New You Tube Video

Hey if you get a chance check out this cool new video from the Youth Transition Network.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G06GX1TfRGs

Let me know what you think about it and if you think it has some value send the link on to as many people as you can!

Thanks!

Do You Fear God?

Well do you?

If you don't you should!

God is to be feared. We do not like to say or hear these kinds of things nowadays but He should be. He is holy and we should fear ever coming into His presence. He is the ultimate judge. He is the one who holds the very fate of lives and nations in His hands. Why is it that we tend to not fear God?

First of all Christians in many ways have less to fear from God. For those of us who have accepted Christ as Savior (for more on that click here) we know beyond a shadow of doubt that our eternal destiny is secure. We know that we will spend the rest of eternity with god in Heaven. Yet we should also have a healthy dose of fear when we deal with God. He is still holy after all. For the non-Christian this fear is even more magnified. They lack assurance on their eternal destiny. They do not really know for sure what will happen when they die. Many have some confidence but there is always some lingering doubt.

Second, I think, because we live in a fallen (not perfect) world, our natural tendency is to only fear those things which can hurt us in the immediate future. We are not alone in this inclination. The Israelites struggled with their fear of God(despite his numerous acts of judgment) yet after only one act/pronouncement of judgment they feared Solomon (1 Kings 3:16-28). How is it that God's people could so easily stray from fearing the Almighty Creator of Heaven and Earth yet fear one of God's creation? How is it that we can easily not fear God but fear other people? How is it that we can avoid fearing God but be afraid of our teachers, our bosses and the government?

Something to ponder. :)

What Could Have Been

Saul could could have been the greatest King in the history of Israel.

I have never really thought much about Saul and why he had been chosen to be the 1st King of Israel. Scripture tells us that he was tall and good looking. In essence he had th outward makes of a great king. I also believe that he had the inward potential to become a great king. If he did not have the potential then God would not have chosen him. Unfortunately for Saul he also had the potential for great failure.

When Saul was anointed king he was supposed to be the one to deliver God's people from the Philistines (1 Samuel 9:16). Saul could see this and quickly gathered a great army (1 Samuel 13:2). Unfortunately Saul was not patient in waiting on Samuel(1 Samuel 13:8-13) and because of his lack of obedience he would never full end the Philistine threat. In fact, we read that the two nations where in conflict all of the days of Saul's reign (1 Samuel 14:52).

The brief synopsis of Saul is in great contrast to the story of David. David had none of the outward markings of a great king yet he was a man that was after God's own heart. David made his mistakes no doubt about it but in the end he was able to accomplish that which Saul could not, he permanently ended the war with the Philistines (2 Samuel 5:17-25). In essence, David took over the wonderful legacy that could have been Saul's.

I think many times we see this same pattern in the church today. Many people are being called by God to do many different task yet few respond. God's tasks are still getting accomplished though except many of us are missing out on the blessings that come from fully obeying God. Saul and his family were to be the ones to rule the land for generations to come instead they died on a battle field.

So the choice is yours. Are you going to be someone who unnecessarily dies on some battlefield or are you going to be the one who follows after God no matter what He calls you to do?

Faith Beyond Us

Some of you have heard this story before but for those of you who have not I hope you enjoy hearing a story about how God stretch our faith and trust in Him beyond that which we could ever imagine.

In August of 2006 my son Colin was stillborn. This was one of those moments in life that where you become so unsure of so many things. I was never unsure about God or that He was with me. I was unsure as to why he had allowed this to happen. Since then I have questioned nearly every thought or action I ever had with the pregnancy. In the end though I came to truly realize it was all out of my hands. One might have thought after this I would have been better at remembering that God holds life in His hands and that with His words He created all that we know as creation but some times I can be a slow learner.

Angie and I found out in September that we were once again pregnant. We had been hoping for this yet we were so scared of losing another child. Once we found out we immediately called the doctors office and they confirmed it all with some blood tests. All of the test came back normal and so we scheduled and ultrasound. According to our best guess on a conception date we figured the date of the ultrasound to be at about 6.5 weeks into the pregnancy. It was hoped that by this point we could see a heartbeat.

We were not able to see much of anything at the ultrasound so for some reassurance the doctor ordered some additional blood work to check the HCG levels. Based on the initial blood work the doctor figured the new hcg levels would be about 9,000. Needless to say the numbers were not nearly that high. The new hcg levels were only 3,000. This did give us or the doctor a lot of hope. In fact, Angie and I both felt like we had or would soon lose the baby. We were devastated. (This all happened on a Friday afternoon).

That night God really started to work on Angie's heart. He began to show her that we had started to rely to much on the medical tests and equipment and not enough on Him. We had taken the miracle of birth and life and made it into a science experiment. This idea was rather convicting for both she and I since we had always wanted to avoid this. We have seen this kind of perspective in so many Christians and we did not want to fall into that same trap. Unfortunately, we had.

Along with conviction came some insight in to what it really means for God to have life in the palm of His hands. He is truly the giver of life. Jesus is the one raised Lazarus from the dead. God is the one who created life to begin with and nothing is impossible for Him. Angie and I talked and prayed, prayed and talked until finally we came to the point where we knew that we had to simply trust God to give us a healthy baby no matter what the tests were saying. Along with this we did some research on hcg levels and we found out that it was possible that the 3,000 was not as bad of a number as we first thought. We also found out that if in 48 hrs that number increased to 4800 then we would be within normal levels for a healthy pregnancy.

Well Angie had a follow-up blood test on Sunday afternoon. So we began praying. We asked others to pray. Angie asked the elders (deacons) of our church to come and pray over her and annoint her with oil. For me I struggled with having the faith to simply trust God to give the baby life. I wanted to trust without reservation more than anything but I just could not seem to do it. No matter how hard I prayed I could never seem to do it. I guess I felt like I needed some sort of proof of how God was going to work in the life of this baby. This proof (or lack thereof) would come from the Sunday tests results.

Well Sunday afternoon finally came and we waited and waited and waited. We finally called the doctor to see if the results were in and they were having to recalibrate (or something like that) the machines. Well, the numbers finally came back and low and behold the new hcg level was 4800. The exact number Angie and I had been praying for. The doctor was not as encouraged as us but we felt like we were on cloud 9. God has proven faithful once again.

I have no idea if I will get to hold a perfectly healthy baby in my arms in May or not. What I do know is that God is forever faithful. I know that He does not will for us to have a miscarriage or stillbirth. I also know that since those Sunday numbers came back I have had no worries about what the future holds for this baby. God gave me the proof that I needed to be able to follow Him without reservation.

We have another ultrasound scheduled for a little over a week from now and we are looking forward to seeing some wonderful pictures of our youngest child. I look forward to posting a picture of two of the baby here soon.

Please feel free to leave your comments, stories, etc...

The Link between King David and Duct Tape

So what do you think the link is? (This is not a trick question, there really is a connection)

Before I answer this question I would to tell you a little bit about how I see King David. Scripture tells us that David was a man after God's own heart. I am so blown away by this description. What an honor to be seen in this light by God. This is how I see David. I look at him no so much as a great King but as man who made his share of mistakes but who also sought after God with great passion.

I think for David passion was the key. As I have looked over David's life I see two definite passions. The first is that of music. We learn from 1 Samuel that David's abilities on the harp were such that he was the one who was able to calm King Saul when he went into one of his fits. David did not learn to play the harp with this kind of skill overnight. I am not sure when started playing but he must have liked because he kept playing. This indicates to me a great love for all things musical. Later on in life we know for sure that he wrote a funeral song for Abner and created a temple choir. Because of this love of music many people believe David to be the author of many of the songs found in the book of Psalms. While I am not 100% sure if he is the author I do tend to think that the likelihood is pretty good given his known musical talents and abilities and his love of music. So what does all of this have to do with Duct Tape????

Well it is about passion. Many of you know that I love Duct Tape. I enjoy making DT clothing. I look for ways to use DT in my teaching lessons. I look forward to the day when God allows me to use DT in a sermon (Yes it has been done before just not by me). Some may laugh at this but I think my love of DT is something God has given me. I believe God has given each one us the capacity to have incredible passions. These passions can take any number of forms. In fact, I believe there are an unlimited number of passions God can give us. The key for you and I is to make sure that we use these passions in the right way. We must make sure that we use them for God's glory. For me and DT that has meant trying to use DT as means of making connections and building relationships with the goal of sharing Christ with people.

So what are your passions?
Why has God given you those passions?
What re you doing with those passions? Should you be doing more?

Do you understand that your passions come from the God who loves you more than you will ever know? If not, let me know so we can talk more about this.

God's Holiness

Have you ever truly considered what it means to say that God is holy? Have you ever taken the time to ponder how His holiness should affect how we relate to God?

I have been going through a Bible Study called Downpour. I meet with a group of men at 6:15 in the morning (hard to believe that I am up and doing a bible study at that time in the am) every Thursday to discuss the study and what God is teaching us through it. The basic premise of the book is that Christian typically fail in their understanding of God's holiness. It is more than just being different or separate from us. It is the kind of separateness that can literally kill someone when they come in contact with it. So this begs the question....How does (or should) this picture of God change how you approach Him in prayer and worship?

We must also consider how we are to balance this idea with what we find in 1 John 4:17 where we are told that we, as believers, we will have confidence on the day of judgment. In other words, we will not have fear when we come into the presence of God on the Day of Judgment. How is this possible? How is it that we will be able to stand in the presence of God's Holiness and not die much less have confidence even boldness?

As I have considered these questions the only thing I have come up with is that is because of Christ and his blood. His sacrifice makes it possible to have assurance and confidence when I consider eternity. I do not fully understand exactly how it all works all I know is that Scripture teaches us that it does. If you are someone who does not have this kind of assurance or you have questions about being a Christian I would love to hear from you. I would love to take some time and discuss with you more about God's holiness and Christ's sacrifice. You can reach me through email at bcm@ubcfellowship.com. For the rest of you please feel free to leave your thoughts and ideas on this subject.

Make Your Joy Complete

So God's word tells us that He will gives a joy and peace that surpasses all understanding. It will satisfy us more than anything here on Earth. Many Christians though do not experience this joy on a regular basis. There are a variety of reasons why this is the case for so many of us. This being said I think there is one area of our lives that we should all examine when we realize that we are missing out on the joy God desires us to have.

I John 1:4 tells us that when we share our testimony our joy can be made complete. I know in my own life when I am not telling people about God and what He has been doing in my life then I feel incomplete. So if you are not experiencing the peace and joy God promises you might want to ask yourself....Am I sharing with people the things I have seen and heard (1 John 1:3).