Just When You Thought You Were Done

So, a few days ago I was visiting a lot of graduation receptions and eating way too much food. As I was sitting enjoying my 4th reception, I heard a comment from another graduation party in the next room. I think this comment came from the graduates mother and then was echoed by the graduates father. The comment was this "well, we are finally done." This was there last child out of the house and now they were looking forward to a quiet house and all the free time they could stand. I know parents often say this comment at graduation time in a joking manner, but I think there is a little truth that is running through this statement. The truth is, the graduate now is leaving the safety of the fail zone at home and going out into the world and no one can choose the path to take but the graduate. However, the error in this statement is that the graduate needs direction now more than ever.

The misconception is that influence stops at graduation, and that is simply not the case. A parents influence good or bad carry throughout life. Parents need to realize that the friendship relationship they so desperately want from their kids growing up is not attainable at childhood. Kids need parents. Communication is a must with your kids, but the whole friendship relationship is the result of good parenting after graduation and into adulthood. This is where society and parents of many teens have gotten slightly skewed in their craft as parents.

If I treat my children like friends instead of sons and daughters and do not teach them respect for parents as adults and as role models, haven't I then lost what we are seeking. Children who are respectful to their parents because of the example set by the parents tend to be adults who respect each other and value others opinions. They also are more likely to keep the relationship close with their parents. It is not an enabling relationship it is a loving relationship. As the student matures, they see the value of hard choices the parents made that they once ridiculed and maybe even rebelled against.

All you need to do is to look at television to see the message teens and kids as well are getting. The message is I am always right, my parents are dumb, my parents should be my friends and be cool rather than parent and keep me from things that will hurt me, and last but not least I don't need my parents to make it. I will do it myself. This is a very sad state of affairs, but you can see the decay happening. Watch interactions with parents and children. Then ask yourself this question. What motivated this child to obey or disobey the request or command? Then ask, was respect shown or merely facaded to get what they wanted therefore manipulating the parent? Lastly, question the parents approach was is fear me or I will beat you into submission?, fear me because I said so?, Listen to me because I told you to?, listen to me because I have taught you?

Any one of the answers to the questions above could spark a blog controversy and if that happens so be it, but the point is if parents actually be the example and rather than just give the stock answers of don't do that because I said so, and actually took the time to teach and invest and realize the influence that they indeed do have over the life of the student, then we would see a rise in student and parent relationships that are healthy and not dysfunctional. Graduation is just the beginning. Open communication lines and understanding will always lead to something bigger than we could imagine. I am almost 35 years old and I have been married for 10 years. I just over the past 8 or so years really knew who my mom was. It took a crisis and a time of great stress in my life to open my eyes to the information my mom possessed that could help me in the midst of my problem.

I now would call the relationship with my parents something that I can be proud of. I value their sacrifice for me and respect them for the position God has given them in my life as a parent. So sorry to say to the grad reception in the next room, your time is not done it is just beginning.

Sacred Silence

When the alarm sounded this morning, I thought it was just going to be another day of routine. I got out of the house by 5:25, got into the car and drove to the YMCA, and put on my head phones and started my exercise routine. To say I am trying to lose a few pounds is an understatement but that is another blog entry. As I was walking, I kept having to turn my iPod up so I could hear my music. Without my music on I just can't seem to be as motivated to walk, jog, and run. Just a side not it is mostly walking for now. I finished my routine with a 4 mile bike ride on the stationary trainer. It was great. All the time I was exercising, I kept turning my music up so I could not hear what was going on around me. After I was done, I got into the car and turned on the radio and listened to the days events already starting to unfold.

I went home and showered and got dressed for the day. I felt good because I had worked out and prayed while I was walking and biking and lifting weights. IBut then, that is when God began to speak something into my spirit. Did I really hear Him or was I just responding to the songs that were playing on my iPod? I pondered that as I came to the office. As I walked into my office and shut the door, I noticed that it was totally quiet on my side of the church. There were no traffic sounds and no office machine sounds, no computer sounds, and no phones ringing. Then my mind went to scripture. "There came a mighty earthquake, but the Lord was not in it. There came a mighty wind and the Lord was not in it. There came a fire storm and the Lord was not in it, but then a still small voice came and I covered my face and went out to meet the Lord. "

How many times do we try to block out the noise of the world who is calling to us. How many times to we blast the praise music when the master is standing right beside us? How often do we miss the very presence of God because we cannot quiet ourself and open our ears to hear what He is saying to us? We can have the sacred songs playing and that is great. We can flood our mind with God inspired praise and worship music and that is great, but there is something to be said for the sacred silence that we get from silencing the cellphone, turning off the iPod, and stepping away from the computer so we can hear the voice of God calling to us. The still small voice of a true gentleman who will never raise his voice to get his point across when gentle persuasion will get the message across to us just fine. We just have to be ready to listen.

As we listen, prepare to be refreshed. Prepare to be renewed. Prepare to be in awe of the very intimate presence of God. God wants to communicate to us in bigger ways and better ways that lead to closeness with Him. We can experience him bigger than we could ever imagine if we just from time to time seek the sacred silence.

Drought and Rain

Last night was a great night for our youth ministry. I stepped away from the stage last night to observe and worship with my students and God did a great and wonderful thing. God began to impress upon me that there were students who needed healing in their bodies and in their minds. We but our service agenda on hold and prayed for the sick and those that came to youth just because it was the thing to do. God showed up in our worship. He moved in the altar and the gifts of healing were in operation. As I looked across the room, I saw students with arms raised crying out to God with a hunger that we sometimes see only in youth convention and camp services. Then God brought a song to my mind about raining down his presence.

Many of us have prayed "God rain down in this place. Rain down Lord Jesus" or something like that. Youth ministries and individuals alike are experiencing a drought of epic proportion in their spiritual life. As I though about the presence of God raining down, I started thinking about how rain happens. Not to get to scientific on you, but when water is heated up and evaporates and then goes into the atmosphere and forms clouds and then cooling and heating happen in the air eventually the weight gets to be to great and rain falls. There it is right there. Did you see it? It is the link. Let me put it into common language.

We are the instruments of heating and evaporating and sending the vapor to the sky. The spirit inside us is hungry to experience the presence of the creator and our passion (fire/heat) heats the water (Jesus inside of us) and as we speak praise the words turn to vapor aka fragrance to the Lord. The praises form clouds and then the progression of our spirit and worship sends more vapor. Here is the tough part. Many times we just stop after a little bit of praise or just go through the motions of singing songs instead of actively worshipping. Our praises cool and the clouds dissipate and we say wow that was good worship.

What happens then when we continue to offer up praise? What happens when the heavens are full of the clouds of praise. There then comes a tipping point where the condensation happens and the drops of the presence of God fall. As they fall we cannot stop praising. The continual praise causes the clouds to burst and the rain of the presence of God to fall and drench those who are there. It is in the downpour where we become overcome by the presence and our minds are stayed on God and then healings occur and oppression is broken.

To experience the rain of God bigger than we could ever imagine, we must continually lift up the vapor of our praise until the break through happens. What ever you dealing with right now praise God in it. Even if you cannot see a way out, lift up the fragrant praise to the Lord. He will rain down the peace and joy that you are seeking. It is time that the drought in our spirit be flooded with the presence of God. Keep praising Him in good times and bad times. He is the alpha and omega and in Him all things that we are going through He will use for our good.

Be blessed

The Big Con

Several Sundays ago I taught on one of the Assemblies of God's fundamental truths. The topic was sanctification. As we began the talk, I was very surprised that not many if any students really understood what it actually was. The topic kind of took a rabbit trail. We ended up talking about what the biggest battle was for young men and women as it pertained to sanctification. This is what they came up with. "The biggest battle for guys is lust." "The biggest battle for women is the want to be loved." As we talked about these agreed upon statements, several of the students came to an epiphany. These two things are related. I allowed them to talk this out.

We began to talk about how Satan uses the eyes in men and the mind in women to play them against each other, when in the context of a marriage the yearning after your spouse and the affirmation of love are good, outside of that they lead to ungodliness. Think about this. When you get involved in a relationship outside of the confines of marriage, physical attraction can often lead to mental manipulation. Guys tell girls what they want to hear. Girls dress provocatively to get a guy. They use the natural visual wiring to hook the guys. The guys use the words "i love you" to basically melt the mind of the young lady.

This game of cat and mouse aka flirting leads to emotional investment and that investment leads to a girls mind being clouded. The boy's mind is consumed with lust and yearn for physical gratification. At first it starts out with small touch and then goes further until basically the boundaries are quieted. The want to be loved will drive a young lady to the arms of an abuser who tells her he loves her and then tells her she deserves the mistreatment. The lustful desires will lead a young man to the point of manipulation of a young lady just to get what he wants.

Sadly the breakdown of these areas are done so inconspicuously that often times the involved persons don't even realize they are compromising. When the realization happens the person is full of remorse and guilt. The vicious cycle continues until the people involved break the cycle. Dating in general leads to emotional investment. Before a couple should even consider dating they need to be ready to be married. They date for that specific reason. Casual dating leads to minute pieces of the heart being flaked away and morality getting attacked.

I know this may sound very strange to some of you reading, but think of the difference this would make in relationships and marriages specifically. When you kiss your spouse and you know her past, do you compare or wonder how you stacked up to the other guy. In intimate moments that should be sacred between you and your spouse do you find your mind wondering if this moment had ever happened with someone else. Prayerfully not, but in many cases this questioning leads to a very dysfunctional intimate area. In many cases it leads to mistrust and doubt. Satan attacks very stealthily. He chips away at morality until he can blur or etch it to make it obscure.

Sanctification is ongoing and it is what God asks us to do. Change the very way we think. We will see families and marriages renewed if we just practice this one area more than just expecting it to work itself out alone. Our relationships can be bigger than our imagination. Will we let them?

The Chance Of A LIfetime

I have had a quote by Lenard Ravenhill floating in my mind today. "Opportunities of a lifetime are seized within the lifetime of the opportunity." As I reflect on this simple quote I begin thinking of different opportunities that have made themselves available to me. Did I do anything to make them happen? Why would these things that are so great happen to me? How many opportunities have I missed out on because I was to afraid to take the chance in the lifetime of it?

Every person has opportunities that come and go. They are birthed and die just as we do. Unfortunately many of our greatest opportunities die due to lack of courage. What leads to opportunities? Often time it is simple obedience to do what God wants us to. Obedience to God and his commands opens so many of our doors for us. Some swing open wide and fast like a garden gat and others are slow and smooth like a vault containing treasures. In either case, the doors can open, but we cannot access them unless we walk through them. Discouragement from human and even demonic forces will freeze us in our tracks. The fear of our past failures is constantly being brought to our memories by the enemy and often times well intentioned friends. We cannot life in the past. If we do, we miss the lifetime of the opportunity.

Look at your life right now. What opportunities are presenting themselves to you? Are you ready to take the chance and seize the opportunity? If you are, I pray that you square your shoulders and take the step. What you will find is that the first few steps are difficult. They are that way to test your faith and add to your resolve. You will then find life bigger than you can imagine. God is only governed by human limitations when we place limitations on Him. Seize the opportunity and see what God will do. There is new fresh anointing right around the blind corner called faith. Will you take the chance and step out. Don't let this opportunity end.

Rooms Of The Heart Pt 1 foundation

I was surprised to fine out that the human heart has so much pressure it could shoot blood up to 30 feet away. I was also taken back by the fact that our heart will beat around 2 billion times in our life. The heart is so amazing. It is created to serve it's purpose and serve it with efficiency. Valentine's Day is fast approaching and we will hear sayings like I love you from the bottom of my heart and I give you my heart.

The human heart has often been associated with love and deep affection, but it has not always been the symbol of deep love like we think of it. In the Old Testament times the colon and large intestines were the center for deep soul based love and affection. That would change the way we see a lot of songs today. Achy Breaky Heart would take on a whole new meaning. Your singing the lyrics now aren't you.

In the human heart the center of love there are many rooms. Each room serves a distinct purpose. Before we can talk about the rooms of the heart we must first talkk about what the heart is built on. The foundation is the key part of the hearts design. The foundations footings are poured and then brick are laid on top of the footings.

It is this part that we have problems with. We were created by God and so our footings were poured. The footings are the 10 commandments that make up our morality. Then we begin to live our life and start placing the bricks of life on them. Unless a brick has mortar it will eventually crumble when it is put under pressure. Friction and movement will happen in ever person's life and unless the mortar is placed on a situation or event in our life we will start the process of crumbling.

Mortar is when you allow Jesus to take all of your problem and stop concentrating on the problem. We need to allow Jesus to cover the problem or hurt or struggle. When we do that, we will be strong and able to use that past event in our life even if it is a hurt or painful memory to strengthen ourselves and others.

When we take the problem away from Jesus and start focusing our energy and effort on it we become bricks with no mortar. Satan then begins to come and tap on that weak area of our wall until he knocks that brick back out and gets us focused on it again. He then starts strategically knocking out pieces of our wall until he causes it to collapse. We must give the entire problem to Jesus and then be proactive in doing things to help the problem instead of dwelling on it. When we do that, we will find that our hopeless feeling of collapse of our faith in God, faith in church, and faith in others begins to be restored.

Jesus wants to re-mortar your life. Even the worst wall can be fixed by the master carpenter. We simply need to be still concentrate on Him and listen to the words he has for us. God wants us to be strong for him. Build your house on the rock and not on the sand. Mt 7:26-28

We can surpass our imagination and be stronger than we ever thought possible with Jesus Christ as our hope and healer.

Can We Really See The People?

As I sat in the Omaha airport, I began to watch people as they went on with their day and boarded planes and passed through security checkpoints. When my number was called to board the plane bound for Phoenix, I remember looking at my ticket and thinking wow I am not last in line, but thinking man I am pretty far from the front. The plane boarded and I was pleased to find myself by the wing of the plane and with an open seat between me and another person. For me comfort had been achieved.

I still could not take my eyes off of the crowd that was on the plane. My mind was captivated by a young man's face that was absolutely normal. There were no distinguishing features about him, he was normal looking. As I saw his face and looked at his eyes I noticed something, this guy was just going through the motions of flying. From his actions, he had flown several times before. He spoke to no one/ He just put on his headphones and listened to whatever on his iPod.

The point I am trying to make is simply this. In our lives, we can get so caught up in the routine that we ignore the opportunities around us to witness and the opportunities around us to recognize and give honor to the creator of life and all that is. We can just put on our iPod's and seclude ourselves with no regard for the people around us going on with their lives.

The opportunities that God gives each one of us far exceeds our imagination. They are bigger and have more impact than we can even imagine. Do we truly see the people around us or do they just blend in to the pictures in our head of what normal looks like. Today, I encourage you to take a new look at what you call normal. Take the time to see each thing, each person, and each act in a new light. In that moment, God will make your normal even bigger than your imagination and the supernatural will become a part of your natural.