SIDE EFFECTS

Don’t you just love to hear all the potential side effects listed for taking certain drugs? Things like, growing hair where you don’t want it, muscle cramps, skin rashes, bloating, nausea, vomiting, suicide or heart failure. Makes you want to run right out and try their new drug, I mean who doesn’t want to feel bloated all day or throw up every twenty minutes? Obviously we must be pretty desperate if we will trade our present circumstances for some scary side effects because drug companies do advertise these potential side effects and yet they still sell millions of drugs.

Listing side effects could help all of us deal with life a bit easier. There are many places I can see an advantage to this. I think all churches should be made to list in their bulletins possible side effects if you become a member. For example:

A church going through an extensive building program should say–Warning! While building program is in motion church members may become overburdened with guilt because the pastor doesn’t think everyone is giving enough.

A church with a new pastor should post–Caution! Church membership may rebel and ostracize those who agree with the new pastor. Church is very likely to split within the next two years.

Those churches that believe strongly in healing should say–Caution! Your perfectly fine child may suddenly experience one of their legs becoming longer than the other.

If a church is deeply steeped in tradition their bulletin should say–Warning! Any thinking on your part will not be tolerated.

All churches claiming to be non-denominational should say–Caution! If non–denominational is what you want go somewhere else because we do not tolerate a different opinion than what we believe.

I am spoofing here but there is also some truth in each of these. I don’t know if you have ever read the warning labels in the Bible but there are many. God is a firm believer in listing possible side effects from becoming a follower and believer in Him. Here are a few of my favorites:

“Indeed, all who desire to live godly lives in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” (2 Timothy 3:12)

“These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)

“Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” (1 Peter 5:8)

As you can see, God has no problem putting warning signs in the Bible concerning the side effects of believing and following Him. These are only a few of the many times God warns us. There are plenty more. My question for you is what do you do with the side effect warnings from God? They can’t be ignored for they come from God Himself. They are as truthful as John 3:16. Did they cause you to think before turning your life over to God? Did they stop you from following God with all your heart, soul, and mind?

What I like about them is God is not afraid to put out there for all to see what it will cost someone to follow Him. He doesn’t hide what it will be like to live for God. He tells us truthfully and not because there is some governing body of Christians who will discipline God if things go bad and He didn’t warn us. God tells us because He wants us to consider what it will cost us to serve Him before anyone jumps in with both feet.

No Christian should ever be caught off guard when trials and tribulations come crashing down upon them. That is the way of life for those who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus. Just desiring this will bring persecution upon us. You can imagine what will happen then to those who actually do live a godly life for God. Satan doesn’t like us and the non-Christian world doesn’t like us. But know this – God loves those who follow Him!

People who are desperately sick will know all about the side effects of a drug and take them anyway. Why? Because of the hope of what the pill might do for them. This is the real reason God lists the side effects of following Him. We are desperately sick humans and those who know this don’t care about the side effects. All they care about is taking God’s solution for their sickness. Side effects be damned, give me God’s resolution.

See you soon

JUST ONE THING

I love the scene in City Slickers where Jack Palance is talking to Billy Crystal and tells him the secret to life is just one thing. Of course, when Jack Palance holds up one finger and says, “just one thing” he does it like no one else: gruff, distinct and absolutely believable. When he finishes you are convinced the secret to life is “just one thing.” When Billy Crystal asks him what that one thing is Ol Jack says, “That is for you to figure out.” Great words for all of us.

I must agree with Jack on this one. We cram so much into life that for most of us to even think it could be reduced to just one thing would sound absurd. But Jack got it right. I don’t know if he got his information from Jesus or not because Jesus pretty well said the same thing. When Jack said this it was up to us to figure out. But, Jesus explained exactly what that one thing is, and His opinion of that "one thing" can be taken to the bank.

I am going to paste the introduction to my book, “MAKING PEACE WITH GOD IN A TURBULENT WORLD.” The substance of this book is all about what Jesus said is the secret to life. If the introduction interests you then click on my writings and you will find the book material there. I highly urge you to read it. What a shame it would be if when you are standing before Jesus at the throne of His judgment and He were to say to you, “It was all about this one thing and it’s too bad you missed it.” 

                                                                       Introduction

According to the Jewish calendar humans have been on the earth for about 5,800 years. During this time there has been this one constant; every age and every culture has tried to establish their way of dealing with God. This pursuit of what God wants from us, and how we deal with Him has resulted in the formation of a concept called religion. This pursuit has not produced a singular religion but an enormous amount of religions or religious groups scattered across the landscape of history. Sometimes these religious groups are in stark contrast to each other and sometimes the differences are only minor. But the constant is seen in mankind’s consistent pursuit of how to relate to God. Many times this results in some sort of treatise defining what, when, where and how a religious group must carry out their particular religion.

Around eighteen hundred years after God created the first two humans God choose a very special person named Abraham and explained to him the way humans were to relate to God. When God spoke to Abraham He did not give him a new form of religion. Instead, He gave him a promise that one of his descendants would establish the way all humans in every nation, every race, and every culture throughout every age needs to relate to God. What is so interesting about this promise is that religion has nothing to do with it at all.

A little over four hundred years after Abraham, God choose one of Abraham’s descendants by the name of Moses to begin the process of a most unusual journey towards the birth of Abraham’s promised descendant. This journey would take the family of Abraham who by now had grown to the size of a couple million people, and used them to reveal through numerous writings and pictures exactly who this promised descendant of Abraham would be. Once again, these writings and pictures had nothing to do with a religion. Unfortunately, Abrahams descendants eventually turned what God was teaching through His writings and pictures into an established form of religion. This just seems to be the nature of us humans. We know there is a God and for some reason we think He desires religion.

Fourteen hundred years after God met with Moses the promised descendant of Abraham was born in a little town called Bethlehem. By now the world had seen a thousand different religions emerge with each one proclaiming theirs was the correct way of relating to God. This pattern would continue for the next two thousand years of human history.

With the birth of Jesus, the promised descendant of Abraham, now mankind could finally learn the correct form of religion as defined by God Himself. At least that is what church history seems to convey by the numerous ways and means developed by every church since then. But Jesus did nothing to show us what God wants from religion. Instead, He did just the opposite; He condemned man made religion with its form and functional ways governing how to relate to God. Right from the beginning of His three-year ministry on earth all the way to His crucifixion and post resurrection days Jesus talked about one thing – the gospel of the kingdom thus establishing the true way God wants us to relate to Him.

With the correct way we are to relate to God finally revealed by Jesus as He taught the gospel of the kingdom, we learn that it has nothing to do with how we gather, how we meet, what kind of creeds we say, what doctrinal truths we subscribe to, what our religious history proclaims, how ecclesiastical we are, what religious form we practice, who founded our religion, and what denomination or non-denomination we belong to. Jesus condemned religion as He went from city to city preaching the gospel of the kingdom, forever setting the record straight of how a person is supposed to relate to God.

What is so crazy about this is even though what He said about relating to God has nothing to do with religion, those who follow Him seem to be predisposed to take what He said and turn it into another form of religion while ignoring the very instructions He gave on how to have a relationship with God.

I guess this should not surprise us for God told the prophet Samuel when he was sent to anoint the next king of Israel that mankind looks at externals but God looks only at the heart. We can see here why we like religion so much. We humans love the external side of all things and that certainly applies to our relationship with God as well. It is much easier to be consumed with form and function than it is to deal with the internal character of the heart. Religious history has shown that those groups found to be most interested in the external form and function of relating to God most often will be the furthest from what Jesus actually taught.

With that said, let me draw your attention to the one person who would know more about relating to God than anyone who has ever lived, and that is Jesus, the promised descendant of Abraham and the Son of the One we desire to have a relationship with. He began His ministry preaching the gospel of the kingdom. He continued with this same message all the way to the cross and spent His post resurrection time on earth talking to His disciples about the kingdom of God. The kingdom message dominated everything He taught and it is here that we learn how to relate to God the way He wants us to. It should just naturally be a smart thing for us to sit down and listen to what Jesus has to say, but it appears more natural for us to envelope ourselves with the external clothing of orthodoxy.

Wouldn’t it be nice to step out of our religious chains for a moment and go back in time to listen as Jesus teaches us how we need to relate to God? We can actually do this because God wrote down the very words Jesus spoke to a large crowd of people one day as He taught them exactly what is needed in order to have a proper relationship with God. I hope you will let me take you on a little journey back to that hill in Galilee and listen as the master teacher addresses this very thing. We have seats reserved next to a man by the name of Prodigo. We can listen to Jesus and watch as Prodigo discovers things about God he never heard or thought before. As we watch Prodigo struggle with the truth Jesus teaches, maybe we can learn a thing or two about how to relate to God. Jesus is just about ready to begin so lets join Prodigo. He still has a few great seats saved for us right next to him.

See you soon

HAVING YOUR CAKE AND EATING IT TOO

Last weekend I was at my son Dereck’s home for a barbecue to kick off our Bible Study. After we ate my wife brought out a dessert called, “Better Than Sex Cake.” I’m not kidding about the name. That is what this cake is called. Now, men, let me speak to you first before I get into what this post is all about. I think it is safe to say the name for this cake came from a woman and not a man. With that being said I must say it is the best cake I have ever eaten and I do consider myself a connoisseur when it comes to anything sweet

This cake is so good I felt it was my duty to pass on the recipe so more of you can enjoy it. I must include one warning though. Do not serve this cake after a Bible Study. We have done this and I can honestly say there is no quicker way to remove all recently learned spiritual knowledge than to serve a generous portion of, “Better Than Sex Cake.” after an hour of good Bible Study the only thing that will be remembered is the taste of the cake and it will leave you hungering for more. 

Here is the recipe and it is simple enough to make that even a man can make it. One more quick tip; if you are a man and decide to make it don’t make it when you are home all by yourself. You will not be able to stop eating it. Never mind, what am I thinking? Forget that last tip. Here is the recipe.

BETTER THAN SEX CAKE

• BAKE 1 CHOCOLATE CAKE MIX - IN A 13 x 9 CAKE PAN
• POKE HOLES WITH A FORK ALL OVER THE TOP OF THE HOT CAKE
• POUR 1 CAN SWEETENED CONDENSED MILK OVER THE HOT CAKE
• POUR ½ JAR OF (MRS. RICHARDSON’S (17oz)  BUTTERSCOTCH/CARMEL ICE CREAM TOPPING OVER THE HOT CAKE
• CRUSH A SCORE CANDY BAR AND SPRINKLE ON THE TOP OF THE CAKE
• WAIT UNTIL COOL AND PUT 1 CONTAINER OF COOLWHIP OVER THE TOP. 
• CRUSH UP ANOTHER ‘SCORE’ CANDY BAR AND SPRINKLE IT OVER THE COOL WHIP. THIS DOES ADD TO THE DELICIOUS TASTE SO MAKE SURE TO BUY A 'SCORE' CANDY BAR. 

One last tip: Eat until sick

See you soon

BACK TO SCHOOL

BACK TO SCHOOL

For some school has already begun and for others like myself it will start the day after Labor Day. I have never been comfortable starting school before that last summer holiday. Tradition is hard to break. But this has nothing to do with what is on mind today. School is on my mind right now as I prepare to begin another year teaching high school students what God is all about and how to have a relationship with Him. Really though the issue of when school starts is nowhere to be found in the deep crevices of my little grey cells.

If you are a Christian then you and I need to have a talk. If you are not a Christian then go take a siesta because none of this will make any sense to you. By the time the average kid graduates from high school they will have spent roughly 11,963 hours in school. (This is just an average compiled from several different studies I looked at.) This does not include homework, which if included would kick this number up considerably.

Once your kid graduates from high school they may get married, go to college, get a job or just bum around several years doing nothing more than making themselves an irritation to their parents. This is the life cycle of most kids.

If a kid is raised in an average Christian home where mom and dad go to church once a week those kids will spend 624 hours receiving some sort of Christian education by the time they graduate from high school. Minus a few weeks missed every year due to family vacations the amount drops to 588 hours. But lets say your kid belongs to a youth group during their middle school and high school years. This can bring the number up to an estimated 1,392 hours of Christian education. I think I am beginning to see a problem here.

11,963 hours in an environment primarily concerned with teaching a kid things they need to know in order to function and get a job in a world cursed by God and run by self-centered sinners. We counteract this with 1,392 hours of Christian education on such things as Samson killing a bunch of Philistines with the jaw of a donkey, (of an ass if you learn that story in high school) David killing the giant Goliath with a sling, Noah building a boat to save his family and all the animals, Jesus being born in a manger, Jesus being crucified on a cross, Jesus raising from the grave, Paul traveling all over the place and getting beat up every where he went. You get the picture. I don’t need to list everything your kids will learn during their 1,392 hours. But it is overwhelmingly insufficient considering the amount of secular schooling we give our kids concerning things they need to know in order to get a job.

In a family that cares about such things a kid in high school will graduate with at least an understanding of Algebra 1 and 2, Geometry, a year of Pre-Calculus and/or Physics. But they won’t know a hill of beans about how to live the Christian life in a world that wants to chew them up and spit them out. Does anyone else see this as a problem? I am not picking on secular education. The main issue here is how little training we give our kids concerning God and their relationship with Him before we send them out on their own.

Mom and dad, this is really your problem so pay attention here for a couple more moments. I wish churches were more involved in helping parents with this problem. I have seen some churches do a lot more than others in regards to this but far too many offer very little help. When all is said and done, parents, this is on your shoulders and rightfully so. God says children are a gift from Him and this is one parent who thinks we need to do a much better job at taking care of the wonderful gifts God gives us.

Here are my suggestion as I look back at child rearing from a grandfather’s perspective. Stop being so focused on your careers, your houses, your cars, your clothes, your hobbies and whatever else takes time away from interacting with your kids in real life. You only have the ability to influence them for a short amount of time so be wordly on your own time – after your kids have grown up and left home. While your kids are under your roof and influence, start doing all you can to learn what God says about relating to Him and teach it to your kids. Teach it to them in everyday life where it really matters. When they are playing, when they are doing chores, when they are eating, when they are mad and fighting with their siblings, when they are bored, when they can’t find anything to wear, when they have to do homework, when they don’t respect you, when they want to go on a date, and when they learn how to drive a car. It is during these situations and a whole lot more that their relationship with God needs to be developed. They are not going to learn how to do this from anyone else. They will either learn from you when they are your children and still growing up, or they will find themselves thrown to the wolves of life when they are an adult and have to learn the hard way like you and I had to do.

This is not my idea. I could never be that smart. This is God’s way. Look what He says in Deuteronomy 6:4-9, “Hear, O Israel! The LORD is one! You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead, You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”

That about sums all this up. One last thing though. You can’t teach children how to do something you don’t know how to do yourself. Rather than wait until your old and grey and have finally learned how to have an intimate relationship with God. Put the time in now and help your kids learn as you learn. Do it together. I know it’s humbling but God loves a humble heart and your kids will find it much easier to learn something you are working on and learning yourself. Now, go educate your kids as a true gift from God!

See you soon.

THE INFALLIBILITY OF THE BIBLE AND ME

Something has been on my mind for quite awhile now so I guess it is about time to get it off my chest. I completely believe the Bible is without error in the original writings. I believe God inspired, or “breathed” them into existence through His ability to have someone write exactly what He wants and yet leave room for the writer’s personality to influence what they write. I absolutely have not a single doubt that the Bible is God’s word to us and can be trusted explicitly. That is a simple explanation of what I feel about the Bible.

Though I stand 100% behind what I just wrote it has occurred to me lately that this concept might not be 100% valid in my life because if I really do believe this about the Bible then how come I don’t live what it says with 100% conviction? Obviously there is a great gap in what the Bible teaches and how I live. There are certain attitudes and characteristics in my life that reflect well what the Bible teaches but there are far too many other places that do not even come close.

So now I find myself caught between a rock and a hard place. I absolutely believe everything I said about the Bible but my actions and attitudes often tell a different story, and this I don’t like. Let me give you one simple example. In Philippians 2:3, 4 it says, “Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.”

Do I believe these two verses are truly the accurate, spoken word of God? Absolutely I do. So then what is the problem? Why do I find it so hard to do exactly what I believe especially when I know beyond any shadow of doubt it is God’s perfect will for me? The problem is I don’t think many of you are more important than me. In fact I don’t think there is anyone more important than me other than the trinity. At least that more accurately tells the truth according to how my life is lived. Maybe the real problem is I don’t believe 100% that the Bible is 100% accurate.

When the Bible says God loves me I bask in His love 100% of the time and there is never any discrepancy between what God says and how I live this. But then I am on the receiving end of this truth. I think this is where I find the largest difference between what I believe and how I live. Truth applied to me from God is easy to wrap myself around but truth from God that calls me to do something is where the rub is.

Do I have an absolute quick fix for this? Lets just say I know what the fix is but once again, doing it is where I stumble. So from now on I think I am going to express my belief in the Bible a little differently. When asked what I believe about the accuracy of the Bible I am going to say it is entirely trustworthy and accurate and can be relied on completely but don’t look at me if you want to see what it teaches lived in my life. I am much more comfortable being a hypocrite than I am being living, Biblical truth.

This tells the truth of what I believe much more accurately, but I do hate being so honest. So what do you believe about the Bible?

See you soon