Hometown

Hometown. After a harrowing journey on Sunday, we finally made it to my hometown in upstate New York. It was nice to pull off of the exit after spending two hours battling through a snowstorm driving through Pennsylvania. So much of my hometown is still the same as it was when I lived here twenty-five years ago, but there are quite a few things that have changed. One of the things that has changed the most is me!  I’m not the same person I was when I left this place. I left here completely against all things religious and now I come back each year as a born-again child of God.

I don’t believe the same things I used to, I don’t talk the same way I used to and I don’t act the same way I used to. My worldview has changed, I now see the world through the lens of scripture. I look at things and how they relate to the truth of God’s Word. Relationships get harder when you come home and people think you are still the same person you were when you left but you’re not. Most people I am close to understand who I have become and respect that I’m not who I used to be.

I think of Christ, as He grew up the son of a carpenter and then left His hometown. Once His ministry began, He was no longer the Jesus the people remembered Him to be. He left the son of Joseph and returned the Son of God. People had a hard time believing He was the promised Messiah because they had known Him since He was a boy.

“‘Is not this the carpenter's son? Is not his mother called Mary? And are not his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? And are not all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?’ And they took offense at him. But Jesus said to them, ‘A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and in his own household.’ And he did not do many mighty works there, because of their unbelief.” - Matthew 13:55-58.

I’m in no way comparing myself to Jesus, I’m comparing my situation of going home to the response He had when He returned as well. Neither of us were the same when we returned as we were when we left. Have you left your hometown as a different person than you are today?  I know how you feel.

Have a great day and God bless.

Salesman

Salesman. Within the first seventy-two hours of being in our brand new house, three security system salesmen rang our doorbell to try and sell us new home security systems.  The first one showed up while we were unpacking the moving truck, he came walking right down the driveway with his company literature. Another one rang the doorbell the following day and one more two days later. They must be in cahoots with either the real estate agents or the moving companies.

There’s nothing like moving into a new home and being pestered by salesmen trying to sell you something else after you just spent loads of money on a new house. I understand that they have to make a living and the best time to sell a security system is when someone first moves in, but they could at least give us a week or two!  I’m not a big fan of salesmen in the first place, whether it’s selling cars, furniture or Girl Scout Cookies (just kidding on the cookies). I always feel like I’m getting only one side of the story: the positive.

When we witness to others about Christ, do you think we come across as salesmen?  Are people turned off from Christianity because we can be too pushy or we “sell” them on only the positive things about a relationship with Christ?  Do we make it seem like all the troubles of the world will go away when they become Christians?  Nobody is going to “buy” that, they understand that life is still hard as a Christian. “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." - John 16:33.

Don’t “sell” Jesus, witness to people about how accepting Jesus as your Savior changed your life. Tell them who you were before Christ and who you are now with Him. Tell them that life isn’t always easy, even after becoming a Christian, but that you now have someone to turn to in times of trouble that understands. “For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.” - Hebrews 2:18. Tell them that your relationship with Christ is about eternal blessings and not earthly blessings. People are much more open about hearing your experiences than they are being “sold” something. No one can ever argue with what Christ has done for you.

Have a great day and God bless.

Adoption

Adoption. November is National Adoption Month. I’m not an adopted child, my parents are my biological mother and father, but I have had the opportunity over the years to know people who have adopted and who are adopted. I was a teenager when one of our close family friends adopted a small boy from the Midwest, and years later another boy. I remember them bringing him home and getting to meet him. His adopted parents were so excited to have him in their family since they couldn’t have their own biological children. It was an exciting time for our family too as we welcomed in a new member to our extended family.

I know that there are people that are probably reading this post that were adopted as small children or maybe have adopted children of their own. Stories vary from person to person on the effects that an adoption had on their lives. Some stories involve children taken out of some very bad situations and brought into warm and loving homes. For every one hundred of those stories, there are stories of adoption not working out as well. I want to focus on the positive changes that adoption has had on so many lives. The future of some of these children have changed forever because of the love of people who adopt and provide a better life.

Spiritually, if you have put your faith in Christ, you are adopted as well. God’s Word talks a lot about being adopted into the family of God. The Apostle Paul talked often about adoption. “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba! Father!’  So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.” - Galatians 4:4-7.

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.” - Ephesians 1:3-6.

For those of you who have been adopted by earthly parents, happy National Adoption Month. For those of us who have been adopted by God when we put our faith and trust in the death, burial and resurrection of His Son, Jesus Christ; happy eternal adoption. I can’t wait to meet each of you in eternity.

Have a great day and God bless.

Holy Water

Holy water. I heard a new song on the radio called “Holy Water” and it brought me back to my youth. Growing up and playing baseball with the same group of guys for most of my childhood, there was one mother that was a very devout Catholic. When we played on all-star teams, she would bring holy water to all the games and use it on our bats, our gloves and on people themselves. I wasn’t a religious person at that time, so it didn’t really do anything for me but get me wet. We were very successful as a team but I’m pretty sure it didn’t have anything to do with the holy water.

Whether the other guys on the team believed that the holy water helped them play better or not, I couldn’t tell you. But, knowing what I do now about the Bible, I’m know that the holy water had nothing to do with our success. The outcome of our baseball game was not a priority to God. He has no interest in who wins or loses ball games, He does have an interest in how we glorify Him.

I’m not convinced in the power of holy water, but I am convinced in the power of the Living Water!  “Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, 'Give me a drink,' you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water." The woman said to him, "Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water?” - John 4:10-11.

“Jesus said to her, "Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." The woman said to him, "Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water." - John 4:13-15.

Have you drank from the Living Water?  The water that will never make you thirst again?  Jesus Christ is the Living Water that we need to be drinking of, not the rotten water of this world.

Have a great day and God bless.

Simple

Simple. I don’t know about you, but I like things when they are simple. Like instructions on putting something together or directions on how to get somewhere. I like books that are simple to read and don’t take a lot of brain power to understand. Don’t get me wrong, sometimes I like things that are challenging too, but there are times when simple is just better. The Bible can be both simple and difficult at the same time.

The Gospel message is simple to understand: we are sinners that need a Savior in the person of Jesus Christ. There are parts of the Bible, like the book of Daniel and the book of Revelation, that can be very difficult to understand because of all the symbolism. Imagine living in the times of the Old Testament and having to live under the Law. There were thousands of things that you could and could not do. Who could remember them all? The point was you couldn’t, that’s why we need a Savior.

The New Testament makes it pretty simple for the Christian to abide by. Jesus narrows it down to just two rules: “‘Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?’ And he said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.’” - Matthew 22:36-40.

That’s how simple it is to be a Christian: love God and love your neighbor!  That’s it!  It doesn’t tell us to choose who to love out of all the people, it doesn’t tell us to love people that think and believe like we do, and it doesn’t tell us to love people that look like us; it tells us to love our neighbor. When we love others like Christ loves us, we are never more like Him then at that moment. Jesus loved all of the people that society thought were unloveable: the tax collectors, the adulterous, the sick and the lame. He loved them because He knew His Father loved them.

Have you loved your neighbor today?  The neighbor that doesn’t believe the same things you do?  The neighbor that doesn’t look like you do?  The neighbor that doesn’t go to the same “church” you do?  God loves them, so should you.

Have a great day and God bless.

Revival?

Revival?  For years, major stars from the movie industry, the music industry and the athletic industry have been outspoken about their anti-Christian views. We have heard from actors and actresses, musicians and athletes that push views that go against God’s Word, but there seems to be a new wave of these people coming to Christ. Only they know if their conversion is real or not, and so does God, but our job should not be to cast doubt on their new found salvation. We should support them in prayer.

Recent big name converts like Justin Bieber, Kanye West and Lamar Odom possibly show an opportunity for revival in this country. People like these three men are put high on pedestals and young people are highly influenced by the things they do and say. The conversion of these men, and others, can have a profound impact for Christ. It is still the truth of God’s Word and the convicting work of the Holy Spirit that draws people to God, but the publicity that these men are getting could spur an interest in seeking God.

“And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; even on my male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy.”- Acts 2:17-18.

Are we seeing the last great revival of our time where many hearts will turn back to God before Christ returns to bring His Bride home?  I pray that we are for two reasons. First, it means that many will be saved before it is eternally too late. And second, it means we are that much closer to the return of our Savior and the rapture of the church.

Pray for revival to break out, not only in our country, but across the world, as the universal church continues to grow. “For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.
Therefore encourage one another with these words.” - 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18.

Have a great day and God bless.

Masterpiece

Masterpiece. Have you ever wished you were cleaning out your house and found something that looked like trash only to find out it was worth millions?  That happened to a ninety year old French woman a few weeks ago. Getting ready to move, the old Renaissance painting of Jesus Hanging in her hallway was heading to the dump if it wasn’t appraised within the week before the move. The appraiser thought it was worth some money, but when it sold for $26.8 million, it was a much greater treasure than he even imagined.

Imagine having that treasure sitting in your house for decades, thinking it was nothing more than a flea market find, only to find out at the end of your life it was worth millions?  It made me wonder what her life would have been like if she knew about that painting fifty years ago. Would she have sold it and spent the rest of her years living in the lap of luxury on the French Riviera?  Or would she have used the money to help those in need or started a shelter for abandoned children?  We’ll never know!

It reminded me of the story of the man who found a treasure and sold everything he had to get it. “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.” - Matthew 13:44.

Or what about the merchant that found the pearl. “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.” - Matthew 13:45-46.

When we finally realize the treasure that is available to us when we put our faith in Christ, are we willing to give everything else away to possess what He makes available to us? When we accept Him as our Savior, we become His masterpiece.  Isn’t that a wonderful trade-off?

Have a great day and God bless.