Hope

This is a poem that I found in my stuff and I'm not sure where it came from. Unfortunately for me I believe I copied it from somewhere, it meant the world to me at the time. It is several years old but still true today.

God I'm Sad
I know
I'm so depressed
That's why I gave you sunshine
My life is hard
That's why I gave you loved ones
God I hurt
I know
My loved one died
So did mine
I feel so lost
I saw mine nailed to a cross
But yours is alive
So is yours
Where are they?
Mine is on my right and yours is in the Light!

Update: I finally found where this poem came from, it was posted on the wall at the Oklahoma City bombing site many years ago and was written by K. C. and Myke Kuzmic and not me.

Blood

Huge white columns line the vast chamber. A man is dragged across the floor and thrown before a white throne; blood flows deeply from the wounds that cover his body. A crowd shouts for his execution but no fault is found. Innocent yet condemned. Soldiers in Roman attire surround him and mock him. They spit on him and strike him with their fists. Twenty-nine lashes across his back and a robe is wrapped around him. A crown fashioned from long thorns is crammed onto his head piercing his scalp. The crowd is in a frenzy for blood. So much blood. The scene blurs to a hill and the man is being laid on a cross. Long steel spikes are driven into his wrists and feet bursting arteries and veins. The cross is lifted and dropped upright into a hole. Agony washes over the man’s face. The whole scene; three crosses on a hill, the sky is dark and blood flows deep red down the poles of the crosses. Perception zooms in on the man in the middle. Although the pain appears unbearable and the blood running down his face is thick; the man looks into the eye of the dreamer and says, “This blood is for you.”

An Introduction to the Character of Paul

One of my favorite Authors in the bible is Paul. God chose him as an apostle because of his zeal and his way with words. He truly had a knack for taking the Old Testament scriptures as well as the facts about Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection and putting them together in a way that people both then and now could relate too. He even used sarcasm quite a bit, which is another reason I like him.

Let me give you a little history on Paul. From the book of Acts we know that Saul (who later became Paul) was a Pharisee and he was very zealous for the Lord. Saul knew the Old Testament scriptures very well for he had probably grown up in the synagogue. He was a man that was on fire for the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Now we also know that he was a persecutor of Christians before his conversion. You see, Saul was convinced that those preaching Jesus as the Christ were guilty of blasphemy. They were saying that Jesus was the son of God and therefore He was equal with God. That was considered to be blasphemy if it wasn't true, and by the law of Moses given in

Lev 24:16 And whoever blasphemes the name of the LORD shall surely be put to death. All the congregation shall certainly stone him, the stranger as well as him who is born in the land. When he blasphemes the name of the LORD, he shall be put to death.

Saul stood watching in approval as Stephen was stoned to death. Saul was convinced that he was doing the Lord's work. In fact he was on his way to Damascus to squash the Christians there as well. But he experienced a Revelation instead, didn't he? Jesus stopped him in his tracks and said basically..."What are you doing Saul? You're persecuting me, Jesus the Son of God." Saul hit the ground from the power of Jesus. He knew at that moment that he goofed. Instant change of heart, Saul says "What do you want me to do Lord?"

And this is the part I love. Jesus sends him to the very people he was looking for to take prisoner. Now Saul shows great faith by doing what Jesus told him to do. But the greatest faith in this story comes from Ananias. He was a Christian in Damascus and they all knew why Saul was coming to their town. But God tells him to go see Saul and at first Ananias says "Are you serious? That guy has been destroying your saints left and right and you want me to go hang out with him?" But Jesus says "He has been chosen to suffer for my name's sake and to take my message to Gentiles, Kings, and the children of Israel."

Although undoubtedly still scared somewhat, Ananias does what he is told through faith in Christ and he goes and baptizes Saul.

So Saul becomes Paul and this great messenger for Christ and from that moment on he gets to be on the other side of Persecution. But he endures because of his faith.

Let the Fire Burn

The sky was a shade of soft, light blue. The sun shone brightly, but hung low in the southern sky and offered no warmth. An icy wind roared across the flat ground of my front yard. It sliced through the layers of clothing I wore and bit into my skin. Its icy tendrils burrowed their way into my bones and made my body ache with discomfort. I could feel the skin of my face creak as I squinted at the bright comfortless sun. The harsh winter day attacked me but there was work that needed to be done outside, so I endured.
Able to take the bitter cold no longer I ventured inside for some hopeful relief. As I entered the door to the house, heat welcomed me pleasantly. I stepped to the wood stove and leaned my back against it. Waves of heat enveloped me like a soft hug. The warmth flowed up my back and the cold began to flee from my spine. It almost seemed to scream as it succumbed to the power of the heat. I could feel remnants of ice down my neck but they slowly faded to nothing. My body, once very tense from bearing the cold torment, now relaxed in the warm embrace.
This picture is not much different from our relationship with Jesus Christ. The cold icy outdoors is the world. It attacks us constantly trying to break our resolve as followers of Christ. The ways of the world get under the skin and try to set up in our bones, but we must endure. The warm comforting heat is the Holy Spirit, sent to us by Jesus when we accept Him into our life. Here is the difference though...For us the fire comes from within. You see, we are supposed to be the wood stove. The fire of the Holy Spirit burns from within our heart if we allow God to use us as such a vessel. When the world seems cold and unforgiving, Jesus envelopes us with the power of His love and sets the Holy Spirit fire anew inside us. As with the cold I described above sometimes it takes a little time for the remnants of the world to be overpowered by the fervent Heat of God. As a song from Casting Crowns says, "It's a Slow Fade when you give yourself away."
Jesus of all people knew this world was cold and unforgiving when He walked the earth. He brought nothing but love and kindness to all He encountered. Instead of thanking Him we nailed Him to the cross. But He rose from the dead to give us hope that one day we might do the same, but for now we must endure this world. But Jesus promised in John 14:16 that He would send us a comforter, and on the day of Pentecost that promise was fulfilled. The Holy Spirit descended on the Church and dwells among those who invite Him in. Jesus made another promise in John 14:18, He said He would not leave us as orphans, and that He would come for us. One day, perhaps very soon, Jesus is coming for us and with Him comes the gift of eternal life for all who believe. The bible says in 1 Corinthians 15:51-57 that when Jesus comes back and the trumpet sounds the dead in Christ will rise and we who are alive will be changed. This corruptible will put on incorruptible and this mortal will put on immortality.

"Death is swallowed up in victory...But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."

My friends and family be at peace, this world may be unforgiving but our God and Savior is not. Become an instrument for the Holy Spirit fire and remember that fire spreads if you don't try to control it with your own intentions. LET THE FIRE BURN!!!

Heart Burn

Image Created by Horrid Bruce.

Nostalgia can be Dangerous

The smells of wood smoke and coffee permeate the air of our house. Looking out the window, I see a cold fall day. The trees have lost their leaves, the sky is gray, and a light drizzle falls to the ground. Along with these sensory inputs, my mind is awash with images of my dreams throughout the night, dreams of days gone by. I close my eyes and suddenly I am back in Oregon in the middle of the mountains pouring myself a cup of coffee in the living room of the house my wife and I built. Nostalgia sets in and I long for the freedom of living in the middle of nowhere with no one around and nothing to do but live. My eyes open and I am once again standing in my kitchen in somewhere Indiana. Reality floods in on me. Responsibilities loom overhead like the clouds of the sky. There is so much to do everyday here; and yet such a lack of motivation or enthusiasm at times. Depression threatens but then a realization hits me upside the head like a V8 Commercial...Jesus is my motivation. He is the provider of all things for us: financial, educational, spiritual. The devil would have no greater satisfaction than to see every Follower-of-Christ overwhelmed with the responsibilities and worries of life in this world. However, we have victory in Jesus from worry. This does not mean that life is perfect and easy when following Christ; it simply means that life is an adventure both in easy times and hard times.

I long for the time when my wife and I thought we were free to live our own way in Oregon. Unfortunately, by longing for the past I cannot move forward. As long as my mind wishes I was back there it cannot see the great things that lie ahead here where God has brought us to now. God is moving and when we long for the past we get stuck there and we are unable to move forward with Him. Free will is the greatest gift God gave to us and it is the greatest gift we can give back to Him. We can chose to cling to former times that we perceive to be better than where we are now and ignore where God wants to take us. Or we can commemorate the past in our hearts by learning from it and then chose to live for the future. We can chose to follow Christ where ever he leads. If we chose to stay in the past we are destined to miss the future. I realize that I cannot experience now if I am stuck on then.

Tribute to an Innocent Man

An innocent man stands before a crowd. They scream and yell at him, calling for his execution. He has done nothing wrong, committed no crime, yet his fate is sealed. Now high on a hill they drive nails through his flesh into the boards of his cross and then raise it in the air. As his blood begins to drain from his body, the man thinks back to the life he led; a life of ministry, of love, of helping and healing the very people that condemned him to death. Hanging on that cross slowly dying, He lifts his head towards heaven and, of all things, he says “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” Forgiveness, he asks God to forgive the people who crucified him. In essence he said “This Blood is for you!”

This story is probably familiar to everyone here whether you believe it happened or not. It is the story of Jesus’ sacrifice for each and every one of us. But it’s not the whole story. Whether or not you choose to believe in Jesus’ life or what happened after his death is irrelevant, the fact is, Jesus died on that cross and 3 days later He was resurrected into a glorified body. He then spent time with his disciples and finally ascended to heaven. Believe them or not these are the facts.

Jesus led a fairly short life, about 33 years, and his personal physical ministry was only 3 years. However, after his death and resurrection a movement came out of Israel by his disciples and spread throughout the world; a movement of hope for the future and love for one another.

Jesus’ teachings have survived the test of time and they change more lives everyday than one can imagine. He taught two simple ideas. One is to love the Lord God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength. And the other is to love your neighbor as yourself. The word neighbor refers to the whole human race, regardless of color, gender, or sexual orientation. Jesus Christ is an equal opportunity Messiah.

It was these teachings, although kind and loving, that inevitably led to his execution. It seemed that He was too nice and the people loved him so much that jealousy arose in the church leaders and they sought to kill him. What was it about his ministry that people found so offensive? Today we have seen a rise in this trend of being offended by Jesus once again. His name has been X’ed out of Christmas, the holiday devoted to his birth. His image has been pushed aside and replaced by Santa Claus. On the day of his resurrection we see the image of a mythical egg laying rabbit instead. It is not even politically correct to wish someone a Merry Christmas anymore because the word Christ might offend them. I say that if Jesus offends you then you need to search your soul because that is not offense but conviction pulling on your heart.

Jesus was innocent, he had committed no crime and no fault was found in Him; yet he was slaughtered none the less. A man whose life was devoted to helping and loving others and he was executed for it. But remember, whether you believe it or not Jesus is alive today and his message is the same, hope and love. Ten years ago when I graduated from high school, I was on a path to destruction down the highway of drug and alcohol abuse. My life had no direction and no purpose my only goal was for my next buzz. Then, one day I found Jesus and his ministry came into my life. Now I have been drug free for 7 years, I have been happily married for 8 years, I have 2 wonderful kids, I survived 7 months in Afghanistan, a year in Iraq, and I’m finally in college where I should have been 10 years ago. All this is thanks to Jesus Christ, the sacrifice he made, and his ministry that continues today.