2013 Year in Tweets

Well, it is December 31st so it must be time for the obligatory look back at the year that was.  Last year I grabbed some of my favorite pictures from the year and while I have plenty of pictures from 2013, I thought this year I would do a recap using some of my tweets (posts from Twitter for those of you that don't know what a tweet is) from the past year.  Thanks to all who follow me on Twitter, hopefully you manage to get something useful out of the things that I tweet.  Well, here it goes...

5 Jan      

"We wait in hope for the Lord; he is our help and our shield" If your hope is in anyone else it is false hope http://bible.us/Ps33.20.NIV84 

12 Jan

Amazingly blessed to have been married to my wife for 17yrs today #morethanideserve

28 Jan

A shield doesn't do you any good in battle unless you have it w/ you and actually use it. #Godisgood http://bible.us/59/pro.30.5.esv

8 Feb

Part 2 of date day, Kerry Park http://instagr.am/p/Ve4arTP86e/

15 Feb

How often do you look straight up. Well here is a shot straight up in downtown Seattle http://instagr.am/p/Vxa5GqP85j/

16 Feb

".why do you stand looking into the sky?" Has God called u to something but u r standing around? #doit http://bible.us/100/act.1.11.nasb 

20 Feb

ANY change to THE gospel makes it no longer THE gospel. b careful of false teaching / selfish desires they r a quick path to a false gospel

6 Mar

Having one of those days where "customer service" isn't much of a service to this customer

17 Mar

Way 2 go Bearcats. Great group of young men that I was blessed to coach pic.twitter.com/aGYeauSSAK

28 Mar

"We are saved from our sin ultimately because Jesus decided to do something 2000 years ago" - David Platt, Follow me #dyingtolive

3 Apr

Every day that includes Dick's Drive-in is a good day http://instagram.com/p/XqBzpeP84I/

9 Apr

Good article about the danger of watching people's "perfect" lives on facebook, twitter, instagram, etc. http://www.relevantmagazine.com/culture/tech/stop-instagramming-your-perfect-life …

9 Apr

When does McDonald's qualify as a trendy study spot? When you are in Sultan http://instagram.com/p/X59vkuP8yx/

22 Apr

Know someone who is adopting internationally? Watch #Stuck and get a glimpse of what they r going through. Lets get these kids #unstuck

7 May

History of Christian Music compilation performed by @yeshuam02 and @aaronpday These guys rocked it http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3uZ-zBITqkc&feature=youtu.be …

18 May

They wanted Jesus 2 leave bcuz He was cramping their style. Do u want 2 be like Him or want Him 2 b like u? http://bible.us/59/mat.8.34.esv

29 May

God didn't send Jesus to condemn us, we were already tried and convicted. He came to get us off of death row http://bible.us/59/jhn.3.17.esv

10 Jun

Jesus knows something about this. U can only do it if u love others more than u love yourself #truelove http://bible.us/59/jhn.15.13.esv …

15 Jun

Graduation time with my nephew #proudmoment http://instagram.com/p/alsQtsv83Q/

20 Jun

Mariners blow a 7-0 lead with Felix on the mound...must mean one thing... #FootballSeasonIsComing

3 Jul

Sin promises joy, happiness, fun... but leads to death. God promises eternal life through Jesus and He delivers on His promises Rom 6:23

13 Jul

Check out this awesome float for our VBS http://instagram.com/p/bttGyRP8__/

15 Jul

14u Koufax State Champions http://instagram.com/p/b0CmZXP89J/

31 Jul

When wearing #Husky gear what else would you order at #TheRam then the Husky Pounder, one pound of… http://instagram.com/p/cdJNztv85v/

8 Aug

Lakeview Drive-In on the way out of Chelan #yum #doublemack http://instagram.com/p/cxgbxNv8-1/

13 Aug

It's more important 2 follow God than 2 look like u follow God. Where do u need to stop pretending? #Mark7 http://bible.com/59/mrk.7.6.esv

30 Aug

Things heard on 1st century basketball courts - "U cant even untie the strap of my sandals" #looseparaphrase #Luke3:16

5 Sep

Jesus spent all night talking to God, why do I have trouble going longer than 5 minutes? #Luke6 #PerspectiveChange

17 Sep

Salt that loses its saltiness is not even good enough for the manure pile (Luke 14:34-35) If we r the salt of the earth, this is a heads up

12 Oct

My boy @JD2Eight & his awesome date @Holland_Aucoin getting pictures b4 their 1st #homecoming #havefun #allgrownup pic.twitter.com/DOKl0ITM4F

20 Oct

Great hike to Cathedral Rock in Sedona today http://instagram.com/p/ftv4J5v8_T/

24 Oct

this morning I managed 2 accomplish something I've never done before...how many days can you say that when you're 38? #speedingticket #GoMe

1 Nov

Doing some research 4 my sermon this week and remembered #ForeverLazy pajama suits. Does anyone actually own one of these? #stopthemadness

1 Nov

I must be doing a good job as a father, while watching #USCvsORST my daughter is whistling the #USC fight song without even knowing it

5 Dec

Check out this sweet video from @CrosswaterCC and join us for our new series on Sunday #regift http://vimeo.com/81016930

12 Dec

I would just like to take a minute to express my love for the WA State Health Exchange website #amazing #governmentsuccessstory

30 Dec

What r your fears? Now, remember that God didn't give us a spirit of fear but of #Power, #Love & #Selfcontrol (2 Tim 1:7) Live from that!

 

 

Well congratulations if you made it this far, as you can see, there are a whole lot of other people on Twitter that are more interesting than me.  But, if you want some bible verses, food pictures and sports information, I'm your guy. 

 

2013 wasn't a perfect year for me but it was a very good year.  I hope that you had a good year as well and hope that you will have an even better year in 2014 drawing closer to Jesus.  Happy New Year!!

Life Lessons from a Sandwich Shop IV: Are You Happy?

Are you happy?  That's a pretty common question, right?  Answering it, however, seems to be much more difficult.  There are so many things that we must consider when answering.  While I haven't done any extensive research (or really any research), it seems, from general observation, that the more people have, the less happy they are.  Why is that?  Is it the amount of time and effort that they had to put in to get the stuff?  Is it the fear of losing the stuff?  Is it the realization that all the stuff doesn't really deliver on the promise of happiness?  We seem to get stuck in this cycle of wanting/needing the next thing in order to be happy.  Have you noticed that an unhappy person always seems to have an answer as to what will make them happy.  When they finally have ________, then they will be happy.  Too often, however, even if they get whatever that thing is, they still aren't happy and it is the next thing that will truly make them happy.

While on a mission trip to Nicaragua several years ago, I was struck by the joy of the people we came into contact with.  We were working in a small village where the homes were in worse shape then our garden/yard sheds, yet these people seemed content and even happy.  Is it possible that it isn't our stuff or even our circumstances that bring happiness?

This topic has been heavy on my mind recently as I have been thinking about how many Christians (including myself) live their lives.  Jesus says in John 10:10 that He has "come that they may have life and have it to the full", yet, so often we don't live as though that is true.  Too often we live in fear or in apathy rather than in the abundant life that Christ offers to us.  Why?  Life is hard and life is messy and following Jesus doesn't change that, but it should change our response to it.  What would happen if those professing faith in Jesus Christ lived in a way that proved that faith to be real?  Not a life based on circumstances but a life of faith in the One who can overcome any circumstance.  How would your life be different if you were to focus on Him and not on your circumstances?

Remember "The happiest people don't have the best of everything, they just make the best of everything".

If you want to read the previous "Life Lessons from a Sandwich Shop", you can find them here:

Lesson I
Lesson II
Lesson III

"Right" In Our Own Eyes

It has been awhile since I have posted one of our Part Time Heroes devotionals on the blog but thought I would do so again today as we are winding up the devotional this week.  If you want to see other days, check out our facebook page https://www.facebook.com/CrosswaterChurch

 

Week 8, Day 2 – Read Judges 14:1-3 

Do you ever have to be told to do what you want to do?  Probably not, in fact, it’s pretty likely that doing what you want comes naturally and that you don’t need a lot of coercion.  That doesn’t mean that there aren’t times where we must show some restraint and not act on every impulse that comes to mind as well as times where we do things that we know we need to do.  Just like with Samson in today’s reading, doing what is right in our own eyes is pretty common.  There is much teaching and thought in society today that we should do what makes us happy, what we feel is right and that others shouldn’t tell us what is right or wrong.  But what happens when doing right in our eyes conflicts with what someone else thinks is right?  Is it still right?  As we have seen throughout the book of Judges, the Israelites had no problem doing right in their own eyes.  But, we have also seen the consequences of their actions.  Doing right in our own eyes may feel good, it might make us happy, but ultimately, if it isn’t what is right in God’s eyes, it will lead to destruction.  God alone is holy and pure and righteous so it is God alone that determines what is right.  Today, ask God to show you where you are doing what is right in your own eyes that doesn’t match up with what he says is right?  Ask Him to give you the eyes to see His way and the strength to follow Him in it.

Don't Keep It To Yourself

Day 4- Please read Judges 3:26-30

Ehud didn’t just rest on one act of obedience and heroism, he called others to join him. Are you keeping GOD’s great work in and through you to yourself? Whom are you telling about GOD’s good news? Whom are you leading in following the LORD? It is easy to rest on one victory and not continue to follow GOD’s leading into continuous victory. Take Ehud’s example to heart today, be encouraged to “sound the trumpet” and keep following the LORD. Don’t forget to invite others to join you.

God Uses The Overlooked

Day 3- Please read Judges 3:16-25

No doubt this passage is…different J GOD uses all kinds of people and all kinds of circumstances to make all kinds of changes. Ehud was “a left-handed man” which in his society was considered a handy-cap (he actually may have been unable to use his right hand). It is encouraging to know that GOD can and does use people whom the world overlooks for HIS glory and purposes. What in your life seems to be a “disability”, “problem” or “handy-cap” that might be keeping you from doing great things for GOD? Please take time to ask GOD for a new perspective and ability to see what you have in life as opportunity to serve GOD and others. Nobody saw Ehud as a threat, but GOD used him as a deliverer. This is common for GOD. Trust HIM.

S.O.S.

Day 2- Please read Judges 3:15

“Cried out to the LORD” Israel was in big trouble and they cried to GOD. When was the last time you sent GOD an “SOS” call for help? How did HE answer? Where in your life would you like to experience GOD’s help today? Maybe it is on behalf of someone else that you are crying out to GOD. Please take time right now to cry out to GOD and then listen for HIM to respond, watch for HIS hand of deliverance, wait on the LORD.

Consequences

Week 3

Day 1- Please read Judges 3:12-14

Consequences! At the least, consequences are bothersome and frustrating; at the most they are overwhelming, oppressive and painful. In actuality, GOD has made consequences a blessing. For example, you find yourself speeding while driving, an officer also finds you speeding while driving. He pulls you over; you either get a warning or a ticket. Now, we all are pulling for the warning, but realistically, the ticket gets our attention much more effectively. A very easy argument can be made that a ticket will help curb speeding more than a lecture will. How about a car accident being more effective in curbing speeding than a ticket (although if you were at fault you’d get both)? Either way consequences are an opportunity to change behaviors (maybe even your heart) that are harmful to yourself and others. Rather than fight consequences, learn from it, be changed by it, thank GOD for it. Proverbs 3:11-12 says it like this; My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline, and do not resent HIS rebuke, because the Lord disciplines those HE loves, as a father the son he delights in.

Definition of Insanity

Day 5- Please read Judges 3:12

Remember that definition of insanity, doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results? As we have previously seen, Israel repeatedly “did evil in the sight of the LORD” and every time they were disciplined for it. With today’s verse we see the definition of insanity being played out…again. Take time today to pray and evaluate if you have an “insanity cycle” going on in your life. Are you stuck in a cycle of repeated disobedience to GOD? Maybe it is in relationships with others; anger, immorality, jealousy or ignoring a good you can do. Maybe it is in what you are doing with your money or not doing with your money. Maybe it is something entirely different. If the LORD brings something to mind, ask for forgiveness, repent (stop doing it and start obeying GOD) and begin to enjoy the breaking of that “insanity cycle”.

Peace and Rest

Day 4 – Read Judges 3:10-11

Do you feel rested?  Life is hectic and peace or rest can be elusive with all that is going on in our lives.  Rest and peace were pretty elusive for the Israelites as well but not because they had too much going on, but instead, because they were frequently turning away from God.  Could that be our problem too?  Is it possible that we don’t feel rested or at peace because our focus isn’t on God?  There are certainly things that we must do (i.e., work, pay bills, buy groceries, etc.) but so much of our time is filled with other things that seem to take priority over God.  When the Israelites turned to God and followed Him, they had rest and peace.  Take a look at your priorities today, where is God on that list?  Make it a priority to spend time with God; in His word, in conversation.  Make Him THE priority and ask Him to give you peace and rest.

Cry Out

Day 3 – Read Judges 3:9

Who do you cry out to when you are in trouble or hurting?  Do you turn to yourself or to God?  The Israelites “did evil in the eyes of the Lord” and the “anger of the Lord burned against” them.  As a result, God allowed them to be subjected to the rule of others for eight years.  The text doesn’t make it clear when the Israelites cried out to God but the implication is that after eight years they cried out to God.  What about you?  Have you ever cried out to God and admitted that you need help, that you can’t save yourself?  Too often, we get into a mess and we try to fix it ourselves and maybe when we have exhausted all of the options that we can see, then we turn to God.  Why do we do that?  Why do we wait to turn to God?  Did you notice what happened when the Israelites finally turned to God?  He sent them a deliverer that saved them.  Don’t you think they would have liked to have been saved sooner?  God loves us and longs for us to be safe.  We may not ever be subject to others like the Israelites were here, but, without the saving grace of Jesus, we are slaves to sin.  God has sent us a deliverer as well.  If we were subject to slavery, we wouldn’t refuse to be saved, yet, so many people refuse to be delivered from the bondage that they are in.  Are you stuck in sin?  Have you refused to be delivered from the mess that we all have been born into?  God sent us a deliverer in His son, Jesus Christ.  Stop trying to rescue yourself and turn to the ONE who can deliver you.

Why Are You Angry?

Day 2 – Read Judges 3:8

What do you get angry about?  It is pretty easy to get angry or frustrated about things, isn’t it?  Some people have a really long list of things that they are angry about and others go with the flow and aren’t bothered by as much.  Whether you are easily angered or not, we all get angry at times.  Jesus says in the Sermon on the Mount “that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment” (Matthew 5:22).  So is there such a thing as righteous anger or anger that is justified?  Certainly if God gets angry, like He does in today’s passage, or if Jesus gets angry, like He did in the temple when He overturned tables, then there must be times when it is okay to be angry, right?  Frequently in the book of Judges, God’s people continue to turn from Him and disobey His commands causing Him to become angry with them.  But, is it OK for God to be angry? God's people have repeatedly turned their backs on Him and done evil and because God is a loving and good father, He allows His people to suffer the consequences of their behavior.  God loves us and because He loves us, He will allow us to do our own thing, even if that is turning from Him.  But, He also loves us enough to take us back and forgive us as soon as we ask Him to.

What do you get angry about?  Why are you angry about those things?  There are many things that make us angry but too often we get angry because we aren't getting what WE want.  Those instances tend to lead to responses that are different from what God models to us.  While we are sometimes right to be angry, our response should be one of love.  Ask God to reveal to you where you are wrong in your anger and your responses to your anger.  As He reveals those areas, repent, seek forgiveness if necessary and ask Him to change your heart.

Out of Brokeness

Day 1- Read Judges 3:7

As we continue in the book of Judges, we will see that this is a recurring theme for the Israelites.  Unfortunately, it is a recurring theme for us as well.  As we talked about last week, evil is anything that is not in God’s will and because we are, at best, a work in progress, we won’t be free from doing evil until we go to Jesus or until He comes back.  Since the fall of Adam and Eve in Eden, we have been broken.  Our nature is to do our own thing and some of us choose to live in that brokenness and either not care that we are broken, not know that we are broken or refuse to believe that we are broken.  Others of us realize that we are broken and know that there has to be more but we aren’t sure where to find it.  Others of us know we are broken and recognize Jesus as the only way out of that brokenness. Whether we recognize our brokenness, our evil, or not, doesn’t change the fact that just as the Israelites did before us, we too do evil in the sight of the Lord.  Take an honest look at your life.  Where are you doing evil in the sight of the Lord?  Confess that to Him and ask Him to help you overcome those sins and struggles and to keep your eyes fixed on Him.  The good news is that this doesn’t have to be the end of our story.

Undeserved Gifts

Day 5 – Read Judges 2:18-19

Have you ever received a gift that felt undeserved? We’re talking seriously unwarranted here.  Maybe you even deserved some sort of punishment but you received a gift instead.  How did you respond or how would you respond?  In today’s reading we see the amazing response of God to the continual turning away of His people.  The Israelites time and time again turned away from God and did their own thing and while God allowed them to do that and at times allowed them to suffer the consequences, He is so loving and kind that He extended them grace.  The Israelites did nothing to deserve the grace of God.  Sure, there were times when they followed Him, but there were also plenty of times when they turned away from Him.  What about you, what is your response to unmerited grace?  Shouldn’t the response change based on the magnitude of the gift?  As we wrap up the first week of this devotional and get ready to move into 7 more weeks looking at the book of Judges, know this; you are loved by the creator of the universe.  The same God who extended this grace to the Israelites has extended His grace to us through His son Jesus Christ.  Do you respond like the Israelites in verse 19 or do you respond with a life of obedience and gratitude to God?

What/Who Do You Worship?

Day 4 – Read Judges 2:11-17

Do you know any who worships or serves Baal?  What about the Ashtaroth?  Probably not.  In fact, it is likely that most people who admit to worshipping anything, would say that they worship God.  As a result, today, we mostly think of idol worship as something that happened in the past.  Similarly, most people would admit that there is evil in our society but would probably also feel that evil is largely isolated to a small percentage of “bad” people and isn’t exhibited by the majority of people.  We tend to have pretty small specific boxes for things like idol worship and evil.  Idol worship includes little gold figures that we bow to and evil is reserved for things like murder, rape, kidnapping and molestation.  But those are narrow views of idolatry and evil.  If you were to do an honest assessment of our society, what would you say we worship?  Is it God, or something(s) else?  The truth is, God is on the list of many, many things that we worship but He is far from the only thing.  We worship all sorts of things like; people, T.V., movies, sex, sports, food, cars, money, success……  We were created to worship and we all do it and sometimes God is the object of that worship but rarely is He THE object of our worship.  While we underestimate the number of things we worship, we also tend to minimize what we consider evil.  Usually evil is stuff that other people do but not stuff that we ourselves do.  But really, evil is anything outside of God’s plan, aka sin, all sin.  Take some time to think about your life; are you worshipping anything other than God (i.e., your family, your hobbies, your money, your stuff, etc.), are you ignoring God’s will in any area of your life?  When/if God reveals things to you, repent of those things and ask God to help you worship Him alone and follow His will for your life.

Fill Up and Pour Out

Day 3 – Read Judges 2:6-10

Have you ever taught a person or a group of people a lesson or a skill and then later (weeks, months, years) see them act/behave/live as if they had never even heard the topic let alone be specifically taught that lesson or skill?  If you are a teacher, coach and/or parent, you are probably responding with a resounding yes.  This is a frustrating situation that unfortunately is all too common.  So who is to blame?  Did the teacher do a bad job teaching or did the student do a bad job learning?  In today’s reading we read that Joshua and his generation served the Lord and knew of His great work, yet, the following generation neither knew the Lord or what He had done.  How does that happen?  Did Joshua and his generation do a great job of following but a bad job of leading?  Or, did the next generation do a bad job of paying attention and learning?  The answer is likely….both!  What a great reminder for us today though.  We are not merely called to be disciples of Jesus, but instead, disciple making disciples.  Part of following Jesus is to reach other people for Jesus and teaching them to obey Him.  Who are you pouring into?  Ask God to show you who you can be praying for, telling about Jesus and helping them to follow Jesus.  But we also don’t have all of the answers and we all need help ourselves.  Who can you learn from?  Ask God to show you who you can walk with to learn what it means to follow Jesus.  We can’t make someone decide to follow Jesus and then live out that decision.  However, if we strive to be poured into and to pour into others, we won’t repeat the tragedy of a generation growing up without knowing the Lord or of His great works.

Partial Obedience is Disobedience

Day 2 – Read Judges 1:27-36

Have you ever done something half way?  Probably a silly question, haven’t we all cut corners or done part of a job without completely finishing it?  A better question is probably, what were the results?  Perhaps you did something half way and nobody ever knew.  Or, perhaps you did half the job but made it look like the whole job was done by covering some things up.  Sooner or later the half job tends to get exposed and often times ends up creating even more work and/or damage than if it had just been done fully and correctly in the first place.  The Israelites were told by God to drive the inhabitants of the Promised Land completely out but as we read, they didn’t do that, they allowed them to stay in the land.  We don’t know why the Israelites disobeyed this command maybe; they were too lazy, too tired, too compassionate, etc.  Maybe they thought God’s command was unfair, even mean.  Whatever it was, they only did part of what God told them to do.  That’s a dangerous place to be; partial obedience.  To a lot of people, the Bible feels old and outdated so we take it upon ourselves to make updates.  We decide which parts God really really means and which parts are open to our “updates”.  This results in partial obedience to God.  We live in a culture that tends to pick and choose which parts of the Bible we are going to believe/follow and which parts we are going to disregard.  Are you partially following God?  Ask God to reveal any areas where you are only partially following Him and as He reveals those, ask Him to help you follow Him completely because parital obedience is really disobedience.

Who Will Go?

Throughout our series on the book of Judges, "Part-time Heroes: Ordinary People, Extraordinary God" we will be offering a daily devotional here on the blog that corresponds with the sermon from the previous Sunday.  This past Sunday we did an overview/intro of Judges from chapter 2 of Judges, so this week the devotions will come from the first couple of chapters.

Day 1 – Read Judges 1:1

Think of someone that you have followed.  Maybe it was a parent, perhaps a coach, maybe a mentor or boss.  We have all followed someone or probably even multiple people at various stages of our life.  But what happens when we are no longer able to follow that person?  Hopefully, the person we’ve been following has prepared us to no longer need them; they have readied us to act on our own behalf knowing that some day we wouldn’t have them to rely on.  The Israelites had been following Joshua and had been beneficiaries of his victories against the Canaanites.  However, part of what God had told the Israelites to do, occupy Canaanite territory, hadn’t yet been completed and their leader was now gone.  What were they to do?  Had Joshua prepared them to face the challenges ahead or had he done everything for them?  We all can and should learn from others, but, there is a difference between following to learn and following so we don’t have to do anything ourselves.  The same is true in our relationship with Jesus.  It is easy to allow others to go before God for us (a pastor, spouse, friend, parent, etc.); they pray, they read/study and then summarize it and wrap it up in a bow for us while we don’t do anything on our own other than listen to them.  While those things can be helpful in guiding us and teaching us, God wants us to come to Him directly, to pursue Him directly.  Go to God now and ask Him to lead you and show you where He wants you to pursue Him more deeply.

When Being Right is Wrong

I like to be right.  Let's be honest, so do you.  What may be different about you is how much you defend your rightness.  I have a character flaw that causes me to defend my rightness like a lawyer defending their client (my wife can corroborate my testimony here).  Generally speaking, being right is a good thing, after all, I don't think it would be good for society if we had the majority of people running around being wrong about everything.  However, there is a difference between simply being right about something and making sure that everyone knows you are right about something.  The latter is really a pride issue.  Don't get me wrong, I think there are times when we must stand up and fight for what is right, but in my experience, my defense of rightness is usually not about one of those instances where fighting is warranted.

Case in point...I recently had an encounter with a less than friendly customer service representative for a company that sold my church some books.  In this encounter, I explained the situation and when I didn't get the response that I was looking for and felt that I deserved, I proceeded to defend my stance, my rightness (yes I am aware that rightness is not actually a word) at an increasing level of volume and frustration.  My debate skills and valid arguments did nothing to further my case with this "customer service" person and even though I felt I proved that I was right, I still didn't get what I wanted.

The real whack to my pride came moments later when I sat down to read some scripture.  Everything was fine until I came to Philippians 1:27 which says; "Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ." (NIV 1984)  After reading this, I immediately thought of my interaction on the phone moments before and then I began to think about other arguments and/or disagreements that I have had recently.  Too often my focus can be on winning the argument, on proving my point, or on making sure that I am heard instead of focusing on the other person's feelings/thoughts/concerns/etc.  Then came the realization that when I do that, I am not conducting myself in a manner worthy of the gospel of Jesus Christ.  Instead, I am conducting myself in a manner worth of myself. 

When my focus is on my rightness, I am giving glory to myself instead of giving glory to God.  While I may be right in some of these circumstances as far as the argument or the details go, I am actually wrong in my spirit and in my heart.  While I certainly won't change overnight, my goal in all areas of my life is to "live in a manner worthy of the gospel of Jesus Christ" which means that my focus can't be on being right but instead of giving Jesus glory by interacting with others in a way that represents Him well.

God Uses the "Unclean"

Last week a young man came into our church office and wanted to be prayed for.  Although slightly inconvenient, since we were getting ready to close up and head for home, this scenario is at least part of the reason we have an office at all and certainly something within the job description of a pastor.  While we knew this young man as someone who would occasionally come to our office for some candy and/or some coffee, we had never known him to want prayer.  He was always nice to us in the office but he lived a hard life at least somewhat on the streets involved in drugs and alcohol with questionable acquaintances to say the least.  This was not the type of person that we would typically expect to learn spiritual lessons from.

As our lead pastor and I sat to pray for this man, we quickly realized that he didn't want us to pray, he really wanted to do the talking.  So he proceeded to talk to God and I began to get a lesson from God on compassion and humility.  My heart was wrong from the very beginning as I was worried about what I needed to do next and how soon I would need to be leaving.  I saw this situation as an obligation, as a duty of a pastor.  When he started to pray, I began to wonder how long this would take and quickly was put off by the language he was using to talk to God.  I would never think to talk to God the way this man was.  His language wasn't suitable for any environment (even though it is used in most) and I would certainly never talk to God that way.

Then it happened, I was deeply and fully convicted by my arrogance.  This man was pouring his heart out to God in a way that I rarely do, he just happened to be using different words.  He was having a deep heartfelt conversation, debate even, with the God who made him and loves him more than anyone else ever could.  I was struck by the rawness, the openness, the authenticity that you just don't hear in most prayers that aren't in the book of Psalms.  I was reminded that God is concerned with our heart not our outward appearance, not the use of proper words and certainly not the attempts to look pure or righteous before Him.  God doesn't love me any more than this man because I dress a certain way, speak a certain way, follow certain rules or because I am a pastor.  God loves me the same as he loves this man.  He sent His Son, Jesus, for this man AND for me.

On that day last week, my heart was shaped to be more like Jesus' and God used a homeless, drug addicted, foul mouthed man to do it.  And I know that he can use someone just as "unclean" to reach others, He can use me!