Weird "Fall Colors"

I woke up today to some really weird fall colors all around my house!
Thanks "Smalls," "Poot" and the rest of those responsible!
You know what the Bible says ... "Vengenance is mine..."

ME!
It reminds me of some dirty wickman tricks!

the gods we worship

Here's a scary thought: "What you believe about God’s nature will largely determine how you live."

Most of us don’t live like we are free because we don’t believe in a God that loves us enough to give us the gift of freedom. Were bound, were grumpy, we hate so many things and we project that back onto God. Many see God as grumpy and angry and really angry at those who aren’t grumpy and angry. We have, and still, believe in false gods that rob us of our freedom and I would like to point out three:

The First Freedom Robbing God: Santa Claus god: This god is the one we believe in that will always keep us safe and that will always keep us happy, that will always keep us warm and well fed. The people who worship this god constantly try to appear happy, praising Jesus at every turn and often have a lot of cheep clichés to go along with it. That is until something real nasty happens in their lives. Many Christian teens worship this one particular false god.

Lord if you love me then you’ll do what I want. The reality is that God is sovereign and we need to accept his will for us no matter how we feel about it.

If god exists just to “bless us and our dreams” we will eventually turn away and create a new one. This leads to worship of the Child abuser god. The Second Freedom Robbing God is the child abuser god: this is the angry god that takes great delight in messing up your life. This is the God who gives sinners AIDS, and cancer and all kinds of diseases. There is much motivation by guilt when serving this god.

In Dan Allender’s book “Cry Of The Soul” he tells of Maria and her older brother that sexually abused her for eight years, and often sold her to his friends. The abuse stopped only when he was killed in a car wreck. Maria told her mother and her mother responded in anger telling her that if she ever spoke of it she would no longer be her daughter. Disappointment is real!

If we believe that God is my Father and He loves me without reservation and he knows exactly what he is doing it allows us to live in freedom.

The Third Freedom Robbing God: The absent god: This god is supposed to have started everything and walked away. Wind up the top and leaves. Deists believe this about their god.

If god walked away then just who was Jesus? Some crazed fruitcake that we should run from!

“No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father's side, has made him known.” _{John 1:18}

In Christ we receive Jesus’ perfection the fancy name is “imputed righteousness” and the idea is that Jesus takes our sin and we get his perfection. In practical terms it also means that if you are a Christ follower God will never be angry with you again!!

So I have a question for you: If you really believed that God was good (not safe, but good) and that He had this mess under control, and that in Christ he never will be angry with you again, how would you live?
What kind of things would you change?

Live in Freedom! Follow Jesus Christ!

This entry is adapted from the second chapter of “A Scandalous Freedom” by Steve Brown and what I spoke on to the awesome students at the Cornerstone Church.
Thanks Kyle, Sean and Ryan for the pic. =]

Forgiveness On The Quote Wall

“To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable, because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you.” C.S. Lewis

A couple of Sunday’s ago Peter spoke very bluntly about forgiveness from Matthew 6. I personally know someone who is struggling mightily with this, so much so that they know they are going to spend eternity in hell, separated from God and everything good because they will not forgive people that have hurt them and those they care about. I wonder about all of the turmoil that must live inside people who cannot forgive. I guess I have either never experienced pain on the same level that they have or maybe I am wired a little differently because of the grace of God. Forgiveness seems to be not only the right thing to do, but also the best thing to do. Why hang on and let the hurt done to you continue to hurt you, day after long bitter day? I love the Lewis quote above, it has made it to the famous “Craig’s Quote Wall Of Fame” (pictured above) because I need constant prompt that I am a sinful puke that incessantly needs the reminder of how much blood of Christ has set me free from!

New

I must be honest I like new things. I like new cars, new movies, new resturants, new chances and even new experiences. This evening we had our baptism service down in beautiful Lake Huron. this day happened to have a strong northeast wind and about 60 tempature. It was way warmer last year for sure. This year I was able to baptize my daughter and son-in-law which was very special for me and for them too. I was also baptized by my friend Peter which was great. Like i said I like NEW! New beginnings that I get with Jesus everyday i must say are the best!

Saved For Disappointment

Alright, I must have hit a bit of a nerve saying that God is happy with us. We must like to be miserable in some ways, maybe it gives us a sense of control. But in being so miserable we let our sin, sin that has been, through faith, paid for on the cross by the suffering and death of the son of God, we let that sin run our lives. It commands our thinking throughtout thae day and leads to our loathsome attitudes. Another Brown quote from “A Scandalous Freedom” says:

“I believe that, from an existential viewpoint, one of the greatest sin Christians can commit is a constant focus on their sin.”

We say that we trust Jesus to forgive us and save us from sin, death and the Devil, then we act as if the rest is up to us! No way. We are God’s workmanship, we are God’s project and he’s happy about it! He likes you! As a matter of fact he’s nuts about you! All of us need the reminder to quit the constant self-focus and turn to Christ. He is all we need, he is everything we could ever desire to be! He is not disappointed in you, child! Even when he has to take you out to the woodshed for a "straightening out" he still likes you!

“A Scandalous Freedom”

I am reading a new book called “A Scandalous Freedom” by Steve Brown. One of the quotes I posted yesterday is from that book. “There really is something neurotic about Christians who spend most of their time trying desperately to please a God who is already very pleased.” Do I think that God is pleased with me? I mean do I believe that He is? Do I live like he is very pleased with me because I am in relationship with Him through faith in Christ? Thinking in those terms can bring a revolution to our lives we could quit “playacting” like we have it all together and simply be. I want to believe it, Lord help my unbelief! I want to live in the freedom of an unmasked life. God loves you and me AND he likes us too! Chew on that! Thanks Steve Brown!

Quote-age.

"God's work done God's way will never lack God's supply."

- Hudson Taylor -

"I long to accomplish a great and noble tasks,
but it is my chief duty to accomplish humble tasks
as though they were great and noble.”
- Helen Keller -

“There really is something neurotic about Christians who spend most of their time trying desperately to please a God who is already very pleased.”

- Steve Brown -

“Do you wish to be great? Then begin by being.”

– Augustine –

¹²Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. ¹³Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. ¹⁴And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.”
_{Colossians 3:12-14 NIV}