Passionately Christian

Yesterday I wrote a little bit of why I am a “Passionate Conservative.”  I could have gone on, but I don’t have hours to write and you don’t have hours to read.  Bottom line is I believe that Conservative Principles when applied in a Representative Republic give individuals the best chance to be the best they can be.  As individuals prosper, the entire society is lifted up.  Indeed the results have been dramatic for the entire planet!

This morning I want to talk a little bit about why I am passionately Christian.  Bottom line is Jesus gave up Heaven so God could have a friendship with me and you!  In other words, God died so that when you die you don’t have to really die!  You can live with Him forever!

The only requirement to qualify for Heaven?  Believe in your heart that Christ died in your place and paid for your sins and on the third day rose from the dead.  Believe that in your heart and confess it with your mouth.  That’s it!  Romans 10:9 & 10.  You then exchange your earthly sin for His absolute righteousness.

Now as simple as that sounds, we all resist.  Well, most of us.  I do know a couple of wonderful people who have been Christians as long as they remember, but for most of us we decided that “having fun” in our youth was more important then being called “Jesus Freaks.”  Of course the fun lead to heartache and sometimes disease.  While we might be “good people” we are all pretty selfish by nature.  Of course God was still drawing us to Him and eventually we responded and accepted His wonderful gift of salvation.  If you haven’t and are alive enough to read this then there is still time.

For me it started in Sunday School at the First Conservative Baptist Church of Canby.  I was maybe 8 or 9 and our Sunday School Teacher was showing me in the Bible that God talked about springs in the bottom of the ocean.  Springs that scientists were just barely discovering thousands of years later.  That was enough for me to accept Jesus into my heart.  I still remember the joy I felt as I prayed and in my minds eye I saw light bursting from my heart!  It was pretty cool.

But.  I eventually stopped going to church and eventually started living more and more for my own desires.  That included increasing drug and alcohol use as a teenager and young adult.  I even shared a drug needle to inject some cocaine into my arm.  I only tried it 2 or 3 times in a one week period when I was about 20 years old, but I ended up paying a high price for the temporary rush the cocaine gave me.

I found out much later that I had Hepatitis C.  The worse kind too.  It was also about that time that God drew me back to him.  I started going to church, got baptized and started reading my Bible.  During worship at church I would cry out to God and also actually cry as He was healing my heart.  The folks around me at church probably thought I was a troubled man, but I didn’t care.  God was working while I was in His presence.

It was during one of those times that I heard God say in my heart about my Hepatitis C, “I’m going to take this from you.”  It was a word I clung to during the difficult one year of combination drug therapy.  I lost a lot of weight and some hair.  Food lost it’s flavor and I had suicidal thoughts.  All side effects of the drugs, but I hung on because I had God’s promise!

Sure enough, after a year of treatments I was Hepatitis C free!  And still am today.  That was 10 years ago.  Since then I have left my TV career and have served in a few ministries.  Mission Odessa, Family Life Radio and Teen Challenge of Arizona along with some churches along the way.  I don’t know if I will stay working in ministries as a job the rest of my life, but I do plan on ministering the rest of my life!  God has shown me a lot in His Word and through experiences with Him that I have to share.  It’s too important.  I don’t always live as I should and God doesn’t just give me what I want, but I know that He is always with me and He always gets me through.

If you want more evidence that God is who He says He is, check out this blog entry from a couple of years ago.  Stars really do sing, just like God said they do thousands of years ago!

If you don’t know Jesus and you are still alive, it’s not too late.  To say that it is awesome to know the God who created the Universe as a personal friend and Father is an understatement!

It is Finished

Often during the music worship time at church I am taken back to that moment in history where Jesus Christ hung on a cross and was punished for the sins of the world.  In my mind's eye I see the entire universe, all of creation, and all of time, pivoting on that moment.

The Old Testament Saints were looking forward to the cross in faith and the New Testament Saints look back.  That remarkable moment that affected future and past.  Where God righted our wrong once and for all and for all time, past, present and future.

Several years ago I wrote how God showed me that it was the joy of my salvation (and yours) that gave Jesus strength as He went to the cross.  It's a similar message that Musicianaries "Take No Glory" share in their song, "He Didn't Die in Vain." 

Check out all of their music.  They give it away for free!

John 19:30
“Therefore when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!”  And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.”

The story doesn’t end there.  Jesus rose from the dead on the 3rd day!  He appeared to His disciples and many others over a period of 40 days and then He ascended into Heaven where He sits at the right hand of the Father making intercession for the saints.

We are born with a sin nature thanx to the original sin committed by Adam, but God fixed it.  Only He could.  Sin (falling short of God’s perfection) demands a payment.  Death.  Jesus paid that price so God could be both Righteous and Love.

Righteous because God can’t say that sin brings death and then lie by not punishing sin.  Because of God’s Love He sentenced His Son to our death so we could live with Him forever!  It was the only way.  That’s why Jesus said that the only way to the Father is through Him.  And so it is.  Finished.  All you have to do is believe.

Wild at Heart

GREAT book!  I remember when I was a new Christian.  Barely a year in the faith.  My Church, Trinity Church in Lubbock, had a men’s groups study on, “Wild at Heart.”  I already had a home group so I didn’t sign up although I was interested.  Especially since it was being taught by an Air Force recruiter I admired.

So, years later, I FINALLY read it.  I read it on Saturday.  Now I’m wondering, what took me so long??

There is so much to the book.  I’ll probably reread it sometime.  The main messages I got out of the book?  For me, it boils down to a couple of principles that has really igniting something in me.  The biggest and most impactful?  It’s OK for me to be who I am!  God gave me a lot of wonderful gifts.  I don’t need to be afraid of them.  I shouldn’t suppress them.  That’s like hiding your light under a bushel.  No.  God has reasons why He made me the way He did.  I need to come out from behind my personality and quit beating myself up for being an under achiever.  And, to challenge myself to not be so lazy.

Growing up, school was very easy for me.  I’d show up, stay awake in class (for the most part), blow off the homework and ace the tests.  I developed a nasty habit of being lazy.  Hey.  If I can excel without trying, then why push myself?

It truly is a blessing and a curse.  How cool that I can just show up and learn!  Of course the flip side is, sometimes challenges come along in life that do require extra effort.  I’d rather watch TV :-)

When I was in elementary school I found out that not everyone thought the really smart people were cool.  I also discovered I could make people laugh.  So.  Why not suppress the one and develop the other?  Classic under achiever syndrome.

I think God is challenging me.  Not to be the smartest around, but to not be afraid to be who I am.  To be thankful for the gifts He has given me and to use them for His glory!  That means studying His word more.  Spending time in His presence.  As I learn about Him and get to know Him, I can share with others.  I desire to teach and preach.  If it’s His will I need to pursue it!  The big question I have now is, what is the best path to take to do that?

Another area is assertiveness.  I need to assert myself more and have more confidence!  Or at least realize that I have more to contribute then I have at times.  Once upon a time in high school I was brimming with confidence.  I was class president.  I was all league in track.  Good at football.  School was easy and I was popular.  It seemed everything I did turned to gold!  Slowly as my drug and alcohol use increased I started to falter.  By the time I was a junior I quit football, was kicked off of the track team and dropped out of school the following year.  I languished for a few years before I moved to New Mexico to start my broadcasting career.  I have done pretty well despite not having a college degree thanx to the gifts God has given me, but I never quite regained the confidence I had before I started messing up.

I need to realize.  God’s gifts and talents are without repentance!   I didn’t mess up His best plan for my life, rather He has made me a new creation in Him!  I can forget the former self and truly live!  That means forgetting those things that are behind and pressing forward to the high calling of God.  With His help I intend to do just that.

The other area is relationships.  Women.  But that is none of your business :-)  God is teaching me some things.  Someday, Lord willing, I am going to be a great husband to a blessed beautiful woman!

Bike on the Bike Again Still

Awesome!

I’m going to a later church service this morning to hear one of my co-workers preach at the Salvation Army, so I decided to make good use of the extra time.  I went on my usual bike ride up Pusch Peak on East McGee.  Much better today!  It was still hard, but my legs did better and I didn’t feel ill when I got home like yesterday.

I left a half hour earlier than yesterday and the temperature was almost 90 both days!  When I got back at 9:00 (same time I left yesterday) it was already 92.4.  Expecting maybe 108 this afternoon.  We topped out at 106 yesterday, I think.

It is that time of year.  Seeing as how I have trouble exercising after work, (it is too hot to hike at 5:30pm) I’m starting to think I can do my bike ride every morning before work!  Why not?  It gets light around 5am.  I can get up by 5ish,  (I’m usually up around 5:30 anyway)  drink my coffee and a smootie while I read my Bible until 6ish, then I could ride from around 6:00 to 6:30 and still have plenty of time to get to work by 8:00!

Great idea.  Now I just need implementation.

Sunday Morn

Here it is 6:30am and I’ve already been up an hour and a half. That’s what happens when I work the graveyard shift. I “sleep in” on the weekends and still get up awfully early. That’s OK, it’s not that awful. I enjoy the peace and quiet of the early early AM! Although living in the apartment, I have to stay quiet. Can’t wash dishes or sing to loud music :-)

Seahawks did it yesterday! Defense looked AWESOME! The offense, not so much. Next Saturday in Green Bay will be interesting! Will it be snowing? It’s already been a cold snowy Winter in Wisconsin. Not sure who that favors? The Packers are tough to beat in Green Bay. Obviously I want the Seahawks to win, but I will admit that the Packers are my second favorite team in the NFC.

Wii bowling yesterday. I was very inconsistent. I was getting a bit frustrated with some of my low scores. 150, 160. However, I had a few high scores. The highest was an incredible 274! I had eight strikes in a row. Seven or eight. What fun! If only I could bowl that way for real. I’d settle for 150, 160 :-)

Pot luck after church today. My friends the Rulands are hosting. Matt tells me they got a big screen TV! He knows I’d like to have the game on. Friends. Even though they know you, they still like you!

Looks like early service today since I’m up so early. That works out. I can watch the Giants and Buccaneers before I head over to the Rulands. This afternoon it’s the Titans and the Chargers. I’ll take the Giants and Chargers respectively!