7holycrap Holy Crap, Jesus thoughts, Life Lessons, Living Like a true Christian

Solving Anemic Christianity

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I changed the way I do devotions and it has absolutely revolutionized my life! That may sound like an overstatement but the things I feel like God is showing me now in my quiet time has jumped exponentially.

I would have people tell me that they wake up early in the morning to spend time with Jesus and I would think, “That sounds like some kind of religious activity to make yourself feel more spiritual than everyone else.” Then I decided to wake up early a couple of months ago and doubled down by starting to journal as well! Journaling was something else that seemed so foreign to me when people would say it is good to write things down in your quiet time. I am not a writer by trade and even the fact that I wrote a book is more of a miracle than it is a simple obedient exercise of retelling what I went through with my eye. And now that I think about what helps me be the man of God that he wants me to be I could never think of my life being WITHOUT getting up early to do devotions and journaling. Even my journaling is something that works for me. I don’t sit and write multiple pages in a book but use intentionality with meaningful things that I feel God reveals.

I always read something in scripture and then ask the Holy Spirit to illuminate the Bible in some way. I also write down the names and needs of people every day and sometimes God uses that exercise to write something.

Even though I now do television, I have been a licensed pastor for over 25 years and so my devotion time went the way of prayer, reading the Bible, God sharing something with me in that time and then I would instantly equate those ideas and thoughts with new and ground-breaking sermons to share with the world.

After about a month of doing my devotions with journaling, I felt like God told me that when I only think of others when he shares something with me that I actually CHEAPEN my time with Him. That doesn’t sound     very spiritual to “keep things God shares to yourself and not share those things with others.” I would actually say that ALL the things God shares with me would make a bunch of great sermons but that those words he shares in my quiet time are for ME. They are not just for my impulsion to share what Jesus says to me with others. Growing up in church for so many years has possibly programmed me to think that the obvious process is God shares something with me, I package it and then share it with whoever will listen to change their lives and get them to ask Jesus into their heart. There is NOTHING wrong with sharing Jesus with lost people who don’t know how much God loves them, but we need to realize that when God shares something with us in our quiet time we need to first meditate on it and hold it as a precious gift. Now I am not saying that everything God shares with me in my quiet time never makes it out of my devotion time but that I always honor what God tells me as a holy moment between me and Him.

The form or timing of your personal time with Jesus may look different than mine, but I will say that it is necessary and that there is certainly something to setting your day in the right direction and writing down deep impressions given to you by God. The point is that I believe a contributing factor to the anemic Godly actions of Christians in our culture today is not from the Bible losing its power or Jesus’ concern for the lost waning, but a lack of a MEANINGFUL personal time with Jesus in the lives of believers. We each need to be spending that time with Jesus so that we can know our personal part in bringing the Gospel to the people around us but also bringing vibrancy to OUR relationship to Jesus. How can we tell others about a relationship with Jesus if we cannot be that example in our relationship with him?

Praying for you to have INTENTIONAL time with Christ that not only changes you but everyone you come in contact with today.

7holycrap Holy Crap, Jesus thoughts

Did You Just Start or Stop Praying for The President? Not Good

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This will be my one and only political-type blog, so enjoy.
The level of vitriol on social media and in the news has been over the top concerning politics. Friendships are being destroyed and families are stressed to untold levels from opinions about politics. I am not minimizing the passion from either side and their viewpoints but bringing up a bigger issue; only praying for the President when it is convenient and you agree with his or her (yes, I think there will be a woman president at some point in my lifetime) viewpoint is not Biblical.

As followers of Christ, we are instructed in 1 Timothy 2:1-3 to pray for our leaders and the language used was fairly comprehensive. Check it out.

1 Timothy 2:1-3
2 I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people— 2 for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. 3 This is good, and pleases God our Savior, (NIV)

I would say that “petitions, prayers, intercession, and thanksgiving” pretty much covers it all when it comes to lifting up all people (including leaders) in prayer. It doesn’t say, “…for the King and authorities that you agree with politically…” but refers to all those in positions of authority. In fact, I don’t see “political affiliation” in ANY scripture in the Bible, only values that we need to esteem and strive for in our lives.

When I pray for someone it does not justify what they have done or do but puts ME in a place of authority to pray that God’s will be done in their lives. If we think that personal anger will change things in people’s lives we are mistaken. (Check out James 1:20 for this bit of truth) This signifies that our hope is not in the leadership over our country but in the one who has the power and ability to change hearts and direct lives. Of course we can voice our concern for things that line up with our Biblical values, but we need to be careful that those values are coming from Christ and not from a political party.

The Bible is replete with examples of God advancing and taking care of his people no matter WHO was over them. This was proof that God wanted and wants those who follow him to make sure they are not looking to earthly leadership for their identity but praying for those who lead them with eyes focusing on Him!

Have a great day!

7holycrap Jesus thoughts, Uncategorized

I Prayed for You, Yes YOU!

prayingGuy
If you are reading this post, right now and at this very moment, you have been prayed for. As I type this post I am praying for each person that visits my website and needs to know that someone cares to pray for them to hang on one more day and find a functioning relationship with God. The cool thing about prayer is that it doesn’t need to be happening the moment someone has a need. It is a conversation with God that says, “God, whatever you have cookin up in heaven, make it also so down here with your glory, provision, direction and hope for people when they need it and not based on when I think it should be given.” That is JUST a teenie weenie smidgen of the awesomeness of God.
Love you all and know you have been PRAYED for.

7holycrap Jesus thoughts, Life Lessons

Casual Christianity Sucks – Three Points for Lovers of Jesus to Live By

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I posted a blog about the times that are changing for someone to be a “casual Christian” and the events of the day moving people to know what they believe and what they are willing to lay down their lives for. We have seen this more often oversees with Christians being rounded up by groups like ISIS and killed because they are followers of Christ. It seems that we do not have a problem with freedom of religion in the United States but a problem with freedom of Christianity and I think I know why.

1. Don’t be surprised when people who are not followers of Christ don’t understand why you love them the way you do.
Many times in the media, and just in our culture, the focus is normally on how people identifying themselves as Christians judge others instead of how they (should be) loving others. We all follow rules in life. It can be seen in the clothes we wear, the cars we drive, the sports teams we cheer for or the places we work. The key difference is that as a true follower of Christ we need to love like Jesus, tell the truth like Jesus and let Him be the only watermark for our actions. This is only seen in the Bible and the instruction it gives. If you don’t know the Bible then you don’t know how to love people.

2. Don’t just love people, also tell them what you believe.
These two things don’t have to be mutually exclusive. I cannot recall an instance in the Bible where Jesus expressed true life-changing love without providing that person with knowing the truth about what he came to do, which was to alter the destiny that they were convinced was either their lot in life or made them the most happy. That was why Jesus was the anomaly when it came to loving people; he loved louder and more than ANYONE else but it didn’t stop at just expressing love and helping people feel accepted and listened to. It was about a difference of opinion to help people consider if what they were choosing for their life really was the best path. I believe there are many well-meaning Christians in this world that are trying to convince people what they are doing is wrong without loving them first. This method has never led to ANYONE truly giving God control of their life. It is a form of manipulation and it’s wrong.
Love, Listen, Lead – Love FIRST, Listen to where people are in life and then Lead them to Jesus (with your actions and words if necessary 🙂 (Click Here to see resources for people who have basic questions about Christianity)

3. Don’t think it’s your responsibility alone to get everyone to heaven.
Many times, especially if you grew up in church, we forget that it is the Holy Spirit’s job to draw people to Christ and not our convincing words. I have mentioned this before in other blogs, but it is important to understand that we are each just a part of the greater process that is the miracle of someone giving Jesus control of their life AND their destiny. I am not on this earth just to help people think that it’s important to give Jesus control of their life while here on earth, I want to be an agent of change for people’s destinies!

Have a great week and know that God will give you the ability to live a successful life on this earth loving people but still being able to disagree with life choices. Just make sure that your love for people is deafening. There is NO GREATER LOVE than loving someone who hates you. THAT is the true love of Jesus that this world needs and the only thing that will shock people out of where they are to where God wants them to be.

7holycrap Jesus thoughts

The Easter Weekend Day with No Name

  

Everyone knows Good Friday and Easter Sunday but what about today? Saturday, in the Easter weekend, is the day that bridges the gap between Jesus being crucified and raising from the dead.  I mentioned on a Facebook post yesterday that Good Friday is the day of hope in knowing that God is cookin things behind the scenes even when you think things are over. To me, today represents the importance of patience and waitng on God and HANGING ON to that hope of a heavenly plan in the face of silence. I think back on my life and how many times I have made “good” decisions and not “God” decisions because I was impatient instead of waiting on the victory Jesus had for me. My personality is one of impatience at times. Wanting to “help God out” with good actions instead of praying and waitng on Him and his timing. Silence with God is not always a “yes” or a “no” but literally a “wait” which is against our culture of  “now” and instant gratification. Today, think about your life and the things you have not seen come to completion. Just as yesterday was a day of hope that God is working behind the scenes on your behalf, today needs to be the day of learning patience and waitng on the victory! Have a great Saturday and enjoy your Easter Sunday tomorrow! Praying for you.

7holycrap Jesus thoughts, Life Lessons

Asking God for the BIG Things

keep-calm-and-ask-god-for-big-thingsI woke up this am, turned on my Kindle and read a devotion that just changed my thinking about prayer and asking God for things. I know that sounds like an overstatement but this devotion was so life-changing that I felt like it needed to be shared in a blog post. It was in my Smith Wigglesworth devotional and it said, “Begin to believe in extravagant asking, believing that God is pleased when you ask LARGE things.” For whatever reason, this concept has been foreign to me and I am not sure why. When I think of asking God for things the logical thought would be to ask for smaller things, He answers them and that builds your faith to believe for the big things. But I believe that is opposite to what God wants us to do and ask. Asking for things outside of our ability is probably just what God WANTS us to ask for because it is proof that we need HIM to accomplish the goal!
I think something that helped my thinking this am is helping Yolanda with the Children’s ministry at our church. When you are a child you don’t have a concept of what your parents can or can’t do. Plus, you are in a position to ask and believe without thinking you will be able to do anything to get what you are asking for. Simply asking and believing God should be an ageless goal and routine. But as adults, we are tainted by our own abilities to get things done instead of truly asking God then believing what his Word says. On Sunday’s, we normally make time at the end of worship to ask the kids if God spoke something to them and then have them pray over the group. I tell them every week that we are not babysitting them and that they have an ability to ask and believe God without being jaded by living too many years on the earth.
Today, I pray you have a renaissance of child-like faith in asking God for BIG things and then knowing that he takes pleasure in you asking.  When you ask for things that you know you cannot do, then God sees you trusting in HIS power and not in your own. Praying for you my friends and believing for GREAT things today!

7holycrap Jesus thoughts

Darkness in our World versus the Light of Christ

hope_in_DarknessIf there is anything NOT to do first thing in the morning anymore is watching/reading the news of the darkness rising in our world. With all of the ISIS news, especially about Christian’s being persecuted, it can become sad with a feeling of helplessness. Then today I was looking through and cleaning up notes on my phone and ran across my grandma’s graveside service I did a few years ago. I scrolled down and noticed a line that I felt God gave me while preparing back then and I wanted to share a few thoughts with you.

I was referencing Psalms 23 and the verse that says “…even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear NO evil” and I shared the statement, “don’t STAY in the valley of the shadow of death. Walk THROUGH it.”

Today, maybe you are in a “valley of the shadow of death” that looks familiar and a place you will never be able to leave. Some people feel it’s necessary to “set up shop” in a valley of death in life and leverage that environment while learning to exist IN that valley. Maybe your “valley of death” is the loss of a loved one or maybe it is a plan that you had formulated for your life that just didn’t work out quite the way you had hoped. The verse in Psalms does not say “…even though I LIVE in a valley of the shadow of death….”. The Bible has been given to us to bring encouragement, direction and correction which is all for our good. There is so much truth and wisdom in the Bible if we will only open it up, read it and then APPLY it to our lives. Only then can we see the Word’s full power on display for others to see. The darkness in this world is only increasing and the “light” that followers of Christ are able to bring in valleys of darkness have never been more important than they are right now! We also need to not be so consumed with our own “darkness” personally that we forget to provide prayer cover for those in areas of the world who are dealing with a darkness that many of us will never understand. When we continue to WALK with God’s help THROUGH darkness and pray for others and the darkness they encounter, we have a strategy for success!

Have a great rest of the week and know that I’m praying and believing the best for you.

7holycrap Jesus thoughts

Some Old Books Contain Timeless Truths

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Anyone who works from an office and has a lot of books will realize something very interesting when you have to move to a new area; you will find books in your collection that are out of date. I have acquired not only books myself through the years but also a full library from my mother-in-law when she died which had ones she got from a pastor friend when he died.

I have always had more books than shelf space through the years and moving into my new office was no different. It was time for me to go through my books and pair down the ones that I was probably not going to use or read anymore. When I was working full time in church as a pastor I would get books from people like George Barna or whoever the “stat” guy/girl was who was talking about why people do what they do in relation to the church and God. I found all kinds of “how to” books on doing things to get people into church but the dates were from 1998, 2003 and a couple from 2010. The thing I realized when I was holding those books is that they were out of date and, in general, irrelevant at this time in history.

Then I came across 2 Bibles that had dates signed in them from 1910 and 1907. Two books that were almost 100 years old and still had relevant truth, timelessness teachings and powerful words to change lives and alter destinies. A book that I try to implement in my life everyday to the point that I have a question that I am going to ask myself starting in 2015. It is the simple statement, “will what I do/say right now give Jesus a good name?”

The teachings of the Bible have shaped me and molded me into the person I am today and will stay with me until I am no longer on this earth. Men through the ages have been known for many things but I want to only be known for living the truths of the Bible out in my life. That is the legacy I want to leave on this earth and to know that I bettered the lives of those I came in contact with from a life-giving, life-changing and life-empowering book, known only as the Bible.

7holycrap Jesus thoughts, Life Lessons

The Time it takes to Compliment Someone

I went running this morning and was thinking about ways to show the love of Jesus to people that I meet. One idea that I had was to make a running shirt that says “Stop me if you need prayer” on the front so that people will see it and I can interact if they want. Then I was thinking about the amount of time it takes to compliment someone about anything. I tried out my little “mental experiment” with a lady who was walking her dog and told her she had a pretty dog. Her eyes lit up and she said, “thank you!” I also saw a lady who lived in a beautiful house right off of the trail and told her that she had a beautiful house and she said, “thanks!” Those two smiles and compliments took less that two seconds each!

Now there is something you need to understand if you don’t live in or are from Colorado. People are not so friendly when it comes to being on their property or at their house. But when you meet or greet them outside on trails hiking or running, skiing at any one of many ski hills or just walking out in the sun, people are just different and much more friendly. I knew this from living here for almost fourteen years and understanding the culture.

The point I’m trying to make is to always remember one simple fact when considering your ability to be like Christ on this earth; we are all just part of the process. This sounds like a “duh” statement but it is really profound if you think about what it means. I truly believe that we get so caught up in the last step of someone giving his or her life over to Jesus. We forget we are part of a greater plan and need to realize that even small acts of kindness can lead to a person’s life being forever changed by giving God control of how they live their life. We never know how being kind to someone or something as simple as a compliment is going to be a catalyst to put them in a better mood and for the next person being obedient to God being able to talk about what Jesus did for them and planting another positive seed in their life.

So basically those two simple compliments were, quite possibly, the two most important interactions I had all day and took less that two seconds each! What an incredible shift from looking only at the result of the actions we take on this earth with our walks with God to just being obedient in the moment and trusting God for the results and letting Him get the glory.

Have a great rest of the week and know that I am praying for God’s love and Holy Spirit to guide and direct what you do in the moment and that you will learn to leave the rest up to Him.

7holycrap Jesus thoughts, Life Lessons

The “Actions” of Love or the “Act” of Loving?

1 Corinthians 13:1-7 is such an amazing and powerful portion of the Bible. Here is the Message version of that section of scripture.
13 If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don’t love, I’m nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate.
2 If I speak God’s Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, “Jump,” and it jumps, but I don’t love, I’m nothing.3-7
If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don’t love, I’ve gotten nowhere.
So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love.

1 Corinthians 13 is known as the “love chapter” of the Bible and has the best description, in my opinion, of the kind of love we need to have and the kinds of “Godly actions” that can get in the way of that true love.  Growing up in church all my life and going to college to be a pastor, I can say that I was programed quite well to “speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy, speak God’s Word with power, have faith to move mountains and even the importance of giving to the poor and the awesome act of giving up ones life for their faith if necessary.  The problem is that many times those Christian truths in my life as a follower of Christ get in the way of me just “loving like Jesus.”

I am not saying that the Godly actions above are wrong, just that the motivation behind love is what always needs to be checked.  If you are a follower of Christ and working on the former things I mentioned without regarding love, then you are, as the Bible puts it, a “creaking rusty, nothing, nowhere, bankrupt individual.”  I don’t want to do all the things that make me look “religious” in this life and at the same time undermine my relationship with Jesus, which is really more important than anything else to me.

I know that it is hard to love others sometimes in the world we live in but I can say that I have never regretted being motivated by love in my actions versus being motivated by anger or hate. As I have said before, if it was good enough for Jesus to love even the people nailing Him to a cross I think I could “squeak out” a few acts of love to the people around me. 🙂