen for a Cure Foundation was cutting it's funding to Planned Parenthood. Susan G. Komen grants make up about 1/20th of 1% of Planned Parenthood's annual funding. As you probably saw, Planned Parenthood went ballistic and launched a mafia shakedown campaign against the Susan G. Komen Foundation. Because they are under congressional investigation and their own President, Cecile Richards, has even admitted that 2011 was their worst year ever, they went on attack because Susan G. Komen pulled funding. And this morning the Susan G. Komen Foundation released an ambiguous statement which has confused everyone. We will not know for a few months whether or not Susan G. Komen has caved into the pressures of Planned Parenthood or not, but it looks like they have. But here is what we know: 1) Susan G. Komen alerted Planned Parenthood that would not renew their funding for Planned Parenthood. However, they admitted they will continue grants to 3 Planned Parenthood locations in low-income areas in the mean time, until other community organizations location could receive the funding. 2) On Wednesday, Planned Parenthood released an emergency fundraising appeal announcing that the Susan G. Komen Foundation would no longer fund them. As you probably saw, a mafia-style shakedown has been raised by Planned Parenthood. Planned Parenthood asked businesses to withdraw funding from Susan G. Komen and asked donors to no longer give to the charity. Simply put, Planned Parenthood told Komen "either give us money or we will destroy you." They were aided and abetted in this hostage taking by the mainstream media. 3) This morning, the Susan G. Komen Foundation issued a statement saying they apologized for the way Planned Parenthood had been treated and will re-evaluate their grant process and "continue to fund existing grants including those to Planned Parenthood." 4) We don't know what this means. We do not know if this means that Susan G. Komen will simply fund those 3 locations they mentioned previously until they find an alternative replacement or if they have caved in to the pressure of Planned Parenthood and will continue funding the abortion Goliath. 5) Planned Parenthood has held women with breast cancer hostage. They have launched a mafia-style shakedown just like they did when the state of Indiana voted to de-fund them. If you remember back a few months ago, they successfully worked with the Obama administration to threaten to withhold all federal medicaid funding to the state of Indiana (money that pays for the healthcare of those who cannot afford it) unless the state re-instated their funding to the abortion Goliath. So, this is what you need you to do: We need you to immediately contact Susan G. Komen (news@komen.org) and tell them not to cave and give into Planned Parenthood's bullying. Tell Komen that their organization should not be aligned with an organization like Planned Parenthood, which is the largest abortion provider in the country, because it is a proven fact that abortion causes breast cancer. (Go here to see the studies that prove the link: http://links.causes.com/s/clALyj) Friends, I promise to keep you alert of what is going on. Please pass on this message and spread the word via e-mail and social media today and this weekend by sending this link: http://links.causes.com/s/clALyz. Also, on a personal note: my grandmother suffered from breast cancer, and I am deeply committed to finding an ethical cure for all cancer. However, I will not be donating to the Susan G. Komen Foundation until we know for sure that they haven't caved to Planned Parenthood's bullying and are not giving one dollar to the abortion Goliath.
Thank you for all that you do for Life,
Kristan Hawkins
Executive Director
Students for Life of America
Monday, January 30, 2012
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Saturday, January 28, 2012
Sermon for tomorrow
sermon for tomorrow 1 What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? 2 You want something but don’t get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. 3 When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.
4 You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. 5 Or do you think Scripture says without reason that the spirit he caused to live in us envies intensely?[a] 6 But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”[b] james does not mince words. the reason for fighting is that selfishness and rebellion against God. why are there fights because you fight because you do not get what you want. so you will do all kinds of crazy things to try to get your way. we even start to pray crazy prayers with the intent of getting God to do what we want him to do
but instead if we would ask God...and what are we to ask for? From the LORD's Prayer
May you receive glory
Thy kingdom come
Thy will be done
Give us our daily bread,Forgive us we give forgiveness,Lead us not into temptation then we will understand that god has a purpose for our life, and he mostly wants us to trust him. so the question i have today is, what will we ask god for? dont give me riches, i may forget you gave it to me. dont give me poverty, i may be tempted to steal. instead give me just what i need
do you remember the story of the Israelites making their way through the desert. every day they got manna. just enough for that day, except on friday they got enough for friday and saturday.
and if they tried to store up more, it would get ruined. we can learn so much from this as a church.
God gives us each out own path to walk. Sometimes we think it would be more fun to walk someone elses path. We get jealous. Like a two year old. rules for toys If I have it, its mine
If I was playing with it earlier today, its mine
If I put it down, and you pick it up, but I still want it, its mine
If you are playing with it, but I want it, its mine The problem comes when we apply these rules to adulthood. If I have it, its mine,
If I had it at any point in my life, it should still be mine
If I give it away, and want it back, its mine
If it belongs to you, but I really want it, its mine. I deserve it. So then we pray twisted prayers - dear God, I really want that...give it to me. God doesn't answer, so we take it a set further we turn to the world. and in so doing we become enemies to God. That is what James says. To be friends with the world is to be an enemy of God. I read a quote this week. We no longer plant churches in America. We create worship services. And a friend added "we don't even plant worship services, we create entertainment centers." How do we avoid this? We recognize that we are fighting a battle. A battle that begins inside. We want something. Sometimes it is even a good thing. But God withholds it, so we get mad. We pout. We stomp. We get grumpy. All the while we are not realizing that God has put us here for a reason. There is a lesson to learn. And if we will humble ourselves, and pray that his will would be done, then the situation we are in becomes bearable. It becomes a place of joy and peace. We root out the bitter root, and begin to experience the deeper life we all long for.
Church is a place not to be entertained, but to experience God, to enter his presence. When we come in with that attitude, the differences between us are no longer a big deal. God calls us to unity. Let us ask him to lead us.
4 You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. 5 Or do you think Scripture says without reason that the spirit he caused to live in us envies intensely?[a] 6 But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”[b] james does not mince words. the reason for fighting is that selfishness and rebellion against God. why are there fights because you fight because you do not get what you want. so you will do all kinds of crazy things to try to get your way. we even start to pray crazy prayers with the intent of getting God to do what we want him to do
but instead if we would ask God...and what are we to ask for? From the LORD's Prayer
May you receive glory
Thy kingdom come
Thy will be done
Give us our daily bread,Forgive us we give forgiveness,Lead us not into temptation then we will understand that god has a purpose for our life, and he mostly wants us to trust him. so the question i have today is, what will we ask god for? dont give me riches, i may forget you gave it to me. dont give me poverty, i may be tempted to steal. instead give me just what i need
do you remember the story of the Israelites making their way through the desert. every day they got manna. just enough for that day, except on friday they got enough for friday and saturday.
and if they tried to store up more, it would get ruined. we can learn so much from this as a church.
God gives us each out own path to walk. Sometimes we think it would be more fun to walk someone elses path. We get jealous. Like a two year old. rules for toys If I have it, its mine
If I was playing with it earlier today, its mine
If I put it down, and you pick it up, but I still want it, its mine
If you are playing with it, but I want it, its mine The problem comes when we apply these rules to adulthood. If I have it, its mine,
If I had it at any point in my life, it should still be mine
If I give it away, and want it back, its mine
If it belongs to you, but I really want it, its mine. I deserve it. So then we pray twisted prayers - dear God, I really want that...give it to me. God doesn't answer, so we take it a set further we turn to the world. and in so doing we become enemies to God. That is what James says. To be friends with the world is to be an enemy of God. I read a quote this week. We no longer plant churches in America. We create worship services. And a friend added "we don't even plant worship services, we create entertainment centers." How do we avoid this? We recognize that we are fighting a battle. A battle that begins inside. We want something. Sometimes it is even a good thing. But God withholds it, so we get mad. We pout. We stomp. We get grumpy. All the while we are not realizing that God has put us here for a reason. There is a lesson to learn. And if we will humble ourselves, and pray that his will would be done, then the situation we are in becomes bearable. It becomes a place of joy and peace. We root out the bitter root, and begin to experience the deeper life we all long for.
Church is a place not to be entertained, but to experience God, to enter his presence. When we come in with that attitude, the differences between us are no longer a big deal. God calls us to unity. Let us ask him to lead us.
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Live Like an Alien - sermon for tomorrow
My goal is to write in this journal 7 days in a row. Jan 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27 Tonight I am writing my sermon for tomorrow.
13 All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. 14 People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. 15 If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them. The question is: What does it mean to live as an alien or stranger here on Earth. Big mistake we make is living as if this is all that matters. Our perspective narrows to this life, and sometimes even more narrow to just me. I am all that matters. If I am happy, then life is good. If I am not happy, then life is not good. But this is not the Bible's view on material possessions. Sometimes when preaching about "things," a preacher may take one of two extremes. 1) All material possessions are evil. 2) All material possessions are blessings from God. Neither of these is correct. It is not evil to have material things. May people in the Bible had material things. It is also not evil to deny yourself material blessings. Jesus was homeless. John the Baptist at locust and honey. My personal journey has gone through several phases. a) material things should not be sought.
b) material things are neutral, neither evil or good, and therefore, owning nice things is good, savings is bad - live for today
c) Living without savings is stupid - God gave us a brain, we should use it.
d) The more you have, the more you can give away. Blessed to be a blessing.
e) live simply, give generously recent lessons. 1) contentment/I want better for you. There are things about which I want better, but God says, be content with what you have.
There are things about which I am content, but God says, I want better for you. 2) Impermanency of life.
Buddhist monks make elaborate sand paintings and then they bring in a broom and sweep it all away and start again. Most of us say...what a waste... but it does two things. a) it shows us that nothing is permanent. b) we recognize that the process is more important than the outcome. I disagree on a few levels. 1) God does not want us to waste our lives. 2) Detachment for the sake of detachment is not the goal. 3) God is concerned with both the process and the outcome. It is just that the outcome is not always seen here. "They did not receive the things promised."
How do we develop a healthy sense of impermanency?
http://zenhabits.net/crutches/ reasons for the junk in our life 1) security - fight fear with information, you know how to survive
2) self image and self worth - learn to love yourself as you are
3) Memories and holding on to the past - live in the present
4) love - its not in the thing, its in the giver of the thing
5) possibility for improvement - live in the present
6) comfort - things are not able to fulfill emotional needs
7) Procrastination - take it a little at a time
8) Excitement - gathering equipment for future fun - you can have fun without the "toys"
13 All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. 14 People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. 15 If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them. The question is: What does it mean to live as an alien or stranger here on Earth. Big mistake we make is living as if this is all that matters. Our perspective narrows to this life, and sometimes even more narrow to just me. I am all that matters. If I am happy, then life is good. If I am not happy, then life is not good. But this is not the Bible's view on material possessions. Sometimes when preaching about "things," a preacher may take one of two extremes. 1) All material possessions are evil. 2) All material possessions are blessings from God. Neither of these is correct. It is not evil to have material things. May people in the Bible had material things. It is also not evil to deny yourself material blessings. Jesus was homeless. John the Baptist at locust and honey. My personal journey has gone through several phases. a) material things should not be sought.
b) material things are neutral, neither evil or good, and therefore, owning nice things is good, savings is bad - live for today
c) Living without savings is stupid - God gave us a brain, we should use it.
d) The more you have, the more you can give away. Blessed to be a blessing.
e) live simply, give generously recent lessons. 1) contentment/I want better for you. There are things about which I want better, but God says, be content with what you have.
There are things about which I am content, but God says, I want better for you. 2) Impermanency of life.
Buddhist monks make elaborate sand paintings and then they bring in a broom and sweep it all away and start again. Most of us say...what a waste... but it does two things. a) it shows us that nothing is permanent. b) we recognize that the process is more important than the outcome. I disagree on a few levels. 1) God does not want us to waste our lives. 2) Detachment for the sake of detachment is not the goal. 3) God is concerned with both the process and the outcome. It is just that the outcome is not always seen here. "They did not receive the things promised."
How do we develop a healthy sense of impermanency?
http://zenhabits.net/crutches/ reasons for the junk in our life 1) security - fight fear with information, you know how to survive
2) self image and self worth - learn to love yourself as you are
3) Memories and holding on to the past - live in the present
4) love - its not in the thing, its in the giver of the thing
5) possibility for improvement - live in the present
6) comfort - things are not able to fulfill emotional needs
7) Procrastination - take it a little at a time
8) Excitement - gathering equipment for future fun - you can have fun without the "toys"
Friday, January 20, 2012
Monday, January 16, 2012
Friday, January 13, 2012
Wednesday, January 04, 2012
The heavens proclaim His glory
Be content with what you have! There is beauty all around; in the smile of a face of a child, in a snow flake, in a song on the radio. How is it that we become so blind? Why do we doubt God's faithfulness, and His goodness?
Monday, January 02, 2012
Keep it simple
Yesterday the sermon was from Hebrews 13:5. (paraphrased)
Keep yourself from the love of money
Be content with what you have
Because God has said,
I will never leave you or forsake you.
This week, I hope to keep it simple by return to those truths.
My golden retriever knows how to keep it simple. willow is all about chasing a ball. This week I am chasing a ball too. Six words on the ball: BE CONTENT WITH WHAT YOU HAVE.
Friday, December 30, 2011
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Prayer request
please pray for James Salazars grandma. She fell today. Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
Monday, December 26, 2011
Saturday, December 24, 2011
Advent Devotional for today - from the perspective of the shepherd
A promised gift Some gifts are unexpected. Some gifts surprise us. I am a small man, with small thoughts. Simple thoughts. I don't have big plans. I don't get a thrill out of power or money or stuff. I just try to live a simple life. I work hard. I pay my bills. I do my best to lend a hand to those who need a little help. I do my best to stay out of trouble. I don't go looking for the spotlight, and I certainly don't consider myself to be elite by anyones measurement. I am just a simple guy. That is what makes it so crazy. So unbelievable. Why would angels come to me. Why would God send his Heavenly host to talk to a bunch of shepherds. To announce to me the birth of His son. The birth of the messiah. Certainly the messengers were supposed to go to Jerusalem. Perhaps they got lost. There is no way they mistook us for royalty. We were in a field, not a palace. And we were watching sheep, not tending to the affairs of government. You really can't make this stuff up. Imagine what it was like for me. What were you doing for most of this week? Maybe sitting in a office. Or Perhaps you were running errands, or getting in that last minute shopping. Imagine, if this last Wendesday night, as you walk out of store, with your dog food in the cart, and all of a sudden the sky opens up and in front of you is an Angel of the Lord proclaiming to you that there is a new King, just born, in a garage in Lakewood. And as soon as that Angel stops, an entire army of Angels start singing. It was the craziest thing. Why would God choose us. Why would he send word to us. To be honest, I did not have much time to think about why. You see when someone comes from Heaven to tell you to go somewhere and see something, you go and you look. And that is what we did. We went, and low and behold, there was the baby just the way the Angel's said it would be. But not at all as you would expect. I guess as I reflect on how God works, it lines up with my own life. So many promises of God have been fulfilled, and yet fulfilled in the most unlikely fashion. God promises he will care for us. He promises that he we protect us, and watch over us, and lead us and guide us, and He does! He does! But if were to script it, would you expect Noah to float to safety, with a pair of every animal onboard? Would you expect Old man Abraham to have a son? Would you expect Joseph to go from rotting in jail, to chief of staff in the Pharaoh administration? Would you expect the stuttering Mo-mo-mo-moses to demand the release of an entire race of slaves? How about the battle plan given to Joshua - march and sing, march and sing, blow trumpets on three, 1, 2, 3! And the walls came tumbling down. That is how is was. All my doubts. All my questions. All my thoughts of how crazy those old stories sounded. Those walls between me and God came tumbling down. As I looked in that manger, and I saw that baby, I knew it was true. I knew the whole thing was true. We all long for that. We all long for a moment of clarity. And once we get it, it changes everything. If God is real. If his promised gift is real. Then God has given us his very best. And as the joy wells up in our hearts, what can we give in return? What will we do? The very best thing we can do is to give Him our hearts. I know this is hard. Our hearts take a pounding in this world. We trust in people, only to be let down. We "put ourselves out there," only to be hurt, abused, forgotten or ignored. So when I say that you should love God, that you should trust God, that you should live a life of complete abandonment, following God, loving Him with all your heart and mind and soul. I know you may have doubts. I know you may think it too good to be true. I was just like you, till I walked into a barn, and saw God's promised gift. Trust me, its true, and if you give him your heart, he will never, ever break a promise.
Friday, December 23, 2011
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