reading of the esv bible

Now this is preaching!

you tube

Ok, so it is official. I am hooked to youtube.com. We have stopped getting cable some time ago. And we are living off of youtube.com. Sort of. We find interesting little tidbits and they keep us going.
There are really all kinds of things on Youtube some good, some bad.. some funny, some not. I have two tonight I would like to share with you.

First. This is Hobbit. A kid from our youth group that was acting crazy one night and did this funny little thing. The interesting part is that I meant to take a picture and instead got this video. That is what I get for getting a new phone.



Second. This is professionally done obviously. I like it... just cause I do.

thoughts

I was reading the other day in Colossians and it talked about Paul and his job. This got me to thinking. You know I have always dreamed about having a church job. Something where I could just focus on ministry all day long. And where that would be great Paul did something else while he was in ministry. He made sure he had a job so that people would not think that he was getting fat off of ministry dollars. Now I am not saying that people who work for the church shouldn't. But this brings up an interesting talking point doesn't it?
First off lets not use the word "job" as a tool to hold us back from the ministry God has called us for. Meaning don't say "I could do this IF I worked for the church". But instead since you don't work for the church then you aren't doing anything at all.
Second, let's get out there doing the work of the Lord because He expects us to. Let's not do just those things in which would only benefit us. Besides we already have the payment we deserve. We have eternal salvation from damnation. This is the gift that keeps on giving.
So let this post be to you and especially I and let us get up off our behinds and get to work for the Lord. And do a good job doing so. Let's not glory ourselves rather lets go out of our way to glorify the Lord in what we do. Whether it is cleaning toilets or managing a fortune 500 company we should strive to do an excellent job at it all to glorify God.

How do you measure good?

I am a good person compared to Hitler. I am... Seriously! Ok, better yet, I am a good person compared to _______. You can put any name in there and I could prove to you that I am a better person than they are. Ok, maybe not but I am sure I could find some qualities that make me a good person right? How do you measure good? What standard do you measure up to? I want to suggest that we should measure ourselves up to God's standard where he wrote the ten commandments. See how you fair...
1. thou shall not have any other gods before me.
2. thou shall not make for yourselves any idols.
3. thou shall not take the Lords name in vain.
4. Remember the sabbath day to keep it holy.
5. Honor your mother and father.
6. you shall not murder.
7. You shall not commit adultery
8. You shall not steal.
9. You shall not lie.
10. You shall not covet.
Jesus went so far to make them even harder by saying whoever looks at another in lust commits adultery in their heart! This means that we are not judged on how good we are by merely our outward actions but also by what we think about. Scary huh. So are you a good person?

why do we do good?

Ok, I am a little embarrassed about having ramblings on Sunday... but they are for a good cause.
So as I was driving home from church in this nice brisk weather my mind wandered a bit to a thought of... "why do people try to be good?". Really think about it. They are embarassed mostly when they mess up, like say the wrong thing, when they are caught steeling, when they are caught cheating on tests. You can lump me into that as well because I have felt bad during those things. So I then shifted my thinking a bit about evolution, and survival of the fittest. I have heard it said before that if we are a product of these two things then why do we reproduce. Good question. Let's pose another question however. Let's say that if we are indeed a product of evolution and survival of the fittest then why do we care what others think? Why do we try to do good things. Why when you talk to people they are always "trying" to be good. Most people will agree that they aren't the best people in the world but they are willing to admit that they are good... So why do we even try? I am going to venture to say that it is the Holy Spirit working inside us. Through talking with our conscience, the Holy Spirit gives us a longing to be good. Now... what is good? I am glad you asked. This will be something I cover in my next post... however if you think you are good click here.

Romans 13... it's all about the love

Fluffy bunnies, giant yellow peeps, nice hugs, rainy nights... it's all about love. These are things that I love, however that is not really what I will write about this evening. Something more.. say.. edifying will be written tonight.

Romans 13:8-14
8Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. 9The commandments, "You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet," and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." 10Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.



11Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. 12The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. 13Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. 14But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.

Honestly I have been reading alot about the 10 commandments and how they bring about the knowledge of sin. If you are a doctor you can't necessarily tell a patient that they have to take a certain medicine to save their life if they didn't even think they were sick. would some believe this? Yes.. But is it right? NO. So lets look at the verse that caught my eye.

9The commandments, "You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet," and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." 10Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.

I have heard many a pastor preach on love and I would say most of these guys would take this verse to say that the 10 commandments are not relevant now. That now we must love everyone. But I don't see this at all. By upholding the 10 commandments then you are showing love to your neighbor. Love is the true test of the commandments. Think about it. If you loved your wife (or husband) would you steal from them (8th commandment), would you lie to them (9) would you want their stuff (10), would you use their name as a curse word (3). This is just a few of the commandments and no your love would not be demonstrated to your mate if you did these things.

So lets think about love in the context of God. If you love God with all of your heart you will always put him first (1), you will not worship any idols (2), you would not use his name as a curse word (3) you would keep his day holy (4) you would honor your parents because that is what He would want you to do (5) you would not kill anyone because this would be be killing His creation (6) you would not commit adultery as this would bring shame upon his name (7) you would not steal anything as you would be stealing what God has given someone else (8) you would not bare false witness or lie to someone else (9) and you would not want someone else stuff (10). True love and adoration for the creator and the giver of the air that you are breathing would simply not allow you to do these things. They are not ugly rules that were written in moses time. The commandments, written by God, are relevant to any situation today.

So in this passage if you were to love you neighbor as yourself then you would be fulfilling all the commandments of God. But do we. Do we really love God? Do we really try to please Him every waking moment? By how we spend out time? By how we talk to other people? By our thought life? I too am convicted by these words... I hope they convict you too.

Web Cam Beat Box

Still somewhat torn about myspace in general I hopped on this morning to take care of multiple things and found this from the main page. What an fun way to start my day! Hope you enjoy.