"Love Me Anyway"

"I am the thorn in Your crown
But You love me anyway
I am the sweat from Your brow
But You love me anyway
I am the nail in Your wrist
But You love me anyway
I am Judas' kiss
But You love me anyway"

snipet from "Love me Anyway"- by Sidewalk Prophets

Something from my wallet

Instruct me Oh God, to be more like you
Teach me my Lord, to know your truth
Gather me in your majestic ways
Show me your path of righteousness

For I want to be more like you
For I want my hands to do your works
For I want to dance to your praise
and be humbled by your face

Develope in me, a love for your people
Touch my heart for your missions
Help me stay true to your words
Guide my path
And know my journey

Make therefore a place for me
For i will be your servant here on earth

I wrote those words couple months before going to Brazil, kept them hidden in my wallet.

Casting Lots

(study on casting lots)

Casting Lots is mentioned 70x in the Old Testament and 7x in the New Testament.

What is it?

I'm not sure, it could be any kind of game of chance; from flipping some type of coin, to rolling dice, to game of sticks/straws, or something completely different that we are not aware of.  Fact is we don't know the exact process.  http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/cast+lots (link to various definitions of casting lots)

Casting Lots in the Old Testament (lets look at several verses)

In Numbers we find the 12 tribes getting their inheritance of land, and choosing it by lot.

Numbers 26:55, 33:54, 34:13, 36:2

In Joshua 18: 6-10, Joshua said to go survey the land and write a description of it in 7 portions, then he said he would cast lots and determine who gets what. (sean's summarized version of verses)

In 1 Chronicles 25:8-9, they cast lots for there duties, young and old, teachers as well as pupil.

1 Chronicles 26:13-14, they cast lots for each gate, concerning the Levitical Gatekeepers.

In Jonah 1:7, the sailors cast lots to find out who was the cause of the Lords wrath and the trouble they were in, and low and behold the lot fell on Jonah.

In Matthew 27:35, we find the Roman solders casting lots over Jesus clothes.

So we get to the Question, Do we as Christians need to Cast Lots?

In Acts 1:26, the disciples proposed 2 people to take Judas Iscariot's place among the 12 after praying together, and then they cast lots, and the lot fell to Matthias, so he was numbered with the 12.

So the disciples who started the first church, and are the first example of Christians cast lots to replace Judas, it ha to be a legit practice for discernment. Maybe a holy stricken game of chance. When making important decisions in our life, what do we have to turn to for guidance. Should we cast lots?  We know we are to pray, as did the disciples before they cast lots to replace Judas.  Yet, we look exactly after vs 26, we have the start of Acts 2 (the Pentecost), where Jesus/God gave the gift of the Holy Spirit to dwell among them.  I think that's the key!  The Holy Spirit is God dwelling in our hearts, it's his gift of guidance and discernment, power and wisdom, and love.  I don't personally cast lots for any decision I make, I know I can pray to God, seek out wise Christian counsel, and trust in the Spirit to guide me in the right direction.  Theres really no need for me to cast lots. The believers received the Holy Spirit that day, and never gain did they have to cast lots for they had the power and guidance of the Holy Spirit.

1 Corinthians 2:10-12

¹⁰ For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God. ¹¹ For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so    the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God. ¹² Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God.

"Tonight"

This week song comes from the infamous, never aging Toby Mac

"Tonight"- Toby Mac ft. John Cooper (of Skillet)





Click Link for Lyrics http://www.tobymac.com/lyrics/tonight/

Follow

Book to Read

Title:  How to Develop a Powerful Prayer Life

Author: Dr. Gregory Frizzell

Its a great tool for any believer from new to old saint.  I needed to pray, I wanted to be a prayer warrior, I didn't know where to begin.  This book is amazing, how it describes why prayer is so  important, how it is fundamental to our relationship with Christ, and the foundations of prayer.  This book will help you develop a much needed time alone communicating with God. I want to purposely thank my Pastor for introducing it to me. (thanks Nick) I would recommend this book to all, don't settle for a lacking prayer life, spend that quality time with God, and if you were like me, use this tool to guide you to a place where you are having that closet time of prayer with the Father.

Golf with Friends

Yesterday, I got to play 13 holes of golf with couple buddies (Mike and Rudy) from church, and man we were blessed with a great day.  Low and behold the storm that was supposed to hit turned into a slight drizzle and really the temperature was fairly cool throughout the afternoon. Though we lost a slew of golf balls, we had a great time encouraging each other and just enjoying each others company and the game itself.

Throughout my time out there, I kept thinking of how God has blessed me with the opportunity to have golf as my outlet, my stress relief, my place to go and forget about other things and focus on where im at this very moment- with a ball and a club and seeking the pin. When I play by myself sometimes I have the alone time to just talk to God and meditate on him and just witness his wonders through being on the course.  Its very rejuvenating, and you can spend alot of time with God on the course.

Also like in yesterday you can fellowship with others while playing.  Its always nice to have someone playing with you and golf is a sport where you can really play and have deep conversations at the same time.

I guess I just wanted to express my thanks and praise to the Lord for everything he has blessed me with and in particular right now his blessing of golf- being a positive in my life.

"Feel it in Your Heart"

Song of the week (that has been stuck inside my head)


              Feel it in your Heart- by Abandon

For lyrics click the link
http://www.newreleasetuesday.com/lyricsdetail.php?lyrics_id=67567

Luke 9:23-24

²³ Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. ²⁴ For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it.

If I/you want to truly follow Christ, then I have to die to my old self, and become new again with him. You cannot be the same person, you are a slave to Jesus Christ.  In John 3 verse 20 we have a simple but accurate explanation.  ³⁰ He must increase, but I must decrease."

Then we are to take up our cross, and that's fine.  We love wearing our cross necklace, or our cross decals on our vehicles, heck I have it tattooed on my back.  The cross is our symbol of Jesus taking on God's wrath in our place. Guess what...........that hadn't happened yet when Jesus told his disciples those verses.  The cross to them was a example of gruesome torture and death.  So Jesus was saying to them/us that we are to accept being tortured and demised and possible death?  Then he says if we are to not accept those terms and live our lives they way we want to, without him, than we are to miss out on life we have in him.  We have the option to give up our life that we cherish here and give our everything to him.  We are giving up things maybe we have tried to achieve for ourselves, maybe goals, or blessings that come our way.  BUT- we will receive his spirit, and his blessings and his heavenly treasures that we cant even imagine.  God is BIG and his blessings or beyond our understanding...it takes Faith, it takes totally reliance on him, lets deny ourselves, and be one with Christ, lets take our cross, face dangers of this world, knowing that the power of God upholds us, lets loose this life on earth and gain eternal life with him....that's like trading in 30 min episode of Growing Pains and gaining a never ending season disc of Eternal Life.

Small Groups

This last week our Sunday School class was able to separate and the girls met one night and the boys the following night.  The idea was to have some transparent talk and vision for our class and such.  For those who came I would say they agree on that time being very helpful. The fact is that we as Christians are called to fellowship together and in Sunday School the format is more geared towards teaching a lesson and there is for open talk. In Acts 2: 42-47, (http://niv.scripturetext.com/acts/2-42.htm) it gives us an description of the early followers being together. They devoted themselves to reading the word together, they ate and praised and met together, and had all things in common, and God multiplied their numbers.  Isn't that a great sign of the early church!

As Chrisitans we need accountability and transparent talks with other Christians. I can speak for guys in saying that we are a prideful flesh that fears rejection and embarrassment.  We just don't talk to anybody about our deep struggles.  We have things in our lives, that we think man I'm supposed to be a Christian I probably the only one that deals with this stuff.  THAT IS TOTALLY A LIE FROM SATAN!  See I have felt that way before, have had impurities in my life that I struggle with and I would think I cant tell anybody this, its to personal, its to embarrassing, people will think I'm sick. Whether its struggling with pornography, lying, greed, foul language, etc. these things are struggles of the flesh. and guess what.....other Christians struggle with the same thing. The truth is you need somebody to talk to for accountability. You need a brother/sister in Christ to be able to call you and ask how things are going, or be willing to answer his/her phone and listen when you need to talk.  Someone to tell you that though you fall into the traps of those sins, the conviction you feel is because of your salvation. In Issiah 42:3, 3 A bruised reed he will not break,

and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out. In faithfulness he will bring forth justice. In those traps we fall in Satan will try to come in and question our salvation, but we hold fast to verses like this. You also need someone to be honest with you, Ex. if you struggle with pornography sites- maybe you need to have them blocked and give someone else (spouse/parent) the password, or if you get around with some friends and you cant help but fall back into those conversations and words that you know dont bring gory to God and are down right foul....maybe you need to not hang with those friends.

I honestly believe small groups is the foundation of the church.  It was the foundation of the early church in Acts, and if we as Christians radically change they way we view getting together in small groups and we open up and have those transparent talks and accountability, then start reading the word together, and being prayer warriors, and putting funds together to help anyone in our group in need. Do you not think God will see that and bless that group, and that it would begin to multiply just as the early church did.

I Am Second

I stumbled across these series of videos about a year ago on Youtube, and from the first to the last, I loved everything about them. The videos show different athletes, coaches, or just important people in general giving their own personal testimonies of how God came into, changed, and continues to influence their lives for the better. They knew that with these clips that they'd be able to reach out to fans, believers or non-believers and encourage them to walk with the Lord.

For me, they really challenge me to realize that no matter who you are, a big time athlete or just a normal everyday person, that you have to put God first. There are many times in our lives where we're so consumed with our jobs, school, friends, or just anything, that we put God aside and focus on our other concerns. When really, we should always put God first because when you do that, everything else will fall into place. The videos also encourage me to just testify and give my testimony to anyone willing to listen, because no matter where you're from or what your story is, there will always be someone you can connect with who wants to listen and hopefully wants to learn more about the good news.

The video I'm attaching is of Josh Hamilton, outfielder for the Texas Rangers. Out of all the videos this is the one that spoke to me the most. It just shows that no matter what you have gone through, once you put your trust in God, then you can conquer anything and everything. If you're interested in any of the other videos, just go to Youtube and type in I Am Second . They also have a website, iamsecond.com .

Pujols Family Foundation

I am a huge St Louis Cardinals fan, so naturally I like Albert Pujols, he is one of the greatest all-time in baseball and he is on my team, not just the Cardinals, but Albert and his wife Deidre are devoted followers of Christ. They have a foundation for kids with down syndrome and the are big supporters for that cause, but what definitely struck me was the witness they share on this website, please check it out!

http://www.pujolsfamilyfoundation.org/faith/

Be still and know

This past saturday our Sisterhood group at church had a ladies retreat, Seaside Escape. It was to be an inhouse event since it was on relationship building and getting in small groups and actually talking about our doubts, fears and just fun little things about ourselves. To see it all come together was amazing! It turned out so well!

"Be still and know that I am God!"- Psalm 46:10

When was the last time any of us were really, truly still? What does it takes for you to "be still"?

-Well, if you're like me I have a toddler who is talking about everything under the sun at all times and running around like a chicken with her head cut off and she wants and needs her mommy to play with her during the day. She goes to sleep way late and wakes up with the sun! Also, I have a house that is my job to keep clean and straightened up as much as possible :) Used to I could get up when Sean does and when he leaves I could have my quiet time with the Lord but now that time is gone and it is much harder to find time to sit and "be still" and listen to the Lord.

Why would you say stillness and knowing God are linked together in the verse above?

-I think to know God is to be still and pray/talk with Him. You can't have a relationship with someone without talking to one another! That's the same way to have a relationship with the Lord, communication! We need to be in the Word often and pray to Him. Tell him what's bothering you or to help you work on things and to take your doubts and fears aways. Just tell Him you're giving it all to Him and He will gladly take it! Also, praise Him daily! Thank Him for your breath each morning and just for the little things and for the big things! Our God is an amazing and awesome God and He loves and longs to hear from His children!

- I've noticed how much I don't pay attention to things while I'm driving. I think we just need to go walking sometimes and clear our minds and just look at and watch ever little thing! Just to watch the sun rise or to set is an amazing, miraculous thing! When you see beautiful flowers or even little birds, God gave us those things to enjoy and to see how great, powerful, awesome and loving he is! We all live in this generation where it's all fast and "we want it now" but we need, myself included, to take the time to sit and be still and listen to what our Lord has to say!

- During the retreat, we had a time where we listened to a song, then to sounds of the ocean, then the song again, and were to be still, relax and to listen. Well, half way through the ocean sounds people started getting restless. The song was about 4 min and the ocean sounds were 8 min and then the 4 min again. 16 min! And we couldn't just sit there, be still, and relax! That just shows us, we need to learn to BE STILL and take the time to hear from our Father!

Be still, and know that He is God.

Be still, and know that He is holy.

Be still, oh restless soul of mine.

Bow, before the Prince of peace.

Let the noise and clamor cease.

Be still, and know that He is God.

Be still, and know that He is faithful.

Consider all that he has done.

Stand in awe, and be amazed,

And know that He

Will never change.

Be still.

Be still and know that he is God.

Be still, and know that He is God.

Be still and know that Hes is God.

Be still. Be speechless.

Be still, and know that He is God.

Be still, and know he is our Father.

Come rest your head

Upon His breast.

Listen to the rhythm of

His unfailing love,

Beating for his little ones,

Calling each of us to come.

Be still.

Be still.

-Steven Curtis Chapman

Hebrews 10:26-27

²⁶ If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, ²⁷ but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God.

I wrote this long blog out talking about this passage but i decided to delete it and just say this verse hit me in church Sunday and kind of went along with what we had talked about some in Sunday School either this week or last.

Sometimes I feel that we have a huge misconception of sin, we try to make it more legalistic instead of a heart issue.

Please feel free to comment.........