Monday Mind Dump

• I just got an email from my Romans professor telling the class that we should be in the editing stage of our third draft for our research paper...I guess that means I should have at least picked out my topic by now. I'm such a loser
• All-Star weekend was awesome. I know a lot of you out there don't like the NBA, but I admit, I do enjoy it. The skills challenge, three point shoot out, and dunk contest were all great with still a mediocre game.
• Church was really good yesterday. We got to introduce the Honduras Mission Team and they actually got a nice "church clap". That makes me feel a lot better.
• During AWANA yesterday afternoon I got to sit in my office with two of our junior high girls and dig into there brains about dating. I was really encouraged and discouraged at the same time. These girls actually had a great mindset on dating...it's pointless, and if you do "date" (yes one of the girls actually did quotations with her fingers) it is really dumb to get emotionally attached. I think they feel this way is because some physco youth pastor has drilled it into there heads that boys are dogs:) Maybe good parenting has a little to do with it too...actually it has everything to do with it.
• Discouraging because of what girls are thinking and doing who don't have a physco youth pastor. These girls need their dads to tell them how beautiful and precious they are...not some hormonal boy.
• Oh yeah...JP is potty-trained!! Or at least he has been for this whole past week. He has even been sleeping in some sweet big boy underwear. Yeah, I'm a proud dad even though mom did all the work. We were in Geraldi's (a local joint) yesterday eating and he said loudly, "I need to pee pee!!" So I jump up and start walking him to the bathroom when he sees one of our churches families enjoying their meal. For some reason he thought they might want to know as he grabs their table and says, "I'm going to go pee...I'll be right back."

Jihad

This is something I've been praying through tonight...Take some time and let me know what you think.

I watched a movie that was all about Islamic terrorism today. Throughout the movie, they were constantly talking about "jihad", and they used this term to refer to war they were making on people outside of their faith. They were willing to die for their god and exactly what they believed. Jihad was of the upmost importance because it not only sanctified themselves but it also sanctified those they came in contact with. I was completely enthralled with this idea and their devotion to their faith. One dialogue scene quickly went like this:

FBI Agent: Do you consider your son a devout Muslim?
Mother: He is Muslim...there is no slight of scale in our faith.

Wow. If only we Christians (whose faith is real!!) thought in that same way. Now to the topic of jihad, that is making war to sanctify yourself and others...this is what I think:

We Christians should adopt this idea of jihad. Now I know I'm about to get some serious theological frowns, but hear me out because I believe this is even taught in Scripture by Christ Himself. The difference is that instead of making war on others, we should be making war on ourself...against our flesh. We should see our sanctification, or our growing in Jesus, and the sanctification of others to be so important that we make war on our bodies that hinder our growth. Jesus says in Matthew 5:30, "And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell." He says the same thing a verse earlier about our eyes. This is a clear teaching to me...battle your flesh, your very sin nature for your sanctification. We as Christians have been closer to adopting the Muslim idea of jihad...that is the bashing and tearing down of brothers and sisters in Christ...than the biblical teaching of Christ that tells us our sanctification is more important than our bodies. Just some thoughts for tonight. How important is your growth in Christ to you?? Is it important enough to start obeying the direct teachings of Christ?

Piper's Message to Obama

John Piper recently addressed President Obama and his views on abortion from the pulpit. Please take 4 minutes to take this in. Piper speaks to Obama by name and declares that his desire for his daughters should not be that they carry condoms in their purses, but that they would be chaste and pursuing holiness.

And We'll Do It Again

Saturday I was sitting in my chair after a long day of Upward basketball. Megan was ironing and acting really funny about giving me my Valentines day present. I agreed to receive it early (if you don't know me, getting and giving gifts early really gets on my nerves) and she brought in this nice red package with a bow. After I got done shredding the paper, I noticed it was golf balls...but after a closer look I realized they were the same golf balls I already had in the garage. I'm thinking to myself, "What a loser!! Does she not think I would notice she is giving me a gift I already owned??!!" I said, "Thanks." And she then said, "Well open it and read your card." The card was one of the shortest she had ever written me, but it was by far my favorite as it informed me "Your going to be a dad again!!"

That's right people...you heard it here first. We are tackling this whole baby thing again, and I could not be happier. God's timing is perfect.

She has known since before the ice storm. She has waited so long because she wanted to tell me on Valentine's Day...she couldn't make it. I was going to wait till after our doctor's appointment on the 19th...but she had to start telling people. So I wanted to be faithful to my blog readers and let you know before you found out on CNN or something:) Yeah, we are that important.

Lose Yourself

If I asked you what Matthew 10:39 says, my guess is you would probably not have a clue. If I read Matthew 10:39 to you, you probably say, "I have heard that verse a thousand times." What does it say? Jesus is speaking and says, "He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for my sake will find it." I have been in my office reading and praying here for just a little while and feel the need to put this down for you to read. I have been overcome with conviction as I read this verse because I see myself as someone who is constantly searching for his own life. The best vehicle for me
The best house for me
The best job for me
The best friends for me
The best schedule for me
The best time for me
Dude I am absolutely sick with the infatuation of me. Jesus' words here are clear and CANNOT be misunderstood... "Lose your life for Me." If I, and the rest of us self-consumed Christians, would quit thinking about our best life now and start focusing on the heart of God and His will for our lives then maybe we could make an impact for the Kingdom. We have completely disregarded the instructions of Paul to the Phillipian Church in Phil. 2:3-4,

"Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. let each of you look out not only for his own interest, but also for the interest of others."

When is the last time we have gave something up for someone else? And I'm not talking about the last piece of pizza on the Pizza Hut buffet line. I'm talking about when is the last time we:
Gave up our plans so we could hang out with someone hurting
Gave up our food in Taco Bell so the man outside can eat
Gave up time with our family so we could go do mission work
Gave up our wants so we could free up some money to give
Gave up our toys so we could give some other kids something to play with

These thoughts are hurting me today. I'm understanding now what Christ has called us to... He has called us to Give Up our lives!!

Will you lose yourself today? Will you sacrifice and take someone out to eat? Will you lose your fear and share the Gospel? Will you lose your privacy and open up your home? Will you trust God?

Friday Five

You want to know what has consumed my thoughts today...Here you go:

• I listened to a biographical sermon on George Whitefield. My favorite part is when he proclaimed, "I will not be a velvet-mouthed preacher!!" Lord, help me preach that boldly.
• I got an email the other day asking to give a "blurb" on my sermon topic for Branson's Young Christian Weekend. The title is "The Depth of Discipleship"...We'll talk about loving God, loving prayer, loving the church, and loving the Gospel.
• I don't think I accurately made it known in blog world exactly how good Allen and Marci were to us while we had no power or heat. Hospitality is a spiritual gift and that family proved to have it. I love those guys and appreciate them more than they know.
• There are a few people God has laid on my heart to share the Gospel with...Pray for me as He ordains specific times for me to share my faith.
• I read in Matthew 9 the other day where it tells us that Jesus looked upon the people and was moved to compassion...why? Because they were lost. Lord break our hearts for those who are scattered and wondering around.

Feet Washing

- He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him. John 13:4b-5

Yesterday was a good day. A few guys got together early yesterday morning and began to clean some yards that had been ripped apart by the ice storm. We cleared brush, dragged limbs to the road, cut firewood, climbed houses and trees (or Jeff just shimmied up trees), fixed gutters, and ministered. As much as it helped some of our older saints, it did way more for us. We went to one particular house on Hannah Street whose yard was completed covered in fallen trees. As we pulled up the house across the street had a blocked driveway, so me and Russell went over to quickly cut through it before we went and helped the rest of the guys. She came out of the house and told us she would really like the help but she wanted to know how much we were charging. It overjoyed my soul to tell her, "Nothing. We want to do it because we love you." Countless widowed ladies tried to pay us for the work, but every time we got to say, "We didn't do this for money or for you to buy us lunch...we love you." We left one lady with tears in her eyes as she thanked us for the work we did, but she'll never know how much it blessed us just to help her.

I'm a pretty selfish guy, but yesterday God reminded me that serving people is a blessing. I have got to quit focusing so much on myself. Go help someone clean their yard today...you'll be blessed.

"It has been well said that humility is not thinking meanly of yourself; it is simply not thinking of yourself at all." --Wiersbe