Comeback Kiddos

Being a father is one of the most important things in my life. I am the proud dad of 4 boys, and things are always CRAZY. In the fast pace of life that goes on today we as parents tend to let the T.V. raise our kids. It is the easy way out, we sit with them and play video games and pass that off as "quality time." One of the most rewarding things to do with your children is to get them involved in the outdoors. Take them camping or fishing, introduce them to what God has given to us. Too many dads are not involved in the raising of their kids, they simply take the back seat to mom and allow her to teach the boys how to be a man? How involved are you? Why not take some time during the week to turn off the T.V. and spend some real quality time with your kids. This will be a tuff time for some of us because we have allowed the T.V. to take over for so long, and the kids will complain and get bored, but hang in there and take back your children.

Running the Race!

I know that I have written about this before but I think that it is imperative that we understand the need of the running! Here recently I have jumped on the ban wagon of the newest fitness fad around, P90X. Does it work? You better believe it does, but it is hard and takes commitment in order to see results. Just simply getting the videos does nothing, you must push play and make it a part of your life in order to see the changes you want. So far I have lost 22lbs! I am determined to change my lifestyle and to run the race the best that I can.

The writer of Hebrews tells us in chapter 12:1 "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us." In this verse we can see a few important steps to take in order to run the race.

1. Surround yourself with godly people.

This is very important, because these are the ones that are going to motivate you and keep you running. My lovely wife works out with me in the P90X program and tells me how good I am doing.

2. Shed the hangups that keep you from running. This I think will help you run better and faster in this godly race. The things we need to shed are the sins "that so easily entangle us." How can we ever run if we are tangled up? Have you ever tried to work out with jeans on? It is very hard to do. Get rid of those sins that are keeping you from God.

3. Don't Quit! "Run with perseverance" that means in spite of the ungodly world we live in, don't stop running. Things are going to "pop" up to slow you down, but we must push through.

Be encouraged all of you! Verse 3 says "Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and loose heart.

God Bless!

Snake in the Grass!

I can remember when I was a boy and my father would take me deer hunting at Table Rock Mountain in NC. We shared some great memories on that mountain and one in particular stands out in my mind today. It was the morning hunt and it was early Sept when the temps are still high enough for snakes to be out. Dad and I had walked to our stands. His stand was first so I had to make the next 400-500yd walk on my own. (when your 10 and 11 it was scary walking alone in the dark!) I came to my tree stand and climbed in. At lunch time I always met my dad and we had lunch before the evening hunt. As I was walking to dad's stand the thought of my ham sandwich was on my mind when the ground below me came to life. I froze mid step and noticed a large copperhead snake at my feet.(The copperhead snake is very poisonous) I only had a bow and arrow no gun so I did not know what to do. After what seemed like 20mins I just ran, I passed my dad who joined me running because he though a bear was chasing me. When we got to the truck both of us were breathing hard I told dad what had happened. We still laugh about it to this day. I say all that to say this, we never know when the devil is going to try and attack us. Sometimes we are just walking along thinking of a ham sandwich and boom were are in his trap. The bible tells us that the devil is like a "roaring lion looking for someone to devour." Keep your eyes open and be ready for the snake in the grass.

Get Busy!

Lots of times through our day to day walk with Jesus we get side tracked with our own priorities. I once heard "if God answered all you request in your prayers would you see a difference in your world or in every ones world?" Time and time again we are told in the Scriptures to be people of action or what James calls "doers". Do you do things for others with nothing in return? What a joy and blessing it is to serve others. Peter tells us in 1 Peter 4:10 that "each has received a gift, use it to serve one another." What Peter is saying is that every person has a gift from God, a talent, maybe its baking or singing whatever it is God has given it to you. Peter goes on to say that we serve others "so that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ." Enough said! Get Busy!

The Only Way In!

I had spent the entire summer scouting out a new hunting area and I could not wait till fall. As the leaves stared to change colors I knew it was getting time to go to that spot where I had scouted earlier. One afternoon I was able to take off early and hit the woods. As I pulled my truck off the road I loaded my treestand on my back grabbed my bow and started thought the woods. As I got closer the woods got thicker and thicker until I could not go any further. I needed to get through all this thick stuff in order to get to that perfect spot so I tried to walk around it with no luck, I tried to go through it but it was impossible with the treestand on my back. The only way I was getting through was leaving all my stuff behind and crawling through.

This is the way Christ explains entering into the Kingdom of heaven, He says " Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life and few find it." (Matt. 7: 13-14)

Christ is making it clear that only a few will find the narrow door and that we must strive to enter through it. This means that its not easy. A rich man asked Christ how he could enter and Jesus told him to sell all that he had but the man could not do it. He wanted to enter in with all his "stuff." We need to set our own "stuff" aside and let Christ conform our lives.

Who Do You Worship?

Did you know that we are created to worship? When God created man He created him to worship and obey, and not only that but God told Adam and Eve to "be fruitful and multiply"(Gen. 1:22) meaning to fill the earth with worshipers! Did you ever look at it that way? We are to have children and to make disciples of them, talking with them about God "when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise." (Deut. 6:7b) In other words what we say and what we do show our kids how much we love and trust God. What does your actions say? Getting back to the point, we are created to worship and most of us worship without ever knowing it. We choose to worship ourselves by chasing money and fame and our lustful desires and put God on the back burner. If you are living a life of self worship you are called to repent (change the way you are living) and worship God only! Stand up like Joshua and shout out "as for me and my house, WE WILL SERVE THE LORD!" (Joshua 24:15b) Now is the time to start and its never to late to return, run to King Jesus and choose to worship Him!

The Consequences of Sin

Sin, if we get right down to is nothing but selfishness! We act in a way that is pleasing to our self with no regard to those that our sin will effect. But the sins that we commit don't only hurt us but those around us as well. Many times in my past I have committed sins that "rocked" my whole household, at the time I acted on these sins I was only thinking of myself and not the ones that were innocent but yet suffered. There is a clear outline of this in 2 Samuel 11, here we see selfishness rise up in king David.
The Sin
It happened, late one afternoon, when David arose from his couch and was walking on the roof of the king's house, that he saw from the roof a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful. And David sent and inquired about the woman. And one said "Is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?" So David sent messengers and took her, and she came to him, and he lay with her. (Now she had been purifying herself from her uncleanness.) Then she returned to her house. And the woman conceived, and she sent and told David, "I am pregnant. (2 Sam 11:2-5)
Wow this wonderful man of God has fallen into the trap of selfish sin. And his sinful behavior would effect everyone around him. After David tried to cover up his actions he murders the husband of Bathsheba, and the child that was conceived as a result of the sin was also effected with death. What had David done? What could David do? Well from time to time we all find our self in David's position, it might not be as bad as committing adultery, but we all will find that our sins lead us down a path of separation from God. David did what we also should do, he returned to the loving arms of God. Psalm 51 records David's prayer after he had sinned with Bathsheba.
In his prayer he pleads to God to wash him clean from his sins, and to restore in him a clean heart. This is what we need to do, we don't just say "I'm sorry" and go on like nothing happened. We must return to the loving arms of King Jesus, he is waiting for you. Romans 6:23 says "For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."