It's Time to Listen

"The first duty of love is to listen." - Paul Tillich

This past week I took a step back and I observed, read, and listened to a lot of people who have posted and shared and this is what I've seen.

I've seen a lot of statistics, videos, and explanations supporting the idea of systemic racism in our society.

I've then seen a lot of people attempting to disprove those statistics and videos with statistics and videos of their own.

Then I have seen my friends, colleagues, and even strangers of color speaking up about their own experience. Expressing their pain from their own experience of prejudice in our society, expressing their anger for how long their voices have been ignored and expressing their fear of the probability that their children will have to face these issues one day.

I have heard these emotions spoken out by people at work, on social media from people I went to Bible school with, from fellow students in my current course,  from old friends from my childhood, etc. These same emotions have been expressed by people from all walks of life and beliefs. They are not all democrats nor are they all republican, many are Christian but some are not. The only thing they all have in common is that they are people of color and they have experienced prejudice throughout their life.

What saddens me the most, is how many of my friends, many of them Christian, who state that they love and respect all people, completely ignore the people speaking up about the pain, anger, and fear that they are feeling. They dismiss the experience as a conspiracy by the media or the politicians and fail to recognize the real people who are speaking up.

Even if you deny the existence of systemic racism doesn't love mandate that we take a moment to listen?

Doesn't love mandate that we try to understand?

How can we love our neighbor when we refuse to listen to what they have to say?

Some Thoughts on Recent Events

"Bad men need nothing more to compass their ends,

than that good men should look on and do nothing."

John Stuart Mill

I do not condone violent protests. I think that they take the focus away from the situation at hand and give fuel to people who want to criminalize the protesters.

That being said... I understand it.

I understand why the frustration has built up to the point of violent protests.

I understand why the anger has built up to the point that it boils over in this form.

I do not condone but I understand.

Our African American community has been trying to speak out against continued oppression for decades and we have ignored them. 

They've written songs about it but we didn't listen, they made sit-com episodes about it and we took as a joke. They've tried to build diversity groups in our workplaces and we took it as another requirement to sit through and then go on with our lives. 

I say "we" because I did the same thing. I grew up listening to Christian Hip-Hop but skipped over songs like "Tears of a Black Man" by Gospel Gangstaz. My favorite show has always been "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" but I never really listened to the message portrayed in the episode where Will and Carlton were arrested and accused of being car thieves just because they were driving a fancy car. Both of these examples were peaceful attempts to get the message across almost 30 years ago and we never listened. 

Recently, the media has finally been picking up these real life events of unjust killings and we made it into a political issue. We made it into an either/or issue with the African American community pitted against the cops. Despite their being unarmed, the victims were consistently criminalized and the perpetrators were let off with a "slap on the wrist" at most. 

Each time the African American community cried out against the injustice and the majority of white America ignored them. Those who didn't criminalize them, remained silent.

In the last month, three innocent African Americans have been killed largely due to racial profiling and prejudice.

Ahmaud Arbery was killed by the son of a former police officer while going on a run,

Breonna Taylor was sleeping when police performed a raid on the wrong house and killed her in her own home,

and George Floyd was killed by an officer's knee while trying to tell him that he couldn't breathe.

This is not even mentioning the incident with Christian Cooper.

These are the ones that have been caught on video or shared in the media, but how many more are happening? 

It is time to stop being silent. It is time for us to speak up against the injustice that is happening towards our African American brothers and sisters.

This is not a political issue, it is a life issue. 

Who is the Child of Christmas?

"For unto us a Child is born,

Unto us a Son is given;

And the government will be on His shoulder.

And His name will be called

Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,

Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."

Isaiah 9:6

My regular readers have probably figured out long ago that this is my favorite verse regarding Christmas. This is my third year in a row, and my fifth year overall, that I am writing about this verse. 

In my previous posts regarding this verse I focused on the fact that Jesus came to earth in order to establish a new Kingdom, a Kingdom that is backwards to the world's ways of doing things. This year I would like to address what this verse means to each of us personally. This post is inspired by a short message given by Pastor Jeff Amsbaugh at Heritage Baptist Church during the School Christmas program. 

This verse identifies several names for Jesus, several roles that Jesus has promised to take in our lives. 

Wonderful: First it identifies that Jesus would be called wonderful. There are times in our lives where we can get bogged down by the monotonous of life and we can forget the wonders that Jesus has done for us. I am sure that each one of us, if we take the time, can identify several wonderous things that Jesus has done. This Christmas season start there. Calm yourself down from the busyness of life and think back over the wonders performed in your life. 

Were you delivered from an addiction or a nagging sin?

Has God blessed you with a wonderful family?

Have you been miraculously healed from sickness or disease?

Have you seen God bring you out of financial difficulties?

Counselor: In today's society we are hearing more and more about mental illness. Suicide and homicide seem to be on the rise and more and more people seem to be diagnosed with depression, bipolar, and other mental illnesses. In addition, we continue to see a large percentage of marriages ending in divorce. I am thankful for human counselors and, having worked in the mental health field, I have seen the tremendous benefit of psychiatric medications when properly prescribed. However, it is important for us as Christians to remember that Jesus is the ultimate Counselor. He should be the one we go to first with our issues. He should be the one that we are allowing to council us each and every day as we approach various decisions and problems. 

Jesus is our marriage counselor.

Jesus is our career counselor.

Jesus is our psychiatric counselor.

Jesus is our financial counselor.

Jesus is our legal counselor. 

Mighty God: Jesus is our Mighty God! 1 John 4:4 tells us; "You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world." It is important to remember that we do have an enemy in this world, but it is even more important to remember that our God is greater, mightier than that enemy! Jesus came down to earth as a baby, fully human, but He also came down at the Mighty God, fully divine. He conquered death, hell and the grave and took all authority in heaven and earth. He then gave us the ability to walk in that authority. When discussing how Jesus is Wonderful, I suggested looking back at the wonderous things He has done in your life. When discussing Him as Mighty God it is time to recognize those things that are not as they should be and put your faith in Him to make them right!

Are you or a family member fighting illness? - He is your healer.

Are you lacking the resources to do what God has called you to do? - He is your provider.

Are you fighting addiction or sin? - He is your deliverer, your victor. 

Are you experiencing attacks on your family? - He is your protector.

He is Mighty God!

Everlasting Father: You may or may not know what it is like to have a loving, earthly father. A good father is a protector, a comforter, a guide, and one who brings teaching and even discipline. On the other hand, there are few people who can bring more pain to a child than a bad father, whether that father is absent, abusive, or simply complacent. If you have a difficult experience with your earthly father then God is present to heal you from that experience and to show you what a true father is supposed to be. Still, if you had a great father, and I hope you did, we all know that our earthly father will not be around forever. I try to be the best father I can be to my daughter but I have to recognize that there will be a point where I will not be able to be there for her. God is our Everlasting Father. He is the only father who can always be there and will be there for eternity. 

Prince of Peace: Lastly, Isaiah identifies the coming Child as the Prince of Peace. There is a lot of turmoil in our society. Despite the continual promise and recognition that Jesus has overcome the world as Mighty God, there is also recognition that as long as we are on this earth we will experience trials and difficulties. The early church definitely experienced this going through significant persecution, first from the Jewish leaders, and then from the Roman leaders. There is no promise that our life will be perfect or that we will not have difficult times, but there is a promise that Jesus is our Prince of Peace. Through Him we can have peace even in the most difficult of times. Paul mentions that the peace of God "passes all understanding". In other words, God's peace will allow us to be in rest when our circumstances seem anything but peaceful. Through Jesus we can be like He was, asleep in the boat in the midst of the storm (Mark 4:38). 

This Christmas, take some time to remember who He is to you. Yes, we are celebrating the day that Jesus was born as a baby but we are celebrating that day because He came as much more than a baby. 

If you would like to read some of my previous posts about this verse here are the links:

Christmas and Politics from 2018

The True Meaning of Christmas from 2017

For unto us a Child is born... from 2014

The Truth About Christmas from 2013

Christmas Message from 2010.

What is your impossible?

Question #1: What is your impossible? 

Do you have overwhelming debt? A horrible health diagnoses? An eviction notice? A calling that you know God has given you but it seems it will never come to pass? 

Question #2: How does your impossible compare to Mary's? 

Mary was a teenage virgin with no special influence or position and she was told by an angel that she would become pregnant with the Messiah! 

In our Christian society we talk about the virgin birth regularly enough that it has become normal. A virgin giving birth is scientifically impossible. Mary's cousin Elizabeth was old and barren and miraculously became pregnant but at least in that case science could try and explain it away. But a virgin giving birth, that can't be explained away. The only argument people can make is to argue the veracity of her virginity.

I can only imagine what must have gone through Mary's head when the angel gave her the news. 

"Is this really happening?"

"How can this be?"

"How will I explain this to Joseph?" 

But in the end she says, "Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word." (Luke 1:37)

Despite the seemingly impossible situation Mary believed and agreed to go through whatever ridicule she would have to go through in order to fulfill the Lord's purpose.

So for this Christmas season, I ask again: What is our impossible? 

Take some time to meditate on the angel's words to Mary:

"For nothing will be impossible with God."

A Time of Waiting

"Then the Lord answered me and said: 
'Write the vision and make it plain on tablets, 
That he may run who reads it. 
For the vision is yet for an appointed time; 
But at the end it will speak, and it will not lie.
Though it tarries, wait for it;
For it will surely come,
It will not tarry.
Behold the proud,
His soul is not upright in him;
But the just shall live by faith.'"
Habakkuk 2:2-4 (emphasis added)

Last month I wrote a post about Taking a Leap of Faith. In that post I reference that there are four places in the Bible in which the phrase is repeated, "the just shall live by faith". Recently I took a closer look at the first of those verses in Habakkuk 2:4. The interesting thing about Habakkuk 2:4 is that it is not referencing taking a leap of faith at all, it is actually referencing waiting on God.

Sometimes it takes more faith to stay still, do nothing, and wait on God.

This is especially true when God has given us a vision and we want it to come to pass right away. A common example of someone who had to wait a long time on God's vision to come to pass was Joseph. If you read Genesis you find that Joseph had two very clear dreams from God in which his parents and brothers all bowed down to him. This was probably an intriguing and exciting dream and I am sure he was eager to see it come to pass. However, things took a very different turn for him when he was thrown in a pit and then sold by his brothers to a slave trader. When he got into Potiphor's house things seemed to start to get better as he became head of everything in the household when he again was treated unfairly and thrown in jail for something he didn't do. 

During his time as a slave and as a prisoner it required a lot of faith for him to hold onto the dream God had given him.

It would have been easy for him to give up on God but He knew that God was faithful. Eventually God brought him to a place of being second only to Pharaoh, in the most powerful country of the time, and used him to save millions of people during the famine. Even then Joseph held on to grace and mercy and told his brothers, "what you meant for evil God used for good". 

So what do you need to do when you find yourself in a time of waiting? 

1. Write the vision down - like God told Habakkuk, write down the vision or dream that God has given you and put it somewhere that you will see it every day. Keep it before your eyes so that you can continue to build your faith and know that it will come to pass. 

2. Stay faithful to what God has given you - Joseph was faithful everywhere he landed and this allowed God to use him even when He was still waiting for the ultimate vision. "There comes a time for every person where faith requires faithfulness. If you are faithful in what you have said you were going to do, God will make it happen." - Pastor Sherwood Vegsund

3. Develop your gifts - "Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them..." - Romans 12:6. Even though you are in a time of waiting it is important that you use the opportunities you have to develop your gifts. This is true even if there is no one else benefiting from those gifts at this time. 

4. Trust God to complete His work - "being confident of this one thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ." - Philippians 1:6 Trust that God will bring the vision to pass that He has given you. No matter how long the waiting period is God's promises will come to pass as long as you are faithful.

Learning to Be Still

"Be still and know that I am God."

Psalm 46:10

"In the secret,

In the quiet place,

In the stillness you are there..."

In today's society there is so much noise...

Through the internet and out smart phones we have constant access to limitless information, movies, music, and games. We are always connected to our friends, our family, our jobs. There is constant noise, constant stimulation, constant information. 

All of this "noise" can make it difficult to truly connect with God.

When I was in high school a new version of the above song was put out by sonic flood. In this new version it was sped up and a little "punk flair was added to the song. Many of my friends in the church loved this new version but I always thought it was contrary to the song itself. Even in a song that talks about meeting God in the "quiet place" we feel like we have to speed it up and, ultimately, make it louder. 

Yesterday I went to a coffee shop in order to get some work done and I couldn't get over how quiet it was. I should have been happy about it being quiet because I was there to focus in on work but the quiet actually seemed to distract me. It took me a while to figure out why the silence was so unusual to me and then they suddenly out on some music. It was then that I realized how trained I am to hear music in places like that. Even when we want a quiet place to step away and get work done we re used to noise being in the background. 

How often do you truly find yourself in a quiet place before God?

There is a definite time for loud praise, for time with music, as well as for other noise in our life, but there is also a time for cutting off all noise and approaching the throne of our God. 

"Be still..." 

Cut out the noise of your life for just a moment. Set aside your to-do list, your stresses, your challenges, and take a moment of silence, of stillness. 

"...and know that I am God."

Remind yourself of who He is. He is God, He is King, He is Lord. He is also Father, Savior, and Friend. He is all powerful but He is also intimate. He is strong and He is also gentle. He is our protector and He is also our comforter. 

As you take your moment of stillness, of silence, remind yourself of who He is and allow Him to step into your situation. 

A God Encounter at Jr High Camp

"You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in my name He may give you."

John 15:16

This is continuing the series I have been doing on God Encounters. My First Encounter had to do with God establishing a relationship with me. God used that encounter to lay a foundation of who He is in my life so that my faith in His existence and in His love for me would never be shaken. I believe this is where God always wants to start. 

This God encounter that I am writing about today had more to do with God's call on my life. When I was 12 years old I transitioned from the Children's Church to the Junior High in my church back in Portland, OR. I remember loving the praise and worship with the Junior High because we joined the rest of the youth for Praise and Worship and they had a full band. We then started talking about Youth Camp and I found out that the Junior High pastors had decided to have their own youth camp, separated from the Senior High and I remember being disappointed. Right from the start I had decided that the praise and worship would be boring because there were no instruments and it would be sung accapella. 

I don't remember a lot of details from that Junior High Camp but I do remember one worship service very clearly. We did the camp at my Junior High Pastor's house which was out in the country, outside of Oregon City, OR. We camped in tents on his back yard and we had our services in his shop and I remember the presence of God coming down in a way I had never experienced before in that shop. 

God shattered my lack of expectation and came down in a way that I never would have imagined, despite the accapella worship. 

It was also in that worship service that I first heard a very specific Word from God. This Word was very general and to this day I am still seeing more and more specifics being revealed but the Word has stuck with me to this day. 

At 12 years old, I heard God speak to me that I would be a preacher, a teacher, and a writer.  

Though the specifics of my calling are still being revealed to me, I can also attest that this has come true. I have had the opportunity to preach in several countries, teach in discipleship schools, and I have two published books on Amazon (not to mention this blog). I still believe there is more for me that God has prepared but as I keep searching I will continue to be faithful with the platforms He has given me. 

This second encounter was due to the faithfulness of my leadership. If they had not followed the leading that God had given them and had combined with the Senior High Youth Camp, which would have been easier, I may have been distracted by the band and the music, and not had the same experience with God. I definitely would have missed an important lesson that God can work through any situation.

My First God Encounter

"Be strong and of good courage, do not fear or be afraid of them; for the Lord your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you."
Deuteronomy 31:6

My last post, It's Time for a God Encounter, was a general discussion about how we need an encounter with Godcand how God desires us to have an encounter with Him. It was inspired by a sermon series that we are in the middle of at Move Church presented by Pastor Mark Mcleod. 

In the post I reference a list of God encounters that famous people in the Bible had. However, sometimes we hear those stories so often that they are no longer inspiring to us. For this reason, I thought I would take this discussion a bit more personal and share with you, my readers, some of the personal encounters with God that I have had and have changed the trajectory of my life forever. 

My first story of an encounter with God is one that my long-time readers may recognize. Back in 2011 I wrote a little bit about this story in my post A Light in the Darkness: A Personal Story. 

When I was very young my parents divorced and my mother remarried. My stepfather had his moments of being nice but he took the verse, "spare the rod, spoil the child" to a bit of an extreme. I don't remember the details or the timeline but I do remember being locked in our rooms a lot. Instead of just grounding us he would take everything out of the room and actually lock the door with a padlock. One time he caught us reading books we had snuck into the room, so he took it a step further by taking the light bulbs out of the room and putting black tarp on the windows and around the door so that we didn't get any light in the room. 

It's rare for us to experience true pitch-black darkness. In the city there are always lights on and even when we go out into the country there are generally stars and the moon shining out at night. This was complete darkness. It was in this setting that I experienced my first encounter with God. 

I had no one else to go to but God was there, literally in my darkest hour. 

Some God encounters come out of necessity like this one. I encountered God at such a young age because there was literally nothing else for me to do, nowhere else for me to go. It was God reaching out to me and preserving me despite my horrible situation. And it is because of this encounter that I have never left Him since that young age. I share this example as an encouragement to any reader who may feel like they are in a desperate situation with no where else to go. 

God is there reaching out in the darkness ready to shed your situation with His light and love!

I plan to continue sharing personal examples of God encounters. Not all of them were out of necessity like this one. Sometimes God expects us to push through to out encounter with Him. 

It's Time for a God Encounter

"God is not a God to be understood but a God to be experienced!"

Pastor Mark Mcleod - Move Church

"Taste and see the the Lord is good..."

Psalm 34:8

The Bible is full of God encounters. Knowledge about God is good, knowledge about the Bible is good, but the Christian life is meant to be a series of encounters with God Himself. 

Growing up I used to love the works of apologists. Hearing a Christian scientist explain how creation points to Christ is always an amazing, awe inspiring thing. Hearing the story about how an atheist interviewed several prominent Christian leaders and in the end was convinced and converted to Christianity is a great thing and I praise God for those stories being out there. 

Still, the vast majority of people will not be convinced by smart arguments. No matter how succintly someone shows how nature points to Christ, someone who doesn't know Christ can argue something different. For every person that is convinced by the logical arguments of prominent leaders there are numerous who won't even listen to them. I wrote about this in my post, Do You Believe?.

What we truly need is a real encounter with God Himself!

We need a solid foundation on the Word of God. We need to know His Word so that we can stand on it when trials and tribulations come against us, but that foundation needs to be made alive with experiences with God. 

Every person that has made a significant impact for the Kingdom can identify 

at least one God encounter that turned their life around.

Throughout the Bible we can see numerous examples of these encounters:

Abraham heard from God to move from his country and his family

Jacob wrestled with God at Bethel

Joseph had dreams from God

Moses met God in the burning bush

Samuel heard God call his name in the night

David had times of worship while watching the sheep

Numerous encounters are seen with Jesus throughout the Gospels

The Apostles had Pentecost (as well as many others)

Paul describes this same thought in the following verse to the Corinthians:

And I, brethern, when I came to you, did not come to you with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.
1 Corinthians 2:1-5

When was your last encounter with God? How does He want to encounter you today? 

If you have never accepted Christ as your Lord and Savior then I encourage you to visit my page What is the Gospel?

Taking a Leap of Faith

"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."

"But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder for those who diligently seek him."

Hebrews 11:1, 6

"The just shall live by faith."

Habakkuk 2:4, Romans 1:17, Galatians 3:11, Hebrews 10:38

"Steppin' out on nothin' and findin' something there

Tellin' the doubt to wait, wait, wait

I'm takin' a step of faith."

Carman Licciardello

As Christians we have been called to a life of faith. In my own life I have seen little breakthrough without some level of faith preceding it. There have been a few times in which God has surprised me with something that I was not at all expecting but the vast majority of times He expected me to first take a step of faith. To move out and trust Him that He would take care of the unknowns. 

Four times throughout scripture the phrase is repeated, "The just [righteous] shall live by faith." This statement does not give an option. If you are looking to be just or righteous before God then you shall live by faith. It's not suggested, it's not requested, it is simply stated that this is how it is. 

Antoher thing that can be seen from the short statement is that we are to live by faith. It is not something that we just pull out for certain moments or difficult situations. It's not something that we use when we make a particularly difficult prayer, it is something that we live by. 

Faith should be a part of our day to day life. 

We should be putting out faith in Him each day and stepping out in trust at several opportunities. We should be making bold prayers each day. Prayers for healing, prayers for miracles, prayers for salvation. These prayers should be for others as much as they are for ourselves. We hould be willing to step out and offer to lay hand on those around us who are dealing with sickness or struggling in their marriage. 

Still there are times where God calls us to step out even more in faith. Instead of a step of faith sometimes these feel like leaps. I have had several of these moments throughout my life and I can attest that God has always come through. Below I have listed a few of my own, and my family's, leaps of faith to encourage you. This is not an extensive list but a few over the course of my life. Each of these were steps made following the leading of the Holy Spirit.

Personal Leaps of Faith:

2000 - Joined speech team despite being terrified of public speaking - Recieved miraculous deliverance from that fear
2002 - Left home for the first time to go to Bible School in Ohio - Had numerous encounters with God over the two years preparing me for future ministry
2005 - Chose to go to the Philippines despite having no money and only a month to prepare, then chose to go again later in the year despite still owing money for the first trip - God provided enough money to pay off the first trip, cover the second trip and have some extra in one night of giving at church.
2006 - Decided to stay on as a staff in the DTS despite not having built support or even having the money for a plane ticket to return to Germany - God provided all needed, led me to many experiences of ministering around the world and grew me tremendously as a leader and a preacher. I also met my wife due to this decision.
2009 - Followed my then fiance to Ethiopia from Germany, prepared our wedding, then moved to Oregon with no income or job lined up - God provided for everything and connected us with old friends who helped us settle in Oregon. He also provided an opportunity to minister to the youth at Connection Church.
2017 - My wife and I followed God's prompting to move our family across the US from Oregon to Virginia. - God gave us both jobs right away and used the experience to give me further direction in my education and calling - more to come!

What is the step of faith God is leading you to take today? What is holding you back from taking it?

For further encouragement on taking a step of faith you can read these older posts from my blog:

Risk, Fear and Faith

Becoming a Faith Giant

A Sign of a Good Leader

A sign of a good leader is not how many followers you have 

but how many leaders you create.

Mahatma Ghandi

In today's world of social media and instagram stars there is a lot of focus on followers. A quick google search will tell you that the top followed person on twitter is Katy Perry, who has 106.7 million followers and on instagram it is Selena Gomez with 135.8 million followers.

Often we think of celebrities as leaders because they have a large following, but how are they influencing those followers. It is interesting to look at the ministry of Jesus and to see how much time he focused on the 12 rather than the crowds. He had multitudes following him but he never considered the crowds to be His ministry.

Jesus's ministry was to the individual, then to the small group (the 12), and lastly to the crowd. 

Moving on to Acts we see that the 12 were the ones who changed the world. They were the ones who brought the Gospel to Jerusalem, to Judea, and to the uttermost parts of the earth. They did this not because they were followers of Jesus but because they were His disciples, because Jesus had invested the time to make them leaders.

As far as we know Mahatma Ghandi never became a Christian, never accepted Jesus as Savior, Lord, or God. Another famous quote of Ghandi's is discussed in this post and that quote underlines a part of how Ghandi viewed Jesus and Christians. Ghandi did accept Jesus as a great teacher and much of the philosophy that Ghandi is famous for is at least partially based on the teachings of Jesus. This quote may have very well come from a study of the life of Christ because it is clear that He focused on creating leaders. He didn't just teach His disciples, He spent time with them, He ate with them, He shared life with them, and He challenged them to step out into their own ministry.

Jesus is the ultimate example of where a good leader's focus should be.

In today's churches and organizations we often seem to have it backwards. The people at the top are worried first about how to get more people surrounding them rather than on developing the few closest to them and training them to do the same. They want to be seen as someone who has a lot of followers but they forget to develop leaders. 

No matter what type of organization you are involved in, no matter what position you may hold, I encourage you to strive to focus on the few, build leaders, and train them to do the same. This is how you multiply your influence and make it last beyond your own presence in that organization. 

Seeking Him First in 2019!

"Don’t seek opportunity, seek God. If you seek God, opportunity will seek you."
Dr. Mark Batterson
Pastor of National Community Church

Dr. Mark Batterson tweeted the quote above along with a link to a sermon about a month ago. To be honest I never watched the sermon but the quote stuck with me. As I prayed over it I felt that this quote is God's word for me for 2019. 

It is easy to get caught up looking for an opportunity. We can even feel like it is a spiritual search because we are looking for an "opportunity for God to use us", but God wants us to seek Him first. 

"But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, 

and all these things shall be added to you."

Matthew 6:33

Reading this passage in context it is clear that the "these things" Jesus is referring to are our material needs (i.e. food, water, shelter). However, often that is what is behind our search for an opportunity. I would love an opportunity to better provide for my family without having to work as much as I do and I believe God is going to bring that opportunity to me. However, God wants me to seek Him first, to seek His kingdom. 

If you are a regular reader of my blog you may notice a recurring theme in my most recent posts. This is not on purpose but is simply how God has been leading me over the past few months and I believe it isn't a theme that is only for me but also for you, my reader. In November I wrote a post titled Seeking God Himself, in which I wrote how God impressed on my heart that morning the need to ask for more of Him rather than for other things and then for Christmas I wrote about how the true meaning behind Christmas is the bringing of God's kingdom on this earth and that we should seek after, and help establish that kingdom through our actions. 

This is of course not an entirely new theme either. Back in 2015 I wrote a post entitled, Four Ways We Should Seek the Kingdom First!, in which I outlined four areas of life that we should be practically applying this focus; prayer, finances, service, and evangelism. 

Sometimes we look for an elaborate word for the new year or we try to set complicated goals and there is a time and place for those things but in 2019 I challenge to make it simple. Let's go back to the basics of seeking Him and His kingdom and let everything else fall into place. As we pursue Him first in our prayers, our finances, our service, and our acts of evangelism we will automatically find opportunities seekign us out, we will find that our needs are provided for without the stress, and we will find that we are making a difference in our world without even having to try. 

Christmas and Politics

"For unto us a Child is born,

Unto us a Son is given;

And the government will be upon His shoulder.

And His name will be called

Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,

Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Of the increase of His government and peace

There will be no end,

Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom,

To order it and establish it with judgment and justice

From that time forward, even forever.

The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this."

Isaiah 9:6 NKJV

It's Christmas time; time for happiness, cheer, joy, family. At least that is what our society tells us, but our society has turned Christmas into a materialistic holiday full of fluff. We like to throw around phrases such as "holiday spirit" and "the happiest time of the year" but less and less do we hear what we are actually celebrating.

I do hope that you all are happy and joyful and with family during this holiday season but I also want us to remember what Christmas is truly about. Even the nativity scene does not fully cover what we are celebrating because it is more than just a baby being born in a manger. Something begin on that first Christmas that was even deeper than a plan for our salvation.

Christmas is about a new Kingdom being established.

I wrote about this last year in my post The True Meaning of Christmas, but I feel this is a point that is so important and so often missed that it is important to reiterate it. In a recent series of posts Dr. Andrew Decort asked the question Was Jesus Political? and he started with the song that Mary sang after hearing the announcement that she would be pregnant with the Messiah:

“My soul magnifies the Lord,

And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.

For He has regarded the lowly state of His maidservant;

For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed.

For He who is mighty has done great things for me,

And holy is His name.

And His mercy is on those who fear Him

From generation to generation.

He has shown strength with His arm;

He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.

He has put down the mighty from their thrones,

And exalted the lowly.

He has filled the hungry with good things,

And the rich He has sent away empty.

He has helped His servant Israel,

In remembrance of His mercy,

As He spoke to our fathers,

To Abraham and to his seed forever.”

Luke 1:46-55

Already, before Christ was even born, there is a political aspect in preparation for him. Mary's song shows the establishment of a Kingdom that is backwards from the normal, earthly kingdom, a kingdom in which the mighty are pulled down and the weak and hungry are exalted. 

This same idea is repeated by Jesus when the mother of James and John asks Him to grant her sons the seats on Jesus' right and left in heaven:

But Jesus called them to Himself and said, 

“You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, 

and those who are great exercise authority over them. 

Yet it shall not be so among you; 

but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. 

And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave— 

just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, 

and to give His life a ransom for many.”

Matthew 20:25-28

Jesus came to this earth to establish a new type of Kingdom. No longer are we to be looking to be great, to be mighty, or to be strong but we should be looking to serve. This is what Christmas is about, the start of this new Kingdom. 

As we celebrate Christmas it is a time to remember to be a servant, to remember our new Kingdom!

This is also a perfect entry into the new year. As we begin to think of our plans for the new year, what we want to change, how we want to have a fresh start, we can look at how we can better be servants to those around us. 

Psalm 100: A Song of Thanksgiving

"Make a joyful shout to the Lord, all you lands!

Serve the Lord with gladness 

Come before His presence with singing.

Know that the Lord, He is God;

It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves;

We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.

Enter into His gates with thanksgiving,

And into His courts with praise.

Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.

For the Lord is good;

His mercy is everlasting,

And His truth endures to all generations."

Psalm 100

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving in the United States. We commonly refer to the first Thanksgiving in reference to the Pilgrims coming together to celebrate their first successful harvest alongside several members of a local Native American tribe in New England. Despite this being referenced as the first Thanksgiving it was actually not made a federal holiday until Abraham Lincoln made it one in 1863. 

Regardless of the history of the holiday we as Christians should be excited about an opportunity to remind ourselves of all the things we are thankful for. 

Thanksgiving is the first step into the presence of God!

It is easy to get caught up in complaining, it is easy to send our requests to God and impatiently wait for the answer. But this is not how we experience God's presence. God's presence is found in our thanksgiving, in our recognition of the blessings that God has bestowed on us. 

We all have been blessed by God in some way. Regardless of how hopeless your situation may seem I guarantee there is something for you to be thankful for this Thanksgiving. Look hard if you have to but find what it is that is good in your life and be thankful for it! 

Seeking God Himself

"My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.

When shall I come and appear before God?"

Psalm 42:2

When was the last time you prayed asking God simply for Him? 

When did you last ask God simply for His presence? 

It's easy to forget prayer time altogether. It's easy to get busy with life and distracted by worries and cares around us, and forget entirely to pray. Because of this we often hear sermons pushing us to pray, to bring our worries before God. This is of course an important thing to do and a very Biblical thing to do:

"Therefore humble yourself under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you."

1 Peter 5:6-7

However, often this is where we stop. Recently I have been pushing myself to increase my own personal prayer time. With a family, job, and school it is sometimes easy to forget to focus time in prayer but I have been setting aside time in the mornings lately to do just that. 

Even so, I realized this morning that it had been a long time since I sought God Himself. 

I have asked daily for His advice and His direction. I have thanked Him for His blessings in my life and brought my frustrations and cares before Him, but I never simply asked Him for His presence. In pursuing the gifts I had forgotten the Giver. 

I challenge you this morning, or whenever you happen to be reading this, to set aside all your other cares and desires and simply ask Him to meet you, ask Him for His presence, to reveal Himself. 

Raising the Standard for our Political Leaders

"We must dissent from the indifference. We must dissent from the apathy. We must dissent from the fear, the hatred and the mistrust. We must dissent from a nation that has buried its head in the sand, waiting in vain for the needs of its poor, its elderly, and its sick to disappear and just blow away. We must dissent from a government that has left its young without jobs, education or hope. We must dissent from the poverty of vision and the absence of moral leadership. We must dissent because America can do better, because America has no choice but to do better."

Thurgood Marshall

We are at an interesting place in our political climate in the United States of America. We have had a shift from a mostly liberal leaning governement to a mostly conservative leading government. American evangelicals are excited because, for the first time in years, even the Supreme Court has a conservative majority now with the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh. People are excited about the possibility of reversing the Roe vs. Wade decision in regards to abortion and base this on an idea of morality. 

I do believe that the amount of babies being aborted in our nation, especially as a form of birth control, is a moral outrage. 

I do believe that, if given the chance, we should outlaw abortion. 

I also believe that people striving soley for an opportunity to outlaw abortion are missing the point.

Back in high school I ended up in a debate about abortion with some friends and I was surprised when one girl, who I knew to be a passionate Christian, was not supportive of banning abortion. She felt it was wrong but did not feel that we should make a law against it. She argued that, even with a law against it, women would still abort their babies but they would do it in less safe environments putting their own lives at a greater risk. They would end up in places that were not following the same regulations that our hospitals and doctor's offices had to follow for health and safety in the procedure. 

I immediately rejected this argument with the thought, "Should we legalize murder since people murder others even when it is illegal?" When it comes to whether or not I would vote for a law to make abortion illegal my stance is the same. However, I think there is also an underlying point here that I initially missed. 

There is a deeper issue when it comes to abortion than whether it is legal or not. 

There are women who are hurting, confused, and scared. These women don't look at abortion in the same way that we do because they have been taught differently. They see the fetus as still an extension of their own bodies rather than a baby. They see abortion as a way out of a mistake that may or may not be partially their own fault. Even if it was their decision it was generally one moment of passion that is now threatening to ruin their entire life. 

This is the first reason why I think we are missing the point when our focus is entirely on outlawing abortion. 

As Christians we are called to reach out to the hurting, the scared, the lost and to help them find a way. 

Making abortion illegal does nothing to help these young women who are hurting and scared to find a way. There are organizations out there who are trying to help women in these situations and I feel that this should be a greater focus of ours and of those we elect into office.

The second reason I feel why we are missing the point is that we are basing our entire voting process on policy issues like outlawing abortion. 

While we were waiting to hear what happened with Kavanaugh, there was an article going around that stated 48% of Evangelical Christians in America felt that Kavanaugh should be confirmed even if it was proven that the allegations were true. In other words, 48% of Evangelical Christians in America felt having a conservative slant in the supreme court was so important that they didn't care if someone was appointed who had sexually assaulted mutliple people and had shown no regret for doing so.

This goes in line with how many Evangelical Christians are still supportive of Trump despite his multiple insults thrown at anyone who disagreed with him, his proven history of female degradation, and his refusal to admit or apologize for any previous mistakes. 

In other words, both cases show a willingness to ignore blatant immorality based on policy. 

The Bible has a lot to say about requirements for leadership. For example, Paul explains to Timothy what the requirements of leaders in the church should be:

Here is a trustworthy saying: Whoever aspires to be an overseer desires a noble task. Now the overseer is to be above reproach, faithful to his wife, temperate,self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him, and he must do so in a manner worthy of full respect.

1 Timothy 3:1-4

This of course is specific to leaders in the church but since we, as Americans, have some say in the election of leaders in the political sphere I think we should make our decisions similarly. When you look at that list notice what is not there, there is no talk about doctrine or policy. Even when we look for leaders in the church realm we seem to always look at doctrine first, does there doctrine match up with that of our church, ministry, etc. 

Paul is telling us very clearly that character in leadership is more important than doctrine!

The natural follow-up question to recognizing this truth is, "How can we demand good moral character when so many of our politicians are so corrupt?" 

My response to that is, "Finally we are asking the right question!"

I don't have the perfect answer to how to do this, but I do know that we, as Evangelical Christians in America, need to step up and demand more from our leadership. Agreeing with someone on policy should no longer be enough, we need to demand good character. 

We need to stop making excuses for the behavior of politicians who we happen to agree with!

We need to start holding all politicians, regardless of their political stance, to a higher standard! 

We need to allow morality to guide our vote, not just in policy issues but in character issues!

For anyone who feels alone...

The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart, And saves such as have a contrite spirit. 

Psalms 34:18 NKJV

I recently wrote a post about our need for each other, about how our value of independence in our society may be the cause of the seeming increase in depression and suicide. One of the points that I make in that post is that the idea that, all I need is Jesus is not actually Biblical.

I still stand behind that statement. We are made to be social beings and to be dependent on each other. Though this is true there are times that, for whatever reason, we are not able to reach out to and depend on another human being.

It is in these times that we need to remember that God is always there!

I had the opportunity to learn this very early in life. When we were young my brothers and I lived with an abusive stepfather. There are a lot of stories I could tell about that time but there is one that has always stuck out to me. I wrote more about this story in an early blog post of mine called A Light in the Darkness.

There was a period of time, I am not sure how long, in which he locked us up in our rooms and put black tarp o er the windows and around the doors in order to block out all light. In our society it is very rare for us to experience true darkness but my brothers and I did in that room. There was literally nothing for us to do except sit and wait.

It was in that room that God met me for the first time.

The skeptic would say that I was a kid in trauma reaching out for what little hope I could find. But all I can say is I know what I experienced. God met me in that room. God kept me sane in a time where I could have easily lost all hope.

I don't know where you are at as you read this post. Maybe you are in a place where you feel like no one can understand you, or there's no one to reach out to. Let me tell you, from the experience of a young boy in a pitch black room with no idea of when he would see light again, God is always there to reach out to. Jesus is always there.

God promised that he will never leave and I know that promise to be true.

If you need to cry out to God but don't feel like you have the strength to then please message me or someone else who can do it for you.

Even if you don't reach out I am praying for each person that reads this that God would meet you in a real way, a way that you can not explain away, the exact way that you need Him to right now.

Rooted and Grounded in Love

"For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and depth and height - to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God."

Ephesians 3:14-19

The passage above is known as one of the "Ephesian prayers". Many preachers, have written books and taught about the benefit of praying these prayers, along with one in Colossians, over ourselves daily. This is definitely a good way to increase some revelation about who God is and our relationship with Him. There is one particular revelation in this prayer that God has been bringing me back to lately and I wanted to highlight for anyone who needs the reminder today. 

It is easy to read this quickly and to think that Paul is praying that the Ephesians would become "rooted and grounded in love", but if you read more closely this is not the case. Paul is actually praying that, since they already are "rooted and grounded in love" they would be able to "comprehend" that love. 

Whether you realize it or not you are rooted and grounded in love!

It is very possible that you are not feeling loved today. Depression, anxiety and stress seem to be at an all time high in today's society and it is easy to feel like we are left alone in our attempts to survive the daily grind, if that is the case then you need this reminder. You are loved! Not only are you loved but you are rooted and grounded in that love. You just need to realize and learn to comprehend that fact. 

What Paul is praying over the Ephesians in this passage are important reminders for us in our day to day walk and I pray the same thing over all who read this post. I pray that:

That the Father would strengthen you through His Spirit in your inner man

That Christ will dwell in your hearts through faith

That you would be able to comprehend and know the full breadth of His love for you

and that you may be filled with the fullness of God

May this be true in your life today and throughout this week!

My Book Now Published: The Authority of the Church

My book is finally published! I have been working on editing this book off and on for years and I kept delaying publishing thinking it would be difficult to complete. However, I found that Kindle makes it very easy.

My book is basically a description of the life that Jesus called us to. It explores the reasons as to why the power of the Holy Spirit seemed so prevalent in the early church and seems less prevalent today. It is the teaching behind my life vision to bring the church today back to the passion, purity and power of the early church as shown in the book of Acts.

I start with a story from my trip to the Philippines in which God used me to heal a little boy. I then proceed to ask the question why these types of miracles seem to be less prevalent today then they were in the Bible. A lot of preachers have addressed this question and simplify it to one issue like lack of faith, lack of holiness, etc. Others tend to explain miracles away with theories of different eras or ideas that only certain people are given the gift of miracles. I address all of these ideas in this book.

Ultimately it comes down to the fact that our power comes from a transferred authority from Jesus, and with that authority comes a responsibility. A responsibility to live the life that Jesus mandated us to live. We are not walking in the power that comes from the authority of Christ simply because we are not picking up the responsibility that comes with that power.

This is an important message for today's church and I encourage you to order the book. It will inform you and empower to live the life that Jesus has called us to live. If you order and agree that it is a timely message then please spread the word. Share the book, share the link for others to buy, and feel free to reach out to me at martureo77@gmail.com if you would like to invite me to come speak at your church, event, or meeting.

The book is available in two formats:

Kindle e-book for $2.99

Paperback book for $8.50

Also if you liked the book please write a review of it on Amazon so that others can see.

Seeking the Kingdom of God

"But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, 

and all these things shall be added unto you."

Matthew 6:33

This is a favorite promise for many Christians to quote. Taken by itself, out of context, the verse has two main questions:

What does it mean to seek "the Kingdom of God" first?

and

What are "all these things"?

The second question is easiest to answer because we can simply look earlier in the chapter. This comes at the end of Matthew chapter 6 right after Jesus is telling us not to worry about what to eat or what to wear because God feeds the sparrows and God clothes the lilies, how much more will he clothe and feed us? In other words, "all these things" is referring to our basic needs in life. Jesus is saying here that if we focus first on the Kingdom of God then our basic needs will naturally be provided.

So what does it mean to seek "the Kingdom of God" first? 

This is a bit more challenging to answer, not because it is difficult to find the answer but because there are several different ways to approach the answer. I approached it in one way in my post from 2015 titled Four Ways We Should Seek Him First!. In this post I discuss four general methods of how to seek His Kingdom first, through prayer, finances, service, and evangelism. Lately God has been bringing me back to this verse with some more thoughts on what the focus of our seeking should be. What is the Kingdom of God in practical terms? He actually brought a connection in my heart between this passage and another one that we don't always connect.

"Then the King will say to those on His right hand, 'Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave me food; I was thirsty and you gave me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.'

Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take you in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to you?' 

And the King will answer and say to them, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did to the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.'"

Matthew 25:34-40

Notice there is some similar language here in his passage. Right at the beginning the "King" says, "Come... inherit the kingdom". Which shows that we are continuing to talk about how to get a kingdom. Jesus then later calls this group of people, "righteous" which correlates with seeking after righteousness in the first verse.

When noticing that the two passages are talking about similar things we can read on and see what it actually means to seek after the Kingdom. Jesus tells them that what they do to the "least of these" they do to Him. This is how you seek after the Kingdom. If you search this verse on Google several articles come up discussing, "Who are the Least of These?" It seems silly to me that you would need an entire article on that question though because Jesus lists them out right in the verse. They are:

Those who are hungry
Those who are thirsty
Strangers - also could be translated foreigners
The naked
The sick
Those in prison

The interesting thing is that it does not specify any type of moral standing for any of these individuals. When he talks about visiting people in prison he doesn't say that they have to be wrongfully accused. When he talks about people who are hungry or thirsty he doesn't say they have to be working as hard as they possibly can and still be hungry or thirsty. He basically lists anyone with a need and says, if you fill this need for this person then you are doing it for me.

If you are familiar with this passage then you also know that this is one of the most defining splits between people in the Bible. The "King" calls those who are doing these things to "inherit the kingdom" and he tells those who are not to, "Depart from Me". This shows that our actions in this regard are paramount to our Christian life.

What are you doing to help the "least of these" today?