To Hate or Not to Hate

Do you ever have trouble accepting someone?  Maybe you have been deeply hurt, cheated, or ignored.  Perhaps the person may just be awkward to be around.

Consider Paul the Apostle.  Before becoming a Christ follower Paul was infamous for killing Christians.  Fear struck Christians when they heard Saul (Paul’s name prior to his Jesus encounter) was in town.  Can you even imagine how hard it would be for other Christians to believe this man was now advancing the Gospel?

Paul did many things to advance the Gospel, including writing half of the New Testament.  His mode of operation went from trying to destroy the Church, to church planting across the known world.

John 13:34 says, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.”

No matter how bad we have been hurt, we are to accept others for we are all one in Christ.

Book Review – Saint Francis

Saint Francis is someone in history that has always peeked my interest.  Perhaps you may know him by his famous hymn All Creatures of Our God and King.  Here are some lyrics:

All creatures of our God and King
Lift up your voice and with us sing,
Alleluia! Alleluia!
Thou burning sun with golden beam,
Thou silver moon with softer gleam!
O praise Him! O praise Him!
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

Robert West’s book, Saint Francis, is part of a series published by Thomas Nelson looking at famous figures throughout history.  As with any novel about a historical figure, you cannot believe everything that happens and every conversation you read is fact.  Most of West’s points are backed up with external references, however, adding to the validity of this novel.

If you are looking for a good book to read about an interesting character in history, check this out.  It is not too big, so expect to blow this book in a couple of days.  Maybe you can learn a thing or two from this man’s life.

Extending the Family

It seems that the three of us will soon be the four (or five?) of us.  We found out a couple of weeks ago that our family is going to grow.  I could not be more excited!  My wife is not really looking forward to process over the next nine months, but I can safely say that we are both excited about the new kiddo.

If you have any name ideas, please post them in the comments.  My wife wants Gilgamesh for a boy, but I told her that’s too medieval.  Just look at the picture of the dude, no way I’m naming my kid after that guy.  Although, he does have a sweet beard.

My wife’s grandmother was a twin, so there is a slight possibility we will have twins.  At this point we do not really want twins, but that is not really for us to decide.

So it looks like we will have two diapers to change early next year.  We’re sure on the due date, but hopefully that will be figured out relatively soon.  Either way, I can’t wait for our family to grow yet again.

You Are My Joy

This is a worship song I wrote.  Enjoy.  Use.  Share.

Supporting a Corrupt Government?

Yesterday, Matt preached about the role of a Christ-follower in relation to the government.  He had some very Biblical points that we can all learn from.  If you want to listen sermon titled “David & Saul.”

I wanted to follow this up because of an email I received this morning.  The email talked about a ‘new stamp’ that President Obama commissioned the USPS to print.  Perhaps you have received a similar message at some point.  After doing some research I found the email to be a mix of lies and truth. (read the Snopes article)  The following are three points that are from the Snopes article, logic, and the Bible.

1) The stamp was actually introduced on September 1, 2001 as part of the USPS Holiday Celebration Series.  That’s 10 days BEFORE the September 11^th tragedy.  Obama was not the US President at that point.

2) Most Muslims are not evil.  Most Muslims do not commit hate crimes.  If you remember, the Oklahoma bombing in 1995 was done by a Christian hate group.  They claimed to be Christian (but as you and I should know, this was definitely not a Christian thing by any means).  So we can’t be prejudice against Muslims in a country that esteems itself in religious freedom.  Do I agree with Muslim teaching?  No, I am a solid Christ-follower.  But this is government stuff we’re discussing.

3) Probably most important, I think all of us (including myself) need to stop bashing the government, no matter who is residing.  Even if we do not agree with what they are doing, God put them there for a reason. We need to pray for them.  Check out these three verses.

Romans 13:1 – Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established—the authorities that exist have been established by God.

1 Peter 2:13-15 – Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every authority instituted among men: whether to the king, as the supreme authority, or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right. For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men.

1 Timothy 2:1-2 -  I urge then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercessions and thanksgiving be made, for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.

As a Christ-follower I need to pray for and support our government officials.

In all of the current government affairs going on, it’s easy for some to get discouraged.  In fact, when the election was happening I was following it all and decided to stop because it was depressing and frustrating.  My peace comes in knowing that I serve a much higher authority, Jesus Christ.

I’m not trying to fight against a particular party, so please don’t read this blog in that way.  The fact is that God calls us to something different, something greater.