Prince of Peace

Isaiah 9:6
For to us a child is born, 
   to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon^[a] his shoulder,
   and his name shall be called^[b]
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
   Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 


This year I truly hope we will get to know Jesus as the prince of peace.  It seems to me that each year violence is becoming more prevalent, hate is showing itself in new ways, and we seem to be finding new reasons to consider war.  I pray this Christmas we can look to peace across the world.  I pray that their will be peace in each person's home, each person's family gathering, and I pray that their will be peace in each one of our hearts.  Merry Christmas.


Blessings,


Greg

The Reason for the Season

Obviously not the reason for the season but a great picture of my dog with a new toy at Christmas when she was a pup :)

Don't miss the reason for the season. This time of year is not about gifts, food, or even family. This season is about remembering the precious gift that was given to us in Jesus coming down to earth to save us. Don't lose sight of this wonderful event. If you have never recognized Jesus as savior and worshipped in the true glory of this season, accept Him into your heart today. You will never regret it. He will fill the hole in your heart and bring you a peace and joy you have never known. Trust him and truly know him today! Merry Christmas.

Blessings,

Greg

Its Beginning to Feel a Lot Like Christmas

It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas! This is not due to snow but the aura in our home and feelings in my heart. We have setup all the Christmas decorations, wrapped all the gifts, and last night started making Christmas goodies. I am so excited to spend quality time with my family. I am so excited to see the joy on each persons face as they open their gifts. I am looking forward to the wonderful food and incredibly fun conversations.

I really had a slow start this Christmas. I wasn't feeling the Christmas spirit and felt pretty detached from the season. Then we began to setup the decorations, focused on advent with our young adults and decided to make most of our gifts this year. My heart slowly began to remember the true reason for the season. I remembered how precious, simple, and poignant the Charlie Brown Christmas movie is. I remembered the beautiful act of love our Savior performed by coming to our world as a baby. I remembered the love I have been shown by my family and the wonderful Christian example that have demonstrated by their lives to me. I am so greatful and excited for such a wonderful time of the year. I hope you have a wonderful Christmas also!

Blessings,

Greg

Speaking in Christ Only

Foot in mouth syndrome is something that I struggle with greatly. The more frustrate, scared, or uncomfortable I am with a situation, the higher the possibility that I am going to say something that I shouldn't. Within the same realm of struggle, I also have difficulty speaking what I mean in a none threatening or insulting way. Many times I do not mean to insult or hurt another person but the way I word my response accidentally harms them anyway. Needless to say this has caused quite a few intense "discussions" between both my wife and I and many of my close friends.

I am reminded of the verse in James 1:19 saying, "Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger." Many of the times that I struggle with saying things I shouldn't involves either me not listening or me becoming emotional. I find that in these times I am not trusting God in my situation. Do you ever find yourself depending on only your own ability instead of letting Jesus guide you? Well if your anything like me then those times probably don't work out to well for you. I pray that I would be more like this verse in James. I pray that I can listen more and speak less. Trust in Jesus and he can help you with any weakness you encounter.

Blessings,

Greg

Endurance in Christ

Today, I spent a majority of my day cleaning because my wife's sister and her husband are coming to visit this weekend. I have to admit that the house may be cleaner tonight that it has been in a very long time. I even dusted the house, which I have to admit does not get done very often. There is something so wonderful about a clean house once everything is said and done. To be able to walk through the house with clean floors, counters, and furniture, is simply delightful.

Though a clean house is wonderful, having the motivation to clean the house is not always present. This is especially true when the house has been let go a little too long. It can be quite a task to completely clean the whole thing. You have to commit to continuing even when your tired and aching. Honestly there were plenty of times I wanted to quit today and just let my family deal with my house how it was but I compelled myself to finish the job.

There have been many times in my life where I have given up on a difficult task. I have learned as I get older that just because I want to quit doesn't mean I should. I have to fully lean on the Lord for strength and direction daily. I truly believe that without Jesus I couldn't accomplish anything. He is my strength. He is my direction. He is all I will ever need in this world.

Blessings,

Greg

Prayers Appreciated

My wife and I are dealing with some extra struggles lately.  Tonight I just ask for your prayers.  I want you all to know I appreciate each of you following this blog.  Some day soon I hope to be able to share the events of our lives in the past months.  Suffice it to say that we appreciate all the prayer you can muster.  No matter what we face, we know that God is good and with us.  Our full faith is in Him and I know he never fails.  Hebrews 11:1, "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen."

Blessings,

Greg

Resting in Christ

A picture of the beach in Florida by Jim Ivey

Tonight my body hurts all over from the end of a five day work stretch, which involved heavy lifting and moving, painting a room, and many of the other weekly task I perform.  Needless to say, I am really looking forward to my day off tomorrow.  I hope that I can be productive by cleaning up the house, finishing up gifts for Christmas, and especially taking a little bit of much needed relaxation and healing in Christ.  I know it seems that hard work develops the muscles, stamina, and character that makes us stronger but actually without rest none of these can happen.

Both the medical world and the Bible support this idea.  The medical world has done experiments and discovered that we actually grow muscle when we are resting not when we are actually working out.  The work out itself actually creates micro tears in our muscles and while we are resting is when they are repaired and made stronger.  In the beginning of the Bible we see God creating the world and after he finished creation he decided to rest on the seventh day.  If the God of the universe who needs no rest decided to rest on the seventh day, wouldn't you think it would be wise for us to do the same?

In the world we live in many of us take no time to rest.  We continue to go on and on slowly working ourselves into a shambles.  Many of us are over stressed, over worked, over tired, and under appreciated.  This is especially true for those in the ministry.  It is incredible to me that people in the church believe their ministers should respond to their every beck and call.  A minister is just like any other person and needs time with their family, time to relax, and time to develop their relationship with Jesus.

We all need to take more time for our God, ourselves, and our families.  I know many of you could give me a million reasons why you couldn't possibly take a day of rest and I'm sure they would all seem like perfectly sensible reasons.  My question to you is: do you really want to get to the end of your life when you finally realize how precious your time and life were and regret all the times you chose not to take care of yourself and your family?  If we are not taking care of ourselves mentally, physically, and spiritually, how can we expect to fully live to our full potential?  Living to our full potential in Christ requires each of us to take the time to heal and recover from the demands of this world.

I hope you will take some time to heal this week.  Sit down and breathe without fully guilty because as you do you are honoring God design for you.  Spend some time in the never ending, overflowing, completely refreshing living water of Christ.  Like my blog Painting My Heart a Fresh talked about you need to allow the Lord to heal and repair the damage you have done to yourself.  Let him smooth away the stresses, demands, and disappointments of this world.  In Christ you will alway have what you need to live this life to the fullest in Him.  All you have to do is take the time to allow Jesus to renew you and refill you with all you need for those six other days of the week.

Blessings,

Greg

Painting My Heart A Fresh

For the last three days, I have been painting a room in the place where I work to refreshen it to make it a new office.  First off I have to admit that it has been a long time since I last painted a room and it was not at a place I worked.  Painting a room at your job is quite a different task than painting a room at home.  I wanted to be sure that I did everything as professional as possible.  Painting a room this way involves many steps.  Each one is essential to producing professional results once finished.

Working on a room at a professional level requires quite a bit of heavy work.  Painting a room involves a lot of taping, mudding, sanding, cleaning, painting primer, painting the color, and possibly painting another coat.  As I did each task, I thought about how the room of my heart looks and the work that is needed to make it fresh again.  I am sure that my heart is filled with marks, holes, scratches, cracks, and more.  I would even venture to say the walls of my heart have probably been sprayed with layers of graffiti.

Each one of these blemishes requires quite a bit of time and hard work to repair.  In Ezekiel 36:26 it says, "And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh."  To me this says that God will take the room of my heart and make it new.  Through Jesus your heart becomes as if it is new and perfect instantly allowing you into heaven through the grace of Jesus also called justification.  The Holy Spirit continues the hard work of repairing your room and to bring you into the likeness of Christ called sanctification.  This is a long process and is one that is not completed while you are alive but there is such peace knowing that the Holy Spirit is constantly working in you. 


The Holy Spirit has so much work to do in my life.  There are so many ways that I don't look like Jesus.  I am a work in progress.  I'm not even sure the Holy Spirit has made it past the mudding phase especially since I keep putting new divots in the wall.  Though I have so much farther to go in my pursuit to walk like Christ, I find peace in knowing that the Holy Spirit is not done with me yet.  I am a work in progress and everyday through the work of the Spirit I become more like Jesus.  This doesn't mean I won't have my days of absolute failure but it does mean that I will never without the saving grace of Jesus or the renewing power of the Spirit.  In these assurances, I rest.


Blessings,


Greg

Tough Choices

I have found that as an adult tough choices have to be made.  It is no longer okay to do what is easiest or bury your head in the sand like an ostrich.  As an adult, the tough decisions have to be faced.  It is also true that most of the time hoping things will change produces no results.  Sometimes these tough choices have to be made to provide the best environment for your family.  Sometimes they have to be made to offer the best opportunity for healing and growth.  Sometimes these choices have to be made for no other reason than God leading you to make them.

I am beginning to so how unhealthy it is to stew in negative emotions and remained unsatisfied.  It does nobody any good when you are constantly lamenting your situation and bringing others down to your level instead of building them up.  In choosing to avoid tough decisions you are essentially telling God that the burden He has put on your heart is wrong.  Many times making tough decisions and sticking to them requires complete trust and faith in God.

If you are facing any tough decisions in you life today, I pray that you would have the courage to make them.  Spend time in prayer seeking the Lord's guidance and act when you feel Him move you to a decision.  I truly understand how hard these decisions can be.  I don't like to make them and I often doubt my final stand.  I have found that fully leaning on God is the only way to find peace in tough decisions. I ask that you pray for me in the tough decisions I face and I would love to pray for you also.  Feel free to email me anytime at realchristianwalk@gmail.com.

Blessings,

Greg

Don't Relax in Your Faith

Today I had the day off because my wife and I both had doctor's appointments we needed to go to with only one car.  I also have to work this weekend so my boss wanted me to take the day off to break up the schedule so I wouldn't be working 10 days straight.  I am so thankful that I had a break today because my back had really tightened up last night and I needed a day to allow the muscles to let go and allow me to do my job to the best of my ability.

After my wife and I finished all of our doctors appointments, I decided to take a muscle relaxer to help encourage my back to return to normal.  I know that a muscle relaxer can make you drowsy but I was not prepared for how drowsy I would feel the rest of the day.  A couple hours after taking the pill I decided to take a nap but I did not want to wake up after taking it.  I felt an intense desire to sleep.  I literally had to force myself to get up and start moving.

The rest of my evening has been one long struggle to stay awake so that I can get normal sleep tonight.  I definitely do not believe I will be taking a muscle relaxer during the day again even if I am off work with no where to go.  I do not like the feeling of my energy being drained from me.  I also do not like having to focus to keep my attention on things.

As I sit here still in my muscle relaxer stupor, I can't help but think about how my walk with Jesus feels like this sometimes.  Sometimes I struggle to stay close with Jesus.  I feel like I have no strength to walk in Him.  I feel like my mind focuses on everything but Him.  Have you ever been there?  Has the distraction of work, school, holidays, family, friends, tv, and music caused you to struggle in your walk with Christ?  Have you ever considered that maybe like my muscle relaxers these things are used by the devil to lull you away from a passionate walk with Jesus?

Unlike the muscle relaxer, the devil only has power over us when we give it to him.  We allow ourselves to walk off the narrow path.  We allow ourselves to be distracted by the many things of this world.  We take our eyes off Jesus.  The devil cannot make us do any of these things.  As followers of Jesus, the devil has no power over us.  James 1:13-14 says, "Let no one say when he is tempted, 'I am being tempted by God,' for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire."


We allow ourselves to be pulled away from Christ.  We allow the devil to have power over us.  1 Corinthians 10:13 says, "No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it."  As I had mentioned in my blog yesterday, we already know that we can do all things through Christ in Philippians 4:13.  The power we have against the devil is fully shown through John 16:33 where Jesus tells the disciples, "I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world."  


So if you are sleepily struggling in your faith, take heart because Jesus can help deliver you from any struggle you are facing.  He is strong enough to deal with any situation you find yourself in.  He is strong enough to overcome the devil's hold on you.  Just completely trust and lean upon Him (Proverbs 3:5).  Put your complete faith and assurance in Him and He will direct your paths (Proverbs 3:6).  


Blessings,


Greg

Sufficient Indeed!

You know, pain is a funny thing.  Pain can affect you emotionally, spiritually, and physically.  Sometimes pain can be to much to bear and other times pain can be something tolerated for a lifetime.  Pain can be caused by our own actions, the actions of others, and the actions of no one.  Pain is something none of us wants to experience and yet we are united through the pain we have all carried.  


I have suffered from a lot of pain in the last few years in the form of tendonitis and tight muscles.  Much of my suffering has been difficult for my doctor to fix.  I find myself managing the pain by dealing with it till the point that I can no longer handle it.  Some of my pain has been with me for more than half of my life now.  Other pains I have experienced, have lasted only short but intense moments.  


I have begged and pleading, like Paul in 2 Corinthians 12:1-10, for God to remove these thorns from my flesh and yet I feel like I have received the same answer Paul did, "My grace is sufficient for you."  I have to admit that I have not wanted to accept God's answer at times.  I don't want His grace to only be sufficient.  I want to be healed.  But I have realized the danger and error of these thoughts.  Without God's grace, my state of pain doesn't matter because ultimately I would never be with God.


It is easy for me to only focus on the pain I am experiencing and forget about the pain the Trinity has endured from me.  Jesus died on the cross because of my sin.  The Father can't even be in my presence in my sin  And I know that I have grieved the Holy Spirit in the addiction of my sins at times.  I can't even imagine the pain and betrayal God the Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit must feel each time I sin.  My pain is nothing in the grand scheme of things.  


Does this make my pain it any less real?  Does this make it any less intrusive?  I would say no but there is a peace and assurance that come from knowing that I will not experience this pain for all of eternity.  In Revelation 21:4 it says, "He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away."  Even Paul who asked for the thorn to be removed from his flesh said this in Romans 8:18, "For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us."


If you are feeling pain tonight, no matter what kind, know that there is hope.  Know that it is temporary.  Know that there is a place where it will be no more.  As far as I know, there is no promise that we will make it through this life without pain as Christians.  Even Philippians 4:13 which says, "I can do all things through him who strengthens me,"  promises we will be given all the strength we need to handle this life but does not promise it will be easy.  So also know that the Lord will always, always, always give you the strength to handle the pain even if He sees fit to not remove it from you.  I exhort you to hang in there, trust Jesus, and know that God's grace truly is sufficient for all you will face in this life.  I hope in this you will find peace.


Blessings,


Greg

Relational Breakdown

For most of my life, I have felt like a loner.  I have friends but most of them seem to be friends of convenience.  What I mean by this is friends at work, church, and through my wife.  I don't want to come across as cynical but I always feel like the friends I have are only there because of the shared connection.  I believe that I have come to this belief because of the multiple times this has been true in the many moves of my life.  I can count on one hand the friends I have in my life in whom I believe wouldn't change or disappear if I moved towns, jobs, or churches.  

I had a brief conversation at work today about one of my coworker's disdain for cars.  I made the case that cars were wonderful and that no one would really want to go back to walking and/or riding in a horse and buggy but she claimed that she would.  We continued the talk by discussing how going back to a horse and buggy time wouldn't be all bad because everything would've been much closer.  Our towns would shrink back to the horse and buggy radius.  You would only know a limited amount of people because of a limited travel ability and it would be necessary to depend on the people you knew because of these limits.

It is so hard for me to conceive of a time when everyone in a town knew everybody else.  I think for most of my life these towns have been disappearing.  With the telephone, the automobile, airplanes, and the computer, we have had the ability to travel and communicate in ways not really imagined by most of historic humanity.  Ironically in all this new found travel and communication breakthroughs most of us in the western world have actually reverted to a state of less personal and real communication and friendships.  

The distance has created more of an opportunity to not communicate instead of an opportunity to meet more people.  The cell phones, texting, internet, and more have seemingly created an impersonal form of communication that makes us feel connected and yet has succeeded to make most of our friendships superficial.  We find ourselves wanting to communicate through text, emails, and within massively multiplayer online role playing games instead of meeting people, calling people, or even picking up a pen and writing a personal message.  Many of us have become recluses from direct contact desiring to only develop deep relationships through a computer or cellphone screen.

The implications to Christianity, in my opinion, has been devastating.  Many of our friendships within the church are acquaintance level at best.  We no longer want to take the time to know how the person next to us in the pew is actually doing.  We have lost the community aspect of church.  We also have developed a great fear of deep conversation with another human being in the flesh.  The idea of having to go out meet people and tell them about Jesus terrifies the average church goer today.  

If Jesus, the disciples, Paul, and all the prophets of the Old Testament had been afraid of human interaction or having tough discussions, Christianity would not exist today.  Christianity requires relationships.  There is no other way to truly show another person the love of Jesus that resides within you.  If you find yourself falling into any of these traps that tend to pull you into yourself and away from others, I implore you to run to Jesus and pray that He open your heart to His will.  Paul said in Romans chapter 10:14-15, "How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!"

"How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news," is taken from Isaiah 52:7.  The Bible always intended for us to tell the good news to others.  This was the original purpose of the Hebrews.  They were to be the people who would demonstrated God's glory to the world.  Jesus also came to demonstrate God's glory to the world.  Through these examples we can see the importance of us demonstrating God's glory to the world.  Though I do believe that texting, Facebook, twitter, etc can have a positive influence in evangelism, a direct personal relationship will always be the most effective tool for the kingdom of Christ.  Spending the time to share your life with another and live Jesus' love to them is ultimately the most effective way to touch a person for Christ.  So I hope you will turn off you computer, cell phone, and tv for a while, even if it means taking a break from my blog ;), and go out to spend some time with people in the flesh, and share the love and salvation Jesus gave to you.  Like in the picture at the beginning of this blog, you may be the one who has the opportunity to reach down and help a brother off the steep cliff they are struggling with.

Blessings,

Greg 

Forever Faithful is my Lord

My Buddy and I through the reflection of a sunglass lens

I am so thankful that the the Lord is always faithful!  I got to see a dear friend who was deployed in Afghanistan and now home today.  It was so wonderful to see him home and looking healthy and strong.  We had fun hanging out together.  We passed our time by eating at Cracker Barrel, playing video games, and talking about his time in the middle east.  It was so delightful to see him face to face instead of only being able to communicate occasionally through Facebook.  It truly reminded me of how faithful Jesus is to protect His sheep.

Once my friend left, I spent the rest of my evening working on music for our service tomorrow.  Though I had picked out the songs, I was unsettled with the order and arrangement of the songs.  My wife and I worked on each piece together and made quite a bit of progress but I still was not satisfied with the song order.  God was so faithful to give me a call from a dear friend who informed me that she had been praying for Mel and I for two days.  He lifted my heart greatly and helped give me peace and assurance through receiving the call.  My friend prayed a wonderful prayer for us and helped us to drop our worries for the service tomorrow.

After getting off with my friend, my wife and I choose to take a break and eat some food.  It was so wonderful to truly relax for the first time today.  I enjoyed watching a show on the television while we ate and went back to the music afterward.  When I revisited the music, the Lord showed me how the order should go tomorrow.  I ran through the songs a couple times with my wife and I believe we are both at peace with the order of service for tomorrow.

I write all of this to confirm in your hearts that Jesus is so faithful to work in each of our lives.  All we have to do is fully trust in Him for guidance and direction.  Jesus is even working in each of our lives in unseen ways like my friend who had been praying for us for days because the Lord laid us on her heart.  If your struggling with something right now, I hope you will lay it at the Lord's feet and let Him do a great work in your life.  Take time to remember the Lord's faithfulness today by checking out this website: Encouraging Bible Verses.


Blessings,

Greg

Resting in Jesus

I am so thankful for the weekend.  I hope to be able to rest a while during it.  I need time to heal and I need to restore my heart and soul.  Have you ever felt so run down that every task feels like it is too much.  I am there.  Maybe it is because I am not sleeping enough  Maybe it is because I am not allow myself enough time to de-stress each night.  Maybe it is because of the injuries I sustained this week.  In reality it is because I have not spend enough time resting in my Lord and letting Him restore me lately.

If you can identify with this blog, take some time to rest in Jesus this weekend.  Let Him fill you with living water.  Let Him bring you rest.  Feel His strength as He yokes up to you and helps make your burdens light.  What a wonderful Savior we have!  If you do not have personal relationship with Jesus today, please write me because I would love to share who Jesus is so you may know Him today.

Blessings,

Greg

Making Sense of a Life Best Lived

One thing I love very much about being a maintenance technician, is the the problems in my job make sense 98% of the time.  I love putting things together, installing new products, and performing my daily tasks.  Today because of my knee injury I got to spend most of my day cleaning our new offices and putting together desks.  With the right tools, a little bit of patience, and a lot of elbow grease I am able to finish the task I have been given.

There is something so gratifying about repairing, fixing, and putting something together.  You can see the work that you accomplished.  There is no doubt when you get to the end of the day that you have accomplished something.  In my job, it is so easy to look back over my day, see what I have accomplished and know that I did good.

In my view, it is much more difficult to daily see results and often understand the problems presented by life.  I know what needs to be done and I know how to do it at my job but I am often clueless when it comes to life in general.  I want desperately to have this world figured out.  I wish that I could conquer the many challenges I face in this life but the reality is that I need help.

I rely on Jesus daily to help me navigate this life.  Many times in life, I feel like I am driving down a river to an unknown destination with no GPS or map but with Jesus as my navigator I have peace because He knows the way.  Jesus may only tell me the next segment on my journey at a time but at least I have security in knowing that He will tell me where I need to go as I need to know it.  I find complete security in knowing that even though I don't have my life figured out, Jesus does.  There is such peace in following His direction

I have heard it said many times that people who believe in Christianity are just weak people who need a crutch.  I wonder if these people would say the same thing to someone who has no leg and chooses to get a prosthetic limb.  Is that person just weak for not striving to make it in this life without the limb or is that person wise in accepting that they need help to be able to be restored again.  Following Christ is not something to do because you are weak.  Following Christ is acknowledging that without Him you cannot fully live.  Jesus is the key to your fullest and best life both now and after death.

So if you ever find yourself struggling in this life, lean on Jesus.  He will show you how you can live your best life.  Be for warned though that your best life may not include riches, material possessions, or power. Your best life may not even include all the dreams you have for yourself.  I am not saying that fulfilled dreams or material blessings are not possible in Christ but I want you to know that they aren't necessary in Christ.  Jesus will help you make some sense of your life and as you continue to walk with Him you will be able to see the results of His work in your life.  How wonderful is our Savior and Lord!

Blessings,

Greg

Sprained Knees and Christmas Quizzes

Today, I spent the better part of my day at home doing nothing.  Yesterday, I apparently strained/sprained my knee while dragging file cabinets up two flights of stairs to the new office at my work.  I knew something was wrong the moment I twisted it.  I still did some work after I hurt it hoping that I had just stepped wrong and that the pain would go away as quickly as it came.  The pain continued to escalate throughout the evening and by the morning walking was quite a chore.  As I slowly made my way in to work this morning, I did not want to tell my boss that I needed to get the knee checked out but I knew that I couldn't do another day of work like I had the day before on such an unstable knee.

My boss sent me to the doctor where I had the opportunity to wear a lovely hospital gown.  A sweet old lady came to take a picture of my knee and after that I was given the wonderful prognosis of a common knee sprain from the doctor.  The doctor was kind enough to give me work restrictions that touched on every duty I perform at my job.  As I went back to my boss and he saw that I couldn't do much, he sent me home for the day in hopes that I would feel better tomorrow.

So that is how I ended up cooped up in my house today.  I have to admit that being at home wasn't all bad since I was able to complete some rebates I had been meaning to finish, pay some bills, and work on the music selection for church on Sunday.  All in all it turned out to be a pretty decent day.  I tried to be as kind to my knee as  possible and am really hoping that it will feel significantly better in the morning.

This evening Mel and I led our young adult group.  We decided to talk with them about common family traditions they perform.  Our young adults told us about many traditions their families do including: getting together, eating ham and other wonderful foods, going to candle light christmas eve service, giving white elephant gifts, hiding a special ornament in the tree, alternating who reads the Christmas story each year, and more.  As they went on and on about the many things they do around Christmas time, it was easy to identify with many of the traditions they shared.  Some of their traditions reminded me of when I was young, others are traditions that I still continue today, and some where traditions I had never thought of.

We decided to finish the night off with a Christmas quiz that tested how well people know the scriptural account of Christmas.  I have to say that it is alarming how many things we think are true that we received from tradition and children's stories.  Many of the questions were quite difficult and I have to be honest and say that I did not do as well as I would've liked.  I was tripped up by both past tradition and a few trick questions.  I highly suggest giving the quiz an honest try and seeing how you fair.  I hope you get them all right but if you don't, there are scriptures to go with each answer so you can be better prepared next year or even for an upcoming Christmas party this year. ;D Here is the link for the quiz, A Christmas Quiz: Is it scripture or is it tradition?

Blessings,

Greg

A Wonderful Time of Thanksgiving

Hello everyone!  As most of you can tell, I took a much needed break during the Thanksgiving holiday.  My wife and I were very fortunate to be able to spend quality time with both sides of our family.  I had the added blessing of seeing my grandparents this Thanksgiving also.  This is special because my grandparents live in Tennessee and I usually only get to see them a couple times a year.

This year we did things a little different for Thanksgiving.  We decided last year to start a family rotation schedule each year.  My family would have us for the full Thanksgiving day one year and my in-laws the next.  We really had a wonderful time at each house and this year was so much less stressful since we didn't have to run between both families on Thanksgiving or worry about either family feeling jipped.  We had enough time with each family to be able to enjoy both a wonderful meal and some much needed downtime including time spent catching up on how our families are doing.

Though both my wife and I often talk with our family members multiple times each week, there is something special about spending time in person that texting and phone conversations can't match.  I always look forward to coming home and seeing the new pieces my dad has added to his collections.  I enjoy seeing what new house project my mom has embarked on and marveling how much different that part of the house looks once she is done.  I love watching my dog play with my parent's dog.  There is nothing more fun than watching the dogs play tug of war on the rug and keep away with the toys.  I love spending time catching up with each family member on how work and life are going.  I enjoy spending time with them relaxing as we watch a movie, play a game, or just sit and talk together.  I seem to have so much more fun shopping when I have my family to share the experience with too.  I can usually count on the fact that both my family and my in-laws will have computer problems for me to fix and a few household task to attend to when I come and yet I don't mind.  These simple pleasures and much more are what I cherish at each holiday vacation.

This year the food was absolutely marvelous at both my house and my in-laws.  I ate multiple helpings of turkey, stuffing, pumpkin roll, pecan chocolate chip pie, and my grandmother's sweet tea.  There was a great variety of food including cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, gravy, broccoli casserole, corn, sweet potato casserole, yam casserole, deviled eggs, pumpkin pie, chess pie, and much more.  Both families did such a great job of preparing the food and each table had it's own set of wonderful conversations and joyful partaking of the food.

As i enjoyed each part of Thanksgiving this year, I found myself truly counting the many blessing the Lord has placed in my life.  I couldn't imagine having better families.  When I am home, I feel truly loved and appreciated.  I love seeing all the parts of my family that have contributed to who I am today.  I love the security of knowing that my families are constantly praying for my wife and I.  Each time I go home, I find a new thing to love about my families.  I get to make new memories I will cherish for the rest of my life while rekindling wonderful memories of old with the ones I hold most dear.  All in all, Jesus has truly blessed my life.  I hope you had an opportunity to count your many blessings this Thanksgiving season also.  Oh and it is good to be back. ;)

Blessings,

Greg

Thankfulness

I am so thankful to be at a job this year where I do not have to fight with my boss for time off to see my family. I am so thankful that my grandparents are coming up to my parents house for Thanksgiving this year. I am so thankful for my lovely wife who is so good to me. I am so thankful that she is such a wonderful loving Christian woman. I am so thankful for wonderful best friends who are serving the Lord faithfully abroad. I am so thankful for family members who have also accepted the call to reach the world for Jesus. I am so thankful for in-laws who love and support me. I am so thankful for a sister who involves me in the best and most difficult parts of her life. I am so thankful that the Lord shows me new ways I can minster and show love to the people around me. I am so thankful that my friend Mike is coming home soon from deployment. I am thankful that I have a home to keep my family safe and warm in. I am so thankful that I get the opportunity to lead worship for the Christmas season. I am so thankful for the many friends and loved ones God has surrounded me with in the past year. I am so thankful that I serve such a loving and faithful God. Simply put, I am thankful. What are you thankful for this Thanksgiving? Blessings,Greg

Broken Past, Hopeful Future

There is a fine line between hate and love.  Unfortunately Christian history is filled with "Christians" proliferating hate in the name of love.  What seems so obvious to us today was not so simple at different points in history.  We now live in a time where everyone in the western world has access to the Bible and we each have the ability to read and understand it.  This has not been so for most of Christian history.  Imagine trying to be a follower of Christ and only getting input from a priest.  Most of the people in Christian history would not have been able to read the Bible even if it had been available to them.  There have been many times in our history where "the church" spawned more hate and murder than the most sinful of nations.  Oh how well the devil has been able to harm the world's view of Jesus through jaded followers.

I would like to believe that since we now live in an age were the Bible is readily available and accessible to all in the western world that we would no longer have the problems of our past.  Unfortunately, we all know that this is not true.  We still have people who twist the Bible and then teach their twisted perspective to willing followers who chose not to read and understand the Bible for themselves.  What is even worse is today we not only have hating, bigoted, vile people who profess Christianity, we also have many Christians today that believe Christianity is no better than any other religion and is only one way to find peace and heaven in this world.  The devil is still at work in our churches and there is still a large majority of people who have chosen not to read the Bible for themselves but to be swayed and wooed by men who intend to use the Bible for their own purposes.

Though I have to admit that I struggle greatly with both ideologies in our world today, I know that the only answer to truly battle the false teachings within the Christian realm is to truly live Christ authentically and boldly.  Hatred plus hatred does not equal love.  Vile words plus vile words does not equal peace.  judgment plus righteous anger does not equal living Jesus.  We have to live love.  We have to live truth.  We have to stand for the principles that Jesus set in place.  We have to love our enemies and let Jesus be the judge not us.  We have to be willing to humble ourselves to serve.  We have to be willing to go the second mile with the one who forced us to go the first mile. We have to be willing to lay down our lives for our brothers.  We have to be willing to sacrifice everything we are for the love Jesus lived and died for.

Jesus did not reach the world for himself by fighting the world but by dying in the place of sinners that they may have salvation available to them.  We have to learn from Jesus, Paul, and the disciples.  We have to stand up and be  different from the world.  We have to live love even when the world wants to perpetuate hate through intolerance.  We have to want to speak the truth when the world want all truth to be equal.  We have to live counter culture.  We have to authentically live Jesus daily no matter the consequences, which may include: broken relationships, lost jobs, and persecution.  Jesus intended for His followers to draw the world to Him not repel the world from Him.  It is our time to live authentically in Christ!  I challenge you to stand up and live Christ fully today.

Blessings,

Greg

Through the Eye of the Needle

Today I had to take our cats at work to the vet to get their vaccinations. In order to get the cats to the vet, I had to put them in cardboard boxes and tape the tops. Gilbert, our male cat, spent the whole drive meowing loudly and trying to escape through the hand hole in the side. When we finally got to the veterinarian, I opened up the box and Gilbert just sat there quietly in the box while the vet gave him his shots. I then closed the box again and Gilbert proceeded to begin meowing again and stuck his head out of the hand hold again. When we got back to my work, I took the box out of the car, put it on the ground, and took the top off. Even with the top off Gilbert tried to get out through the hand hold. He did not realize that I had made available to him an easier way of escape even when I petted him on the back. Ultimately my coworker pulled him out of the box and Gilbert finally was able to run off to freedom.

This got me thinking about Jesus' comments in Mark 10:25 about it being as hard for a rich man to get to heaven as a camel going through the eye of a needle. Maybe when Jesus was saying this he wasn't saying that it is impossible for a rich man to get to heaven but that most "rich people" will, like Gilbert, try to get to heaven worshipping God and the world instead at the same time instead of just letting go of the world to fully have Christ. In relation to Jesus' day most of us in America would've been considered rich.  In this world, most of us want to have our cake and eat it to.

We see how difficult fully following Jesus can be for the rich in the story of the rich young ruler just before Jesus spoke about the camel going through the eye of the needle.  Though the rich young ruler was a good and moral man, Jesus asked one more thing of him for the rich young ruler to be His follower.  Jesus asked the ruler to sell all his possession, give them to the poor, and then come follow Jesus.  In this passage the rich young ruler sadly left Jesus and was never mentioned in the Bible again.  Though I do not believe Jesus asks each of us to give up all we own, I do believe he ask that we live knowing that everything we own is His.  He has the right to demand for us to get rid of all we own if He chooses because He is the one that blessed us with our family and possessions in the first place, which is evident in the book of Job.

I believe this why Jesus taught the principle that in losing your worldly selfish life, you will find your full life in Him. There is nothing in this world that can compare to the worth of heaven and being with God. When we try to have all this world and eternal life offered by Jesus, we are essentially telling God that the eternal life with him, that He has offered us, is not sufficient or good enough for us. It is in letting go of this world and giving our complete devotion to the ways Christ that we showJesus that all we want is Him. It is not that Jesus made it difficult to get to heaven. It is that we want to get to heaven through the little hand hold with all our stuff instead of the huge open top with our lives completely surrendered to the one who gave us salvation.

Blessings,

Greg

Sheep, Goat, or Least of These?

Have you ever looked into the mirror and not recognized the person looking back at you?  I have been growing a beard and my hair out for the last month in an attempt to stay warm in the cold weather.  As I looked at myself in the mirror at work today, I marveled at how easily I could be mistaken for a bum.  This could be seen as comical in some ways but to me it opened my eyes to how we could all be one step away from the person on the street.  Every person on the street has a story.  I would even venture to guess that most of the people on the street had a normal life during an earlier stage of their life.

For many of us, this is a hard reality to accept.  It is much easier to believe the lie that all bums are there because they choose to be.  We can help develop our apathy towards people on the street by telling ourselves that they would just use the money for alcohol and drugs anyway.  Maybe you have even told yourself that giving a homeless person money would just be perpetuating a lifestyle.  Though all of these statements may be true at any given time, there is nothing in the Bible supporting the belied that we shouldn't love them anyway.  Jesus said, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means, 'I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.' For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners."  


Do we as Christians desire to teach, minister, and reach out to the sick today or do we prefer the healed who have it all together and have something to offer us?  Those who are sick, jobless, and/or unsaved are messy.  They have baggage.  They need extra support, extra love, and extra attention.  I find that many of us today, including myself, want to just be around the people who lift us up, who affirm us, and who make our lives easy and peaceful.  Dealing with the "sick," as Jesus put it, is difficult.  Jesus demonstrated he cared very much about the less fortunate.  This is best seen in the parable of the sheep and goats told by Jesus in Matthew 25:31-46.  The goats who did not care for "the least of these" were cursed to Hell.  I don't know about you but this parable brings me pause because I know there have been many times in my life I turned my back to the least of these.


As I stared in the mirror at the man before me, I realized that I'm closer to the "least of these" than I allow myself to believe.  The Lord showed me that the outside appearance does not reflect the inner heart.  The sheep before being sheared appears mangy and unkept to the world but the shearer knows that underneath that mangy wool is a beautiful innocent lamb.   We are each lambs of Jesus and he loves each one of us greatly.  Jesus looks past our outward appearance to our hearts.  As "little Christ's," we should also take the time to see past people's appearance to their heart.  I hope today you will walk with a new perspective and compassion for the different people you encounter.


Blessings,


Greg   

Fleeting Life=Perfect Opportunity

Yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.  James 4:14


In this life there are no guarantees.  None of us are guaranteed our next breath or the breath of the ones we love.  Understanding the fleeting nature of life helps us to appreciate it that much more.  Our fragility is what makes each relationship we share so much more special.  As the holiday season draws near, take the time to tell there people who have made a difference in your life what they mean to you.  Don't be afraid to share your heart with those close to you.

In the last week, we have had three people put in their resignation at work.  I look back at all the missed opportunities I had to know each one of the people leaving.  I regret not knowing them better but am thankful for the times I did get to connect with them in a small way.  I am thankful for the ways they have blessed me in my time at my job.  Though I would only call one of the people who are leaving a close friend, I am so thankful for the many things I have learned from her.  She was always there when I had a struggle and I always knew that I could talk to her about any struggles in my walk with Christ.  She affirmed me and helped me to see new ways that God could use me.

One thing that I have learned in my life of moving 10+ times, is that many people you will encounter in this life will only be close for the moments you live, work, or fellowship near them.  This is not to say that there will not be a special few that keep up with you no matter where life takes you but they are just that, a special few.  So my advice to you, as one who has learned this lesson the hard way, let people know how you feel about them today instead of looking back on the past and regretting things unsaid.  God has brought each person into your life for a reason.  I hope you will take the time to sit down and count the blessings God has given you by the friends, coworkers, and family in your life.  Maybe this year you can do something special to show them how much you appreciate the unique impact they have made on your life.

Blessings,

Greg

Most Wonderful Time of the Year

I don't know about you but Christmas and Thanksgiving are my two most favorite holidays.  I love being able to spend time with family.  I love getting to see the people I haven't seen since last year.  I love to connect, to relax, to share, and to partake in all the wonderful food.  I love these holidays because if you take the time to reflect on what they really mean, your life changes and you begin to focus back on the things that really matter like family, friends, charity, and living love.

Thanksgiving helps to redirect my heart to Jesus because I would have nothing to be thankful for without Him.  Thanksgiving brings an acute reminder in my heart that everything I have is from the Lord.  My thankfulness runs deep in the satisfaction that I have a good and loving God.  I bask in the loving family around me and the wonderful time and conversation we get to share together.  I cherish the fact that I have so many people who love me and in whom I also love greatly.

Christmas continues the process that Thanksgiving starts of realigning my heart to Jesus.  It can become so easy to get all tangled in the world throughout the year.  Our hearts get pulled in all directions by our spouses, family, jobs, errands, and our desires.  We can become so cluttered by life that we forget about the work that Jesus has done in us.  I know it is a sad prospect but I suspect that many of you have experienced piling the many worries and desires of this world in front of Jesus.  Christmas is my time to purge all of these things out of my heart again so I can see Jesus and the cross clearly again.  It is a time where I can reflect on His life and the sacrifice He made for me just in humbling himself to become a human.

I absolutely love Christmas music.  There are so many beautiful songs that bring so many new and wonderful insights into the birth of Jesus.  I love songs that tell stories of Christ's love in people being lived out authentically at Christmas.  I love to cry to songs such as Christmas Shoes and I desire the iconic white Christmas on the actual day each year.  There is absolutely no place I would rather be than with my family at Christmas.  I have quit jobs because of being hindered from spending time with my family and participating in Christmas programs at Christmas.  I love selecting or creating the perfect gift for someone and watching the joy of them opening it on Christmas day.

We have been given such a great gift in Jesus!  This world tries it's hardest to pull our hearts away from the true meaning of Thanksgiving and Christmas.  Don't get caught up in all the lights, Santa celebrations, and sales that you forget the true reason for the season.  Without Jesus there would be no Christmas.  Without Jesus there would be no reason for thankfulness or Joy.  Without Jesus there would be no salvation or understanding of true love.  Center your hearts on Jesus this holiday season.

Blessings,

Greg

Plans for Good

Have you ever received a gift that is so precious you would protect it with your life?  Have you ever been faced with the prospect of losing that gift?  On top of that have you ever been in that situation, knowing that you had no control over whether you would be able to keep the gift or not?  Well that was my day.  The more precious the gift the higher the emotional stakes are when uncertainty happens with it.  It is awful wondering what the results will be.  It is awful wondering whether you will be able to keep the gift or not.  At times like these your learn real quick that the going ons of this life are completely in the hands of God.

There were two passages in scripture that I had to hold onto today as I faced the fear of loss and pain.  The two passages were Romans 8:38-39 which says, "I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord" and Jeremiah 29:11 which says, "For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord. They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope."  I don't know about you but I find peace and strength in the promises of God.  I trust the Word and lean on it fully.  I have put my whole heart, strength, and faith in God and He has never failed me.  

God provided me with peace and certainty amidst my fears today.  God gave me unspeakable joy as he lifted my heart and showed me that He truly does have plans of good for me.  I am so thankful for the many ways God shows himself to me daily.  I am so thankful that He is ever-present and working in my life.  I pray that each person who reads this blog would know the truth of Jesus Christ as Savior and have a deep and close relationship with Jesus in their heart.  If you do not,  accept Him today.  You will never regret it.  You will never be the same again.  You will have full peace and assurance from this moment on that the God and creator of the universe is on your side and loves you.  Will you let Him in your heart today?

Blessings,

Greg

Pray

Tonight, I am thinking of my best friend, his wife, and their daughter who leave for the mission field in Spain on Monday.  I ask that you remember all the many missionaries working to bring Christ to all the nations and peoples of the world.  I ask that you pray for their safety.  I ask that you pray for courage, boldness, and protection.  I ask that you pray for protection of the heart of each missionary from temptation, from disappointment, from burnout, and from fear.  I ask that you pray for each family member in the mission field, that they would develop a strong relationship in Christ despite the sometimes difficult circumstances they are in.  I ask that you pray for the marriage of each missionary in the field.

Most of all I ask that you pray for the hearts and souls of the more than 5 Billion people in the world who do not have a life changing relationship with Jesus.  We have an epidemic of "Christian" nations today where most people do not have a relationship with Jesus Christ or know what a relationship with Jesus Christ is.  We have an epidemic today of people walking into church worshipping Jesus and then living a life devoid of any witness for Christ the rest of their week.  We have an epidemic of people believing that only ministers and missionaries have the gift to tell others about the saving grace they have received in Jesus.

Jesus said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."  All followers of Jesus Christ are His disciples.  Jesus was not only speaking to the twelve disciples when He said these words.  We have all been commanded to live out these instructions in our lives.  The Great Commission is not a calling.  The Great Commission is not a gift.  The Great Commission is not optional. I ask that you pray that more Christians would live the Great Commission in their daily lives.  I ask that you pray to Jesus and honestly ask if you are living the Great Commission in your life.  Mainly, I ask that you just pray, "to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us."  Pray.


Blessings,


Greg

Just Can't Make Up it's Mind

One of the greatest and worst attributes of Indiana is that it's weather never stays the same.  Everyone who has ever lived in Indiana has heard the phrase, "If you don't like the weather, wait a while and it will change."  This has been especially true of this fall so far.  We have had days in the thirties and days in the eighties all in the same week.  We had snow tonight and we will have temperatures of sixty-five degrees this coming Monday.  We have had days that start out freezing and become perfectly pleasant t-shirt weather and days that start out perfectly pleasant and end up frigid and windy.

Most of my job involves working outside and I have to admit that I am having trouble acclimating to the constant weather changes.  My sinuses and my ears have been all messed up.  I have been getting headaches from the weather changes also.  All of this is compounded by the fact that, even on the coldest of days, I have to walk into the house where I work and shed layers of clothing or I will be burning up because the average temperature of the house where I work is 75 degrees.  It is such a funny sight to see coworkers quickly walking to the house in essentially summer clothing even when it is freezing cold outside.

Have you ever struggled with your Christian walk feeling like this?  Sometimes you are passionate for the Word and resting in the Lord and other times you feel far from Jesus.  These mountains and valleys or hot and cold moments can make a walk so difficult.  I don't know about you but I struggle much more in these times than I do when I have a consistent daily walk with Jesus.  When I am disciplined and spend time in the Word, speaking to the Lord, and relying on Him throughout my day, week, and month, I find that I am much more at peace and centered in who I am in Christ.  This is not so when I have a day of intense prayer and devotion followed by a week of nothing.

Our walks in Christ and outward witness should not appear to the world as Indiana does with weather.  What I mean by this is that the world should not expect that how we are acting or who we are will change in the next few moments.  We should be consistent in Christ.  We should walk a life full of love, grace, faithfulness, peace, and self control.  Our walks should model a daily walk with Christ that is unhindered by the ebb and flow of the world.  We have to be so careful to make sure that we are not letting each little life crisis pull us away from our daily walk with Christ.

Through reading the Bible, spending time growing in Christ through small groups, regular church attendance, constant prayer, and complete faithfulness to Christ, we will be able to weather the ups and downs and heat waves and cold snaps of the world.  I have been working to be more consistent in Christ through following a daily bible reading plan.  I am trying to store up the words of the Bible in my heart for those times of fluctuation.  I am trying to drop to my knees in prayer when I encounter daily struggles.  I am trying to build strong Christian relationships to help give me strength in my time of struggles.  I still have a long way to go but one step is still one step.  I hope you will work to draw closer to Jesus on a daily and consistent basis also.  May Jesus help to protect and uplift you in all you encounters each day.

Blessings,

Greg