The Bucket List

Every since the movie “The Bucket List” came out people have been sharing their lists with others and even big cities like Atlanta advertise their own versions of the list. But I guess this is nothing new. I am sure ever since our creation man has been thinking of things they wanted to do before they passed on. While thinking about my own list I was wondering if I should make the list about myself or should I try to make it about others. Well I’m still thinking about that but what I have come to realize during my 44 years here on Earth is that life is not about possessions, money, travel or experiences. I think the most important aspects of our lives should be our relationships with friends, family and especially our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. So how does that apply to your “Bucket List”? Well for me it would mean that I would take this list in reverse order and focus on my relationship with our Lord and Savior and my work spreading the Gospel. I would also reach out to family members whom I have lost touch with and try to strengthen the bonds I already have with my loved ones. Finally I would work on building lifelong friendships with others and try to be a good ambassador of the Kingdom.


Below is what former President Bill Clinton put on his list. What will you put on yours?


"I'd like to climb Kilimanjaro before the snows melt, I'd like to run a marathon before I give out, there's lots of things I'd like to do," Mr. Clinton said Monday in Vienna.“His more important "A" list, he said, includes living to see his own grandchildren (his daughter Chelsea is about to get married) and living "to know that all the grandchildren of the world will have the chance in the not too distant future to live their own dreams and not die before their time”

My First S.O.A.P Journal

Friends,

My Brother Tony has introduced me to a new form of Bible study called SOAP journaling. Below is a brief description along with my first journal. Hope you enjoy…Chris



How Do I Use SOAP?

S for Scripture
Open your Bible to the reading found under today's date of your Bible bookmark (see below). Take time reading and allow God to speak to you. When you are done, look for a verse that particularly spoke to you that day and write it in your journal.

O for Observation
What do you think God is saying to you in the Scriptures? Ask the Holy Spirit to teach you and reveal Jesus to you. In your journal, paraphrase and write the verse(s) down in your own words.

A for Application
Personalize what you have read, by asking yourself how it applies to your life right now. Perhaps it is instruction, encouragement, revelation of a new promise, or corrections for a particular area of your life. Write how the verse(s) can apply to you today.

P for Prayer
This can be as simple as asking God to help you use what you have learned. Remember, prayer is a two way conversation, so be sure to listen to what God has to say! Now, write it out.

Following the Holy Spirit Acts 16:6-10 ESV

(S) Acts 16:6-10 ESV 6 And they went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. 7 And when they had come up to Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them. 8 So, passing by Mysia, they went down to Troas. 9 And a vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing there, urging him and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” 10 And when Paul had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go on into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.

(O) What’s my observation? Well the first thing I noticed is the that verse 6 tells us the Holy Spirit forbade them from speaking the word in Asia, then in the next verse it says the Spirit of Jesus wouldn’t let them go into Bithynia. I find it interesting that in most of the translations there is a difference in the naming of the two Spirits. The other observation I made was how the Holy Spirit lead them to where they needed to go. Although they wanted to go (or felt led to go) to Asia they were turned away by the Spirit.(after reading the notes in the ESV it says that Spirit of Jesus would be the same as the Holy Spirit which makes sense)

(A) The application for me would be to do listen to the Holy Spirit instead of trying to suppress it all the time and actually praying for our Father to open my heart and let me receive the Spirit and lead me to do the His will.

(P) Father God, Thank you for all of the awesome things you have done in my life and in the lives of my loved ones. You have blessed me more than I could ever have imagined. Thank you for sending your Son to die on the cross for our transgressions. Father forgive me for my sins and for not following the example of the One who has paid it all. Father I ask you to open my heart and help me welcome the Holy Spirit in my life and trust Him to lead me and guide me to do you will. Father I ask all of these things in Jesus name Amen!

Spiritual Fitness

Friends back in 2008 I wrote a blog about Jesus being a lifestyle and not just being a diet, using a physical fitness analogy. Well I’m back this year to try to revamp that message. During the past 6 months I have been able to lose a lot of weight (45 lbs) and get myself in good physical condition. I have done this by doing 1 hour of cardio a day and eating a low carb diet. I did this for 40 days and kept dieting and exercising until I reached my goal. But now that I am where I want to be I find myself starting to get lazy and not really wanting to work out and eat right. I know of others who have done the same thing. Then I started thinking about how I got out of shape in the first place and then it hit me. I have become complacent and forgot what it felt like to be out of shape, because as we all know that getting out of shape kind of just creeps up on you and before you know it your miserable again. I know that’s how it was for me.

Well I feel our Spiritual fitness works the same way. When we get saved or make our way back to the Lord we start out strong, we pray every day, we get in the Word and study it or we join a study group. Then after a while it happens. We start getting lazy, we get complacent or we start thinking we can coast through our spiritual life. We might stop praying everyday with our family or stop reading our Bibles. I know how it is, I have been there and I’m just now getting back on track. But like I said before being a follower of Christ is a lifestyle and not just a quick fix or diet to use my earlier analogy. We are to be students of Word for the rest of lives. The Bible is not meant to be read in a year then forgotten. It is meant to be studied; it is the “Manna” that God uses to feed our spirit and soul. We must maintain our spiritual fitness or fall prey to the enemy.

The New Testament uses the imagery of training as a guide for growth in the spiritual life. "Train yourself to be godly. For physical training is of some value but godliness has value for all things holding promise for both the present life and the life to come" (I Timothy 4:7-8).

"Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last but we do it to get a crown that will last forever" (I Corinthians 9:24-25

How is your Spiritual fitness? I know mine is lacking in many areas but the good news is I know what needs to be done to improve it and I serve a God who has filled me with the Holy Spirit and given me the tools I need to get there. Thank you Lord!

The Caesar of Leisure Part 1

Friends for the past week I have been reading this awesome book by Trevin Wax entitled “Holy Subversion”. The premise of this book is about how Christians should be living their lives and what they need to subvert in their lives to really live for Jesus. The term “subverting” in this book refers to “undermining” or “Pushing” something back down to its proper place. Another term Trevin uses in his book is “Caesar”. Caesar of course comes from back in the days of the Roman Empire. During Jesus ministry the Roman Empire ruled most of the known world and the leaders of the Romans were referred to as Caesar, named after Julius Caesar.

The early Caesars had been declared “divine” shortly after their deaths and before long the Caesars began accepting that title of worship during their lives and expected to be treated as such. Everyone under the rule of the Romans were forced to bow down and confess Caesar as Lord. So when he talks about the Caesars of today he is talking about anything we put up as idols and worship instead of worshiping Jesus, these include money, power, sex, self, success and leisure. The Caesar I would like to talk about is one that is dear to my heart “Leisure”

It’s funny that I chose this topic because my brother and I have had many discussions on this topic and I have always came back with my balance theory. That theory meaning you should balance your time with God, family, work and friends. Trevin Wax devotes an entire chapter of his book to this subject and I will be quoting a lot of it. He writes

“We can enjoy the fruits of our labor, admire beautiful art, soak up the glory of creation, and play sports and games for recreation. Yet leisure is all to ready to leave its proper place in our lives and steal the throne. Instead of being a friend to a hard worker, leisure often morphs into a taskmaster that squeezes the life out of us. Just as the early church rejected the addictive entertainment of the Roman games, subversive communities of faith will encourage believers to consciously monitor their media intake. In order to subvert the Caesar of Leisure, we must begin thinking seriously about our free time, structuring our time in order to show that God is our first priority, and focusing our leisure time on people instead of the newest distractions of our entertainment culture”

Does this sound familiar? I will be the first one to tell you I have been bowing to the Caesar of Leisure. I posed this question during our monthly men’s ministry meeting while discussing starting a book study “are we spending as much time in the Word as we are on Facebook” ? This was in response to a question of do we have the time for a book study. What are some other things that fall into the category being a Caesar for our Leisure?

How about TV? We might as well go for the jugular here. Trevin talks a little bit about the good ole Television set and its impact on American culture. John Piper also writes in his book “Don’t Waste your Life” “Television is one of the greatest life-wasters of the modern age. And, of course, the Internet is running to catch up, and may have caught up. You can be more selective on the Internet, but you can also select worse things with only the Judge of the universe watching. TV still reigns as the great life-waster. The main problem with TV is not how much smut is available, though that is a problem. Just the ads are enough to sow fertile seeds of greed and lust, no matter what program you’re watching. The greater problem is banality. A mind fed daily on TV diminishes. Your mind was made to know and love God. Its facility for this great calling is ruined by excessive TV. The content is so trivial and so shallow that the capacity of the mind to think worthy thoughts withers and the capacity of the heart to feel deep emotions shrivels”

Now before you go out and start giving away your TV sets and cutting the cable off like some people have been proud to announce to the world that they have done, sit back and think of ways that you can use the TV to bring the family together and not drive apart. One of the biggest issues with TV that Trevin brings up is the fact that everyone has their own TV and the family no longer spends time together watching it. Again I have this issue in my house as well. With today’s incomes and the low cost of TV’s it’s easy to provide every member of your house to include the dog a TV, and I’m not saying that your family must watch TV together all the time but it is something that at times should be done together. So what is the answer?

Trevin suggests one way would be to practice “intentional TV watching”. That would be getting a movie the family would enjoy watching together and making it a family event, or watching a favorite TV show that everyone enjoys. Some of my fondest memories as a child was watching the “Walton’s” with my family. We had one TV and it was in my Aunt Kay’s room that she shared with my mother (yes we were poor) but that one night a week we would all pile up on her bed and watch what was going on with John Boy and Marry Ellen. My job was to make the popcorn for everyone. But that’s what we did back then and we loved it. My brother Tony and his family do something like this as well. They have a DVR and during the week record a lot of shows they like to watch as a family then on the weekends get together for some family time and catch up on the latest shows they like.

These are just a few solutions for subverting the TV idol. Remember you have more control over television than you know. You have the ability to record multiple shows at once while watching another. Use this to your advantage. Is there is a good show on and dinner is ready? Well record the show and sit down with the family and eat together and when you do get a chance to watch it you can fast forward through the commercials. Well this is all I have for this segment but on part 2 I will be talking about video games, sports, an overbooked calendar and about spending some quite time with God. I will leave you with EPH 5:15-17 ESV “Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is” Peace and Blessing…Chris

Too busy for Jesus

Friends I have a confession to make, I have been too busy for Jesus. While preparing a lesson on Martha and Mary for my Sunday school class I realized that I am like Martha in the sense that I have kept myself way too busy to focus on Jesus. For those of you who are not familiar with this story it’s about two Sisters who along with their Brother Lazarus were good friends of Jesus. In Luke 10:38-42 NIV we hear about a time where Jesus stopped by and shared a meal with Martha and Mary.

“As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She was too busy to enjoy His company. She came to him and asked, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!" "Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her." Luke 10:38-42

Can anyone relate to this story? Do we get distracted by all the preparations everyday life throws at us? I know I do. Another question could be do we bring these distractions upon ourselves? I think we do. In today’s society we have some many things to do that waste time and everyday it seems like we invent new ways to cram even more stuff into the little time we do have. Computers, iphones and TiVo are just a few items that I have used to cram more junk into my time. Another thing our generation has started doing is overloading or over scheduling our daily lives. We feel like we have to have something going on at all times which usually leads to over committing ourselves and getting stressed out.

Last year I wrote a blog about the Sabbath and how important God felt that day of rest was for us. But I hear the same excuses “I have too much going on to take a day off”. I have to clean house, kids have ball practice, birthday parties, grass needs cutting..ect ect ect. But the funny thing is most of your well known preachers take a day off to rest and you can imagine how busy their schedules are. So what suffers as a result? I feel our relationship with our Lord and Savior suffers. I have actually heard people say that Sunday is the only day they can relax and spend time with their families. I have asked “can’t you do that at Church”? I also get the “sorry we couldn’t make it last week, we have been so busy” I’m not sure why they apologize to me, I wasn’t offended by their absence. But you get what I’m trying to say here.

So back to the two Sisters, you have to love how Jesus responded to Martha’s complaint about her Sister just sitting at his feet. He tells Martha "you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her." What he was trying to say was nothing is more important than his teaching and that Mary knew it was better to listen to him instead of being worried and upset about other things.

This lesson has really hit home with me and tells me that I need to spend more time with Jesus and less time with things of this world. Jesus said in John 16:33 NIV "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." Jesus has overcome the world and with his help I feel we can do the same. It’s going to be tough turning off the computer, Tv and xbox but I feel if I put Him first then I will be able to have a lot more peace and enjoy the life He has blessed me with and who’s know I still might be able enjoy a few minutes online playing games 

Going through the motions

Recently someone asked me about all the things I do at my local Church and just for those who don’t know me I teach Sunday School, a couples class on Sunday evenings and sing in the choir. They ask me if I am really feeling it or just going through the motions. Well to be perfectly honest it’s a combination of both, but more feeling it than anything. Often what starts out as going through the motions quickly becomes a heartfelt worship experience. I think we all go through times where we are just coasting through life and going through the motions but I feel these are times where we are most vulnerable to falling into the traps of our enemy. In the Army our commanders warn us of the dangers of complacency and I think we as Christians we should also heed this warning. The book of Amos also gives us a warning about being complacent.

Amos 6:1-7 NIV 1 Woe to you who are complacent in Zion, and to you who feel secure on Mount Samaria you notable men of the foremost nation, to whom the people of Israel come! 2 Go to Kalneh and look at it; go from there to great Hamath, and then go down to Gath in Philistia. Are they better off than your two kingdoms? Is their land larger than yours?3 You put off the evil day and bring near a reign of terror. 4 You lie on beds inlaid with ivory and lounge on your couches. You dine on choice lambs and fattened calves.5 You strum away on your harps like David and improvise on musical instruments.6 You drink wine by the bowlful and use the finest lotions, but you do not grieve over the ruin of Joseph. 7 Therefore you will be among the first to go into exile; your feasting and lounging will end.

This is why I feel it is so important to stay plugged into your church. A lot of times we don’t feel like getting up and going to a service but like I told my wife I can’t ever recall a time where I wish I would have stayed at home and not gone. Yes we all get tired and overwhelmed with all the stress we put on ourselves but for me listening to the Word and worshiping with others brings a kind of peace and rejuvenation that can’t be described. It also keeps feeding the fire in my spirit. We often hear about people being on fire for Jesus but I often wonder how that fire is being feed. For me it’s staying involved and fellowshipping with others. But I have to admit I still struggle with staying fired up.

I believe another area we should aware of is being lukewarm. I recently started reading the Book “Crazy Love” by Francis Chan and in chapter 4 he starts talking about being a Lukewarm Christian. Again this Chapter could have been written about me because a lot of times I feel I am neither hot nor cold, just somewhere in the middle. In the book of Revelation Jesus says:

Revelation 3:15-16 NKJV “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth”.

Wow this really hit me hard and made me evaluate myself and to be honest I didn’t like the results. I have asked myself do I really walk the walk or do I just talk the talk? Have I given all I have to follow Jesus or just enough to get by? Am I just drifting along with the crowd, singing songs in church and doing good things on occasion? Here’s a big one, have I reached out to family members who don’t know Jesus and tried to share the Gospel with them, Co-workers? Strangers? The Bible tells us in a couple of places to examine ourselves to see where our faith is, here are just a few.

Galatians 6:4 “But let each one test his own work, and then his reason to boast will be in himself alone and not in his neighbor”.

1 Corinthians 11:28 “Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup”.

2 Corinthians 13:5 “Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!”

The test results are in and I have failed my exam. But the good news is that I will be given another chance to take it and this time it will be open book. Like I said in the beginning I do a few things with my church but I believe it’s not enough. Jesus wants me to be full time and not just show up on Sunday and Wednesday. He wants me to be his first love and not get what ever I have leftover. He even tells us this in the book of Revelation.

Revelation 2:4-6 NKJV “Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lamp stand from its place — unless you repent”


I know I will be doing a lot of repenting and for my “Westwood” family cleaning out my tent. I hope you all have a very blessed New Year! Chris

Son's messy room leads to dad's 911 call

Friends,

I found this on MSN this morning.

“BEDFORD, Ohio - An Ohio man who argued with his grown son over a messy bedroom says he overreacted when he called 911.Andrew Mizsak called authorities Thursday after his 28-year-old son — who's a school board member in the Cleveland suburb of Bedford — threw a plate of food across the kitchen table and made a fist at him when told to clean his room. The son, also named Andrew, lives in a room in his parents' basement. The father declined to press charges and told police he doesn't want to ruin his son's political career. The son, who also works as a political consultant, says he's lucky to be living in the house rent free. He also promises to keep his room clean.”

How many of us can relate to this guy? I know I can. I also know if I had a dollar for every time we have told our Son to clean his room we could pay our house off. But you know this really got me thinking about how our Heavenly Father is doing the same thing with us. Using our “Room” as an analogy for our “lives” I am sure our father is constantly telling us to clean up! Do we listen? A lot of times we don’t but he loves us anyway and doesn’t give up hope that one day we will change. I often equate being a parent to the way God is our parent. I often tell my Son that I love him and that I would give my life for him just like Jesus did for us. I tell him that God forgives me when I mess up and I will do the same for him. He still has a messy room but has a closer relationship with his parents and for that I am eternally grateful

Father thank you for the Mercy and Grace you have shown us in dealing with our “messy Rooms” We know we are undeserving of your Love and Forgiveness but you give it freely anyway. Father thank you sending your Son to die for our sins and thank you for not giving up on us. It’s in Jesus name we pray Amen!

Unashamed

Friends I have been so blessed to belong to a Church family who loves me for who I am and who loves me unconditionally. When I think about what I have been going through these past couple of years and especially the pain I have caused Heidi and my Son I have to wonder how can anyone care about me? I am very ashamed of what I have done and I have asked for forgiveness from my family and from God. I do believe that I have been forgiven and have been shown more mercy and grace than I deserve, but then again that’s what being a Christian is all about. Here are a couple of scriptures that come to mind.

Romans 3:23-24 tells us that “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus”

Romans 8:1-2 also tells us “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death”

Wow pretty powerful stuff. I have to credit my Brother Tony for quoting these to me when I have been feeling down and discouraged about my transgressions. I have been forgiven and I am still covered under Gods Grace! Friends it took along time to realize this. Like I said in the beginning my Church family has also been awesome through this whole experience. They really stood by Heidi and Cj and welcomed me back home with open arms.

The main reason I am writing this Blog is to reach other people who might feel too ashamed of their Sins to come back to Church. I talked to a very sweet girl and her boyfriend yesterday after the service and asked about her Mom and Dad. Her parents had divorced 4 yrs earlier and recently reconciled and remarried. Her Mom was in our Sunday school class and I can remember the day she told Heidi that she was getting back together with her former husband. Just thinking of the happiness I saw on her face brings tears to my eyes. God has restored another marriage! He has healed another family! God does not know the meaning of the word impossible!

Well to get back to my point. After this couple remarried we haven’t seen them in Church that much and Mom has not been back to our Sunday school class. When I asked the daughter about it she said they are visiting other Churches. I hope and pray that they don’t feel too ashamed to come back and get involved with our Church. Like I said before Westwood has welcomed me back with open arms and I know they would do the same for them. And besides what a blessing it would be for everyone to see how God has worked in their lives. Friends we need more of this! We need to share our victories! We need to see God working in our lives. We need to hear from people who have been through the storm and lived to tell about.

Friends if you or someone you know is avoiding the Church because you feel ashamed of your past sins or feel unwelcomed I beg you to give Jesus along with his bride (The Church) a chance to work in your life. I am so glad I did! I will leave you with a verse from Colossians 2:13-14 ” And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross”
Remember we have all fallen short of Gods glory and there has only been one without Sin and that was the one who took our place on the cross! Take care my friends, I’ll see you later at our Fathers house.