Perversion and Lies

S- Romans 1:25 They traded the truth about God for a lie. So they worshiped and served the things God created instead of the Creator himself, whois worthy of eternal praise! Amen!

O- The people began to praise different creations of God instead of God Himself.

A- When I look at our culture, I see many, many idols that we worship that is not of God. The crazy thing is that some of these lies are just perversions of what God wants. Take the prosperity Gospel, The Secret or even Buddahism. All of these talk about having a better life. That if we work hard enough, that's what we deserve, but is that what the Gospel portrays? When we look at our missions field we need to stay aware of the idols and perversions of the Gospel that are out there.

P- God, to keep open to hear others' beliefs, but grounded in the truth of your Good News.

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My Favorite Bible Verse

S- Ephesians 5:1-2 Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children. Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ.

O- Be like God in everything that you do. Love others in the same way that Christ loved.

A- I love it as I'm reading the Bible that verses pop out to me as my favorites. I think this verse is a favorite because it lays out the Christian life so plainly. Do what God did and love like He loves. That means in evernything I do, I should do it as if God was doing it with me, because realistically, He is. When we do what God does, we are fullfilling our mission as followers of Christ.

P- God help me to follow you in all I do. I want to be an imitation of your love to others.

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Facial Hair And Fatherhood

This post has no real significance, but here we go.

For those of you who know me, you know I tend to be a rather hairy person. It's a family curse that I've had to live with. What that means is that I've been able to grow a significant amount of facial hair since I was about 14 years old. All through high school and college I've messed around with goatees and what finally making a permanent part of my "look."

Well ever since high school people have been bugging me to grow a beard, so I finally gave in and am going for it, we'll see how it goes. I figure with a baby girl coming in August, I need to get the dad look down, so now all I need is a backpack to carry my daughter and a stroller trailer for my bike and I'll be set. Ha, Izm so looking forward to being a dad.

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Tapatio and Ministry

One of the things about youth ministry that I love is the link between fun and spirituality. I believe that fun for a junior high student is a gateway to connecting with a church and with God. Last night we played a favorite game of mine called Eat That Food. Last night I watched an 8th grade guy eat two snowballs and three zingers in three bites total! I also watched another 8th grade guy drink a 5 oz. bottle of Tapatio hot sauce in 4 drinks! As disgusting as this sounds, and yes, it was disgusting, the students had a great time.

I think that sometimes in ministry we get so focused on getting students information about the Bible that we forget that the time we spend with students and providing a fun atmosphere for them to get to know us and each other is more beneficial than just lecturing them about the Bible. Whenever we see Jesus ministering to others, He is spending time with them and enjoying time with them. Now would Jesus be running a game that makes students drink Tapatio and eat snowballs, I don't know, but I think He would defiantly be making sure people were enjoying community, learning and growing together.

S- Romans 15:5-6 May Go who gives patience and encouragement, help you live i.n complete harmony with each other, as is fitting for followers of Christ Jesus. Then all of you can join together with one voice, giving praise and glory to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

O- Once there is peace between believers and non-believers, then we can worship God together.

A- You know it's funny, a lot of the time, we get those two aspects of praise Jesus mixed up. We think that if only we get people to church anxd start praising God, then everything will be ok and there will be peace. The reality is that harmony needs to be pursued first, so that there is nothing standing in the way of everyone praising God together.

P- God I pray that I can pursue peace, so that I can bring only the best to you.

Good Times, Long Time Friends

Spent some time last night with a long time friend Nick Brown and his fiance Liz. It fun to catch up with what's going on and talk about old times. I'm excited for them as they're in the last stages of planning for their wedding in August. Good times, good times!

Don't Focus On The Little Things

S- Romans 15:17 For the Kingdom of God is not a matter of what we eat or drink, but of living a life of goodness and peace and joy in he Holy Spirit.

O- Don't focus on the little things, like what you should wear of look like, dwell on the fact that we are followers of Christ.

A- How many times do we spend so much time on the little things in Christianity. we focus on the style of music we have and what people wear to church and choir robes or not. we focus on the little things, but we forget to dwell on the fact tha we serve and follow an amazing God who loves us unconditionally, does anything else matter?

P- God thank you for all the wonderful things you've done. Thank for sending Jesus to earth to die for me. Help me to stay focused on you and not the little things.