The only thing constant in life is change. Just at the moment we become comfortable with our surroundings change happens and usually happens quickly. I have had several changes happen over the last year spiritually, professionaly and even some physically.
Change is difficult for some but I have found in life that change can be as good as we choose to make it. Change gives us time for reflection on the past and time to ponder the future that awaits us. Change gives us opportunity for a new and better start to see the mistakes and/or challenges that have got us down and find new ways to overcome them.
As I have begun several changes in life this blog will change some (hopefully for the better) and I challenge you to look at your life and find things to change for a better, deeper and more meaningful relationship with God.
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Saturday, April 10, 2010
The Purpose of The Perfect Law of Liberty
What is the purpose of the law?
I posed this question the other night in Bible class wondering what most would say. Some said the purpose of the law is for order or to prevent chaos. Some said the purpose of the law is to demonstrate the authority of God. Some said the purpose of the law is to condemn sinners. Ultimately though I am persuaded that the purpose of the law is so that we can see just how much we need Jesus.
The law is called the "law of liberty". Liberty is freedom. What are we then free from? and further how can a law bring us freedom? What about rules or regulations allows someone to be free? Doesn't the very essence of rules bind instead of free? The law brings freedom from the vary things it condemns. The law is meant to point out the areas of our life where we fall short. To be sort of a magnifying glass to see each crack and each flaw.
To see each flaw is not to bring about guilt and depression but rather to see that no matter how many flaws each of us have that Jesus can fill in the cracks and smooth out the flaws. The purpose of the law then is two-fold. To expose but also to fill in. As we see just how broken we are we can also see just how much we need Jesus to put us back together. The reason then that we need to law is to open our eyes to what sin is and how that sin separates us from God. To see that we are lost without Him and how terrible that would be.
We sometimes like to use that magnifying glass to expose others faults so that we can stand to condemn them. The same way when you focus intently the magnifying glass through the sun it burns and devours rather than magnifies. When we are trying to help others see the faults we need not burn them up. It is not our place to condemn but rather to use the law to help rehabilitate. It's easy to show someone their sins and show them the wages of sin is death-Rom 6:23 but it's harder to show them the second half of Rom 6:23- "the free gift of God is eternal life" The things in life that appear to be free never really are. By the free gift of God we mean that if you can leave everything else behind and allow God to change you to be truly converted you can have eternal life.
I say all that I have said above to say this- We need to be more about rehabilitation than condemnation. You can condemn from afar but to rehabilitate you need to get up close and personal. You need to care and to love and to worry the way Paul did as he wrote letters to those brethren he helped convert that were still struggling. Condemning is easy and can be done without getting involved but people don't need condemned they need to be saved.
MPE
I posed this question the other night in Bible class wondering what most would say. Some said the purpose of the law is for order or to prevent chaos. Some said the purpose of the law is to demonstrate the authority of God. Some said the purpose of the law is to condemn sinners. Ultimately though I am persuaded that the purpose of the law is so that we can see just how much we need Jesus.
The law is called the "law of liberty". Liberty is freedom. What are we then free from? and further how can a law bring us freedom? What about rules or regulations allows someone to be free? Doesn't the very essence of rules bind instead of free? The law brings freedom from the vary things it condemns. The law is meant to point out the areas of our life where we fall short. To be sort of a magnifying glass to see each crack and each flaw.
To see each flaw is not to bring about guilt and depression but rather to see that no matter how many flaws each of us have that Jesus can fill in the cracks and smooth out the flaws. The purpose of the law then is two-fold. To expose but also to fill in. As we see just how broken we are we can also see just how much we need Jesus to put us back together. The reason then that we need to law is to open our eyes to what sin is and how that sin separates us from God. To see that we are lost without Him and how terrible that would be.
We sometimes like to use that magnifying glass to expose others faults so that we can stand to condemn them. The same way when you focus intently the magnifying glass through the sun it burns and devours rather than magnifies. When we are trying to help others see the faults we need not burn them up. It is not our place to condemn but rather to use the law to help rehabilitate. It's easy to show someone their sins and show them the wages of sin is death-Rom 6:23 but it's harder to show them the second half of Rom 6:23- "the free gift of God is eternal life" The things in life that appear to be free never really are. By the free gift of God we mean that if you can leave everything else behind and allow God to change you to be truly converted you can have eternal life.
I say all that I have said above to say this- We need to be more about rehabilitation than condemnation. You can condemn from afar but to rehabilitate you need to get up close and personal. You need to care and to love and to worry the way Paul did as he wrote letters to those brethren he helped convert that were still struggling. Condemning is easy and can be done without getting involved but people don't need condemned they need to be saved.
MPE
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
The Right Way is Usually the Easiest
My father use to tell me all the time that it is just easier to do the right thing. His reasoning went something like this- if you steal then you have to lie to cover it up, then you have to tell another lie for that lie and the web grows thicker and thicker. As a child growing up I always liked to challenge this theory to see what I could get away with when my idea of right didn't add up to his. Pretty soon I found out that I ended up working twice as hard as I needed to in order to "get by with something".
When I take this basic philosophy that Dad had to the scriptures I find that God also said similar things. "There is a way that seems right to a man but it's end is death" (Prov 14:12), "A little leaven leavens the whole lump" (1 Cor 5:6) and others I could point to that shows when we try and change or go around God's way we end up in a mess that could and should have been avoided had we just done things the right way.
I am mindful of marriages that haven't been "taken care of" over the years that come to an end with bitterness and divorce. People who once took a vow to love one another and support one another: "in sickness and in health for richer or poorer", that now 25 years later don't know each other and don't really like who they or the other person has become.
I am mindful of congregations who still have no leadership because men don't take care of what they should throughout the years. Groups that have a median age of 60+ and no men qualified to serve as one of the Lord's elders. When we are young we believe we are invincible and lie to ourselves saying: "I'll settle down when I get older", or "what I do now has no effect on my family or our future". Sure we don't see the problems that we create when we skip worshipping with the saints for vacation or ball games or the Superbowl or just because we don't see Sunday nights, Wednesday nights or gospel meetings as "mandatory". What message do we send our children and our families when we lead them this way? Is it any wonder why many after their children are grown and leave the nest wonder why they aren't faithful. Wonder what could have gone wrong- I still come why don't they?
It is easier to fix our marriages and our worship services when we "work as we go" instead of trying to play "catch up" years later. I always tell those that work for me to get me involved when it's a problem before it becomes a mess. Problems can be fixed-messes need to be cleaned up. I challenge all those that are reading this to devote time now to working on your marriage and to preparing yourself for service in the kingdom. Don't look back on your life and try to fix it or wonder what if. Today is the day for us to work- tomorrow may never come and yesterday is already gone.
We can choose to do things God's way-The right way or we can choose to go our way-the hard way. I hope that we can heed the warning my father gave me- The right way is the easiest.
MPE
When I take this basic philosophy that Dad had to the scriptures I find that God also said similar things. "There is a way that seems right to a man but it's end is death" (Prov 14:12), "A little leaven leavens the whole lump" (1 Cor 5:6) and others I could point to that shows when we try and change or go around God's way we end up in a mess that could and should have been avoided had we just done things the right way.
I am mindful of marriages that haven't been "taken care of" over the years that come to an end with bitterness and divorce. People who once took a vow to love one another and support one another: "in sickness and in health for richer or poorer", that now 25 years later don't know each other and don't really like who they or the other person has become.
I am mindful of congregations who still have no leadership because men don't take care of what they should throughout the years. Groups that have a median age of 60+ and no men qualified to serve as one of the Lord's elders. When we are young we believe we are invincible and lie to ourselves saying: "I'll settle down when I get older", or "what I do now has no effect on my family or our future". Sure we don't see the problems that we create when we skip worshipping with the saints for vacation or ball games or the Superbowl or just because we don't see Sunday nights, Wednesday nights or gospel meetings as "mandatory". What message do we send our children and our families when we lead them this way? Is it any wonder why many after their children are grown and leave the nest wonder why they aren't faithful. Wonder what could have gone wrong- I still come why don't they?
It is easier to fix our marriages and our worship services when we "work as we go" instead of trying to play "catch up" years later. I always tell those that work for me to get me involved when it's a problem before it becomes a mess. Problems can be fixed-messes need to be cleaned up. I challenge all those that are reading this to devote time now to working on your marriage and to preparing yourself for service in the kingdom. Don't look back on your life and try to fix it or wonder what if. Today is the day for us to work- tomorrow may never come and yesterday is already gone.
We can choose to do things God's way-The right way or we can choose to go our way-the hard way. I hope that we can heed the warning my father gave me- The right way is the easiest.
MPE
Sunday, January 3, 2010
And the Song Remembers When
It's amazing to me how much we can connect through music. Our Heavenly Father told us to "speak to one another in psalms, hymns and spirtual songs teaching and encouraging one another" (Eph 5:17; Col 3:16) Is it any wonder that when certain songs we hear envoke emotion, cause us to reflect or take us back in time? Our creator and designer knows how our minds and hearts work. He understands that there is something inate within our minds that connects songs to events and memories.
A little while back a good friend of mine who sings barbershop invited me to a performance they were having nearby. My wife and I went to support him and have a good time hanging out with friends. They sang the song "Homeward bound" by Marta Keen. The song is based on a soldier writing home to comfort his family that he would find a way to come home again. Today while going over my lesson on Grace that I will be preaching in the morning that song has been stuck in my head and on my mind. Maybe it's because we had a singing tonight in Harrodsburg and I have been thinking of what songs I would lead. Maybe it's that often I think of songs that line up with my lesson to have our song leaders lead for us prior to the sermon. For whatever reason it continues to resonate within me.
The lyrics are as follows:
In the quiet misty morning when the moon has gone to bed,
When the sparrows stop their singing and the sky is clear and red.
When the summer’s ceased its gleaming,
When the corn is past its prime,
When adventure’s lost its meaning,
I’ll be homeward bound in time.
Bind me not to the pasture, chain me not to the plow.
Set me free to find my calling and I’ll return to you somehow.
If you find it’s me you're missing, if you’re hoping I’ll return.
To your thoughts I’ll soon be list’ning, and in the road I’ll stop and turn.
Then the wind will set me racing as my journey nears its end.
And the path I’ll be retracing when I’m homeward bound again.
Bind me not to the pasture, chain me not to the plow.
Set me free to find my calling and I’ll return to you somehow.
In the quiet misty morning when the moon has gone to bed,
When the sparrows stop their singing,
I’ll be homeward bound again.
-Music and Lyrics by Marta Keen
You can put it into youtube and find several videos that will give you the a true feeling for the song and maybe a better understanding of why it resonates within me.
I am not military-never been don't think I could do it but very thankful for those who can. This song doesn't bring me the feelings that many may have about soldiers going home. The feelings I have are about going home to heaven. It's a difficult life here on earth. A quick look around will give you plenty evidence of sorry, pain and woe that make me long to go to Jesus as Paul said "Is far better" Phil 1. To think about this life coming to an end for things to get better not worse a longing to be with my Lord and Savior a longing to be homeward bound.
I think of the lyrics "Bind me not to the pasture, chain me not to the plow.
Set me free to find my calling and I’ll return to you somehow" makes me think of letting go of our inhibitions in order to find our place in the kingdom. Find our what our "calling" is and how we can be useful in service to the Master. Our friends and family that we may have to leave behind while we pursue service to our God can be united again with us when they are obedient to the gospel call. If our lives are lost here they can be united with us in the home forever more.
A beautiful song with a great message. Please let me know what songs take you back to a place and time or ones that help you to refocus.
MPE
A little while back a good friend of mine who sings barbershop invited me to a performance they were having nearby. My wife and I went to support him and have a good time hanging out with friends. They sang the song "Homeward bound" by Marta Keen. The song is based on a soldier writing home to comfort his family that he would find a way to come home again. Today while going over my lesson on Grace that I will be preaching in the morning that song has been stuck in my head and on my mind. Maybe it's because we had a singing tonight in Harrodsburg and I have been thinking of what songs I would lead. Maybe it's that often I think of songs that line up with my lesson to have our song leaders lead for us prior to the sermon. For whatever reason it continues to resonate within me.
The lyrics are as follows:
In the quiet misty morning when the moon has gone to bed,
When the sparrows stop their singing and the sky is clear and red.
When the summer’s ceased its gleaming,
When the corn is past its prime,
When adventure’s lost its meaning,
I’ll be homeward bound in time.
Bind me not to the pasture, chain me not to the plow.
Set me free to find my calling and I’ll return to you somehow.
If you find it’s me you're missing, if you’re hoping I’ll return.
To your thoughts I’ll soon be list’ning, and in the road I’ll stop and turn.
Then the wind will set me racing as my journey nears its end.
And the path I’ll be retracing when I’m homeward bound again.
Bind me not to the pasture, chain me not to the plow.
Set me free to find my calling and I’ll return to you somehow.
In the quiet misty morning when the moon has gone to bed,
When the sparrows stop their singing,
I’ll be homeward bound again.
-Music and Lyrics by Marta Keen
You can put it into youtube and find several videos that will give you the a true feeling for the song and maybe a better understanding of why it resonates within me.
I am not military-never been don't think I could do it but very thankful for those who can. This song doesn't bring me the feelings that many may have about soldiers going home. The feelings I have are about going home to heaven. It's a difficult life here on earth. A quick look around will give you plenty evidence of sorry, pain and woe that make me long to go to Jesus as Paul said "Is far better" Phil 1. To think about this life coming to an end for things to get better not worse a longing to be with my Lord and Savior a longing to be homeward bound.
I think of the lyrics "Bind me not to the pasture, chain me not to the plow.
Set me free to find my calling and I’ll return to you somehow" makes me think of letting go of our inhibitions in order to find our place in the kingdom. Find our what our "calling" is and how we can be useful in service to the Master. Our friends and family that we may have to leave behind while we pursue service to our God can be united again with us when they are obedient to the gospel call. If our lives are lost here they can be united with us in the home forever more.
A beautiful song with a great message. Please let me know what songs take you back to a place and time or ones that help you to refocus.
MPE
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