Archive for the ‘Thoughts’ Category

“The truth will set you free.”  That is one of the most misused and misunderstood passages in the whole Bible.  It is a statement so often taken out of context that its true meaning has been masked.  It’s a shame because this is one of the most powerful scriptures in the whole Bible.

So many people will say the truth will set you free but what they mean is if you will simply be honest with yourself you will be free to live however you wish.  Even those people who are sinning in the most blatant ways will misuse this passage to excuse their lifestyle.  That is not at all what Jesus meant.

The truth will set you free, but only the actual authentic truth has that kind of power.  What if you are trusting in some sort of false hope?  How can anything that is not truth accomplish in you what only the truth can?  You see, if we continue to accept something less than the real truth in our lives how can we expect to get the real change that only the truth can bring?  It reminds me of the passage in 2nd Timothy 3 where it says:

But understand this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For people will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, slanderers, without self-control, savage, opposed to what is good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, loving pleasure rather than loving God. They will maintain the outward appearance of religion but will have repudiated its power. So avoid people like these.

Repudiate means: to reject as having no authority or binding force.  You see, they have some kind of outward appearance that suggests religion but have denied that there is any power there to make real change.  If they deny the power, or the central truth behind it, then what do they expect?

There is a deception out there, and it is growing.  It is like the powerful delusion spoken of in 2nd Thessalonians 2.  Why?  Because men would not love the truth and instead embraced a lie.  So God will give them over to a lie, and they will love the lie and hate the truth.  But what is the true truth?

When Jesus said in John 8:32 “and you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.” what truth was He talking about.  Fortunately He tells us later in John 14:6 when he said “… I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”  He is the way.  He is the truth.  He is the life.  I just don’t know how He could make it any clearer.  But what is the problem that He is offering to set us free from?

Sin is standing between you and God, a barrier that prevents you from being able to come to God.  In all honesty, if the experience in Isaiah 6 is any indication, you wouldn’t want to come face to face with God in your sinful condition.  Isaiah is undone before the Holy God, he realizes that he is unfit and destroyed, his lips stained with sin.  God actually separates us from Himself because we simply couldn’t take His glory while we are corrupted.  Jesus is the sacrifice that pays for your transgression and makes you clean, acceptable to come before God.  Not that you stop doing wrong and are instantly made sinless, but by acknowledging your sin and accepting the sacrifice of Christ you will be declared righteous, and when you die you will be resurrected into a new body, no longer subject to sin, and death, and separation from God.

There are false teachers out there who will tell you everything is fine.  You are alright.  God is love.  Jesus would never send anyone to Hell.  My friends, the truth is that Jesus doesn’t send anyone to Hell, we do that on our own.  How?  By rejecting the offer, the amazing offer that He has made us, purchased by his own blood.  He will forgive us, cleanse us, change us, take us forward and continue to work in us until He completes this work in us.

“But Jesus IS love, He wouldn’t send me to Hell, would He?” someone may ask.  Let’s think about this for a minute.

Imagine if you were in need of a kidney.  You were on dialysis and heading for an early grave.  But I heard about your need as as it happens I am a perfect match.  I go into surgery and give up one of my kidneys.  It is now on ice in a little red cross ice chest waiting for you to come to the hospital and get into surgery.  But you say no?!  What am I to do?  How am I to feel?  Can you be healed without a kidney?  No!  There is no healing without a kidney.  But you have rejected my gift?  You say you want to use positive thinking and crystals to grow a replacement kidney for yourself.

Now I don’t mean to impose my pettiness upon Christ, He is superior to me in every way.  His resentment is not the same as mine.  I am flesh and He is God.  Yet, His sacrifice for your salvation was vastly more costly than my hypothetical kidney would be.  There is no healing for you apart from Him.  He gave up His life for you… will you say no?!  What do you think you can find apart from Him to give you salvation.  You have a need.  He is the fulfillment of your need.  You have a problem.  He is the solution to your problem.  You have a disease.  He is the cure for your sin.  There is no other.  In John 6:68 & 69 when Jesus asked His disciples if they wanted to leave Him Peter answers, “… to whom would we go?  You [alone] have the words of eternal life.  We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God!”

The Holy One of God is the Hebrew way of saying, Jesus was the Savior that had been promised from the beginning.  He was the Messiah who was to come.  He was the fulfillment of the Old Testament Scriptures.  Jesus himself said in John 5:39 & 40, “You study the scriptures thoroughly because you think in them you possess eternal life, and it is these same scriptures that testify about me, but you are not willing to come to me so that you may have life.”  The whole Bible is a testimony about Jesus and if you come to Him you will have life.  He is the truth that will set you free.  Will you accept His offer and let Him set you free?

We live in a ridiculously sex charged culture.  Years ago I took a survey in a mall, where I was asked about a commercial I was shown for a razor blade.  The guy who used that brand of razor blade got the girl.  Trust me, I have been shaving my beard too long to think that there is something sexy about my morning ritual of shaving my face.  I told them that I thought that commercial was ridiculous.

But sex sells, right?  Sex is everyway.  It is all over the internet.  But it isn’t good. In fact there is a lot of sick crap out there.

Obviously God created sex, and it is brilliant when we use it as God created it in marriage.  And we as men try to find fulfillment in “cheap sex” from photos, videos, whatever, and it costs us.  We sometimes don’t realize it.

1. It costs us in our closeness in our relationship to God.  You know the guilt that you feel.  And you also know when you feel that small amount of purity we possess slipping away.

2. Attention that we should be paying to our wives, we are paying to someone else.  Again it could be anywhere.  It could be something as simple as a swimsuit calendar up on the wall at our auto mechanics, but each time we go to the shop, we have to peek to see if it is still there, or if he has added another. We run a deficit with our wives. If you rob your wife, aren’t robbing yourself? Or maybe the penalty is double or more when we are robbing our spouse.

We claimed as married men that we are going to honor, cherish and love our wives.  How are we doing at that?  God is also going to call us to account for how we acted toward our wives.

Interestingly in Ephesians, we are supposed to love our wives like Jesus loved the church.  Jesus sacrificed himself for us, who are part of the church.

Also in that same passage in Ephesians, it says that the man who loves his wife loves himself. 

Years ago I read a cover of a book and it stuck with me.  I even bought a copy, though I have never honestly gone all the way through it.  It is called “Do yourself a favor, love your wife.”  On the cover of the early edition there was a two lane road with three cars.

Two cars going one way, and other car was going the opposite. 

The two cars going the same direction has two occupants in each car, and they were sitting on opposite sides of front seat.

But the other car, and maybe this dates the book, obviously had a bench seat, and the occupants in the car were sitting right next to each other.

Are we giving our wives the attention that they deserve or are we giving the attention somewhere else because it is easier? 

Are we shorting ourselves in a number of ways?  Are we sinning against God with unbridled lust? 

Are we sinning against the woman of our lives?  If we made the effort to love our wives as God intended, with cherishing and honor, do you think that would have a positive impact on our daily lives?  We only have one life, so lets not screw it up.

One book/CD that I need to go through at least once a year is called, “Everyman’s Battle” by Stoeker and Arterburn.  It is about reclaiming our lives from this crazy lust infected world that we live in. Here is the link http://www.fredstoeker.com/book/everymansbattle.shtml It will give you hope, no matter where you are, or what you might be involved in now or in your past.

I have it on Audio book and have been listening to it the last couple of days on my drives with work. I am refocusing on my efforts on my relationship with God and my wife. I figured that it would be a great encouragement for you as well. I like that the title is “everyman’s battle.” Not “some men’s battle”. Us guys are red blooded males, and our eyes, minds and hormones can get us into a lot of compromises that we shouldn’t. To be the men that we are called to be by God, that takes a bit of discipline, to keep our eyes from wandering. But it is worth it. Check it out. Hey, if you want me to loan you my copy, of Everyman’s Battle, let me know. Or you could pick it up at Amazon, Barnes and Noble or just about any Christian book store.
God bless you gentleman. Have a great weekend. See ya at Church.

Part of this is a copy of what I posted on rctech.net.

Yesterday I called my friend Stephen, and I think that I first got his mom, and then his wife.  His wife was telling me that he is in a very bad way and is unable to talk.  It looks like it is down to the last days or hours.  But she did put me on speaker phone for him.  I was able to pray for him.  And at the end, his wife said that he was trying to mouth the word “Amen.”  I also wanted to tell him about an upcoming missions trip that I am going on this spring.  Again I got to share that with him on speaker phone and his wife said that he seemed animated and excited.  I did get to tell him that I loved him.

I will call the family tomorrow and find out what the news is.

I must have spent hours and hours with him chatting on the phone. Just an incredible brother in the faith. Always very positive in how he acted toward others.

I was thinking just how much I am going to miss those calls. If I miss him so much, how much more his wife and mom and family are going to miss him.

We talked a lot about death. It was something that was always right there in front of him. You know what, he wasn’t afraid of death, because he knew that Jesus was going to meet him on the other side. He wasn’t happy about having to leave his wife in death. But for months now he was trying to do what he could with the energy had to take care of her. Sorting out her hobby room. Teaching her about the life insurance, bills etc, and trying to make sure that he had all his ducks in a row.

He absolutely loved his wife. He would go on glowingly about what an awesome woman she is, and all the different things that she was involved in at church with teaching and worship team. They got to take a couple of great vacation togethers in the last couple years, knowing that their time together was short.

Man, the world is going to be a darker place with him passing on. Shookie was an encouragement to a lot of us. You know what else, he was REAL. It wasn’t all “Do as I say, not as I do.” Or “Live like a saint on Sunday, and live like a hellion the other 6 days out of the week.” He lived out everyday what he said.

Some people when they die, people only tell positive things about them, and really sweep under the carpet all the crud that everyone really knows went on in their life. There is nothing to sweep under the carpet here.

I remember when he was telling me a story about recently getting medicine switched and he was saying it was like getting “tourettes” where all this foul language came flowing out of his mouth, just uncontrollably. I didn’t hear him swear ever, but that was what he told me happened. And Shookie was so embarassed by that and asking God for forgiveness, because that is not the kind of person that he ever wanted to be.

Some of us might cuss up a storm or cuss out others and think nothing of it. But it bothered Stephen.

A lot of racers have been watching his life. They were in awe of how he handled himself and his life. It has been an amazing struggle and yet peaceful because of Christ.

I am so going to miss him.

I know with all confidence, to his friends and fellow racers who don’t know Jesus, or maybe need to come back to faith, if he inspired you at all, he would love for you to take a look into Jesus again. Because that it where he found his strength and hope. We talked about that a lot.

I love you Stephen. You have been such an incredible friend. You helped me get through all sorts of tough times in my life and ministry. Thank you.

Richard

I grew up in Southern California in a non-religious family. It’s not that we hated God or anything, we just didn’t think about that sort of thing. But even as a child, deep in my heart I knew there was something more than just living day-to-day and getting by. I had a recurring dream that haunted me my entire childhood, from my very earliest memory.

In this dream I began at whatever age I was currently. I found myself moving down what I can only describe as a tunnel of my life where I would watch myself experience typical activities, going to school, eating dinner and so forth. Then as the dream began to accelerate I would see scenes of myself getting older. I didn’t see faces from my future I just had a sense of who people were and what they were doing. I would graduate high school, then college; I saw myself get married, then having children. Later I saw myself in a successful career and vacations. Then, soon after, I saw myself with grandchildren on my knee. Then as the dream reached a fevered pitch I would slam into a wall that I knew was death, and awake with a start. Even as a child I knew that death was an inevitable conclusion to my life and it was with defeat and despair that I wept into my pillow.

As my mother began attending a community church my sister and I went along. My dad just really wasn’t interested at the time so we three went alone. It was there at Knott Avenue Christian Church that I first heard about God and His plan of salvation. It was there that I first learned about Jesus and how he died to pay for my sins. I slowly started to understand that God was really interested in me and that He had a plan to deal with my overwhelming fear of death. As I put my trust in Him I began to experience peace. Peace about my future, peace about my relationship to God, peace about my whole life. Eventually, even my dreams began to change.

It was many years later and I was having the same dream once again. Every thing was the same. The dream accelerated through all the phases of my life, rapidly approaching the wall of death that I had so often faced with dread. But this time the dream ended differently… pleasantly. Instead of merely hitting the wall and awaking startled and afraid, this time I passed through the wall as if it weren’t even there and found myself floating in the brilliant presence of the glorified Christ. The relief and peace I felt are beyond description. My heart began to swell with joy as I gently awoke with a broad smile on my face. Ever since, I have never had the dream again. Jesus has freed me from my fears and given me the assurance that I will be with Him forever.

If you want to know how to be saved from your sin and know you will go to heaven when you die my friend Mike Parrott has a simple outline and a video on his website.

About four months ago I got a speeding ticket. Honestly I thought that I was still in a 45 zone when I got picked up doing 47 in a 35. I was probably only 150 feet passed the sign. Needless to say I was really bummed. I didn’t want to have to explain to my wife, how I was costing the family again with my own stupidity.

When I went to work, the people in the office were saying, “It is no big deal. If you have a good record, you’ll get an option of not having this ticket count and won’t have to pay the fine if you can go a whole year without another moving violation.” I figured that the very least with the letters that I got from the court that I would be able to at least be able to plea a lower penalty ONCE I GOT TO SHARE MY SIDE OF THE STORY.

So for weeks I had been stressing about what I was going to say in court. I didn’t see the signs as they were blocked by slow moving traffic. It is a 7% downhill grade in that section, and large trucks do block the signs from time to time.

So the day arrived. There I was in court. I was asked my name, I was asked if I pleaded guilty, (because even to get the hearing I did have to admit my guilt. And I was speeding even if completely unintentional). I gave my name and said “yes” to the question of guilty. The judge said, “You have an excellent record. Your fine is reduced from 154 to 125. Good day.”

That was it! It was over! It was the same reduction that I was offered before I even went to court. I DIDN’T GET TO SAY MY PIECE. What a rude awakening. I left feeling kind of stunned. What was the point of going downtown, taking time off of work, paying for parking, only to give my name and admit my guilt?

That got my thinking. I went back to the office, and told my boss about what happened. He asked, “Wasn’t there another person there to work out the deal for you? That is what happened for me. There was another guy who talked to me and then talked to the judge.”

“Nope, it was me, the judge and the clerk that recorded it.”

Obviously as believers in Christ, when judgment comes and we are standing before God, we do have an advocate for us. Jesus Christ will be in the middle. “My client pleads guilty, and I paid the penalty for him.” That is a great place to be.

What I thought would be shocking, is for those people who are thinking that because they were good people on their own, they are going to get to tell their story and get some kind of bargain. Thinking they are going to tell God, “I wasn’t as bad as so and so. I took care of my own. Look, somehow God it is your fault, because you didn’t make it that much more obvious to me. Maybe a few more signs for me, would have changed things.”

I don’t know how many people that I have talked to who won’t look at Christ, and what He did to pay the penalty for us on the Cross, and are banking on being able to plead their own case.

Without Christ, what can you plead but your name and guilt? Ignorance is no excuse. Especially in the US, I am not even sure if ignorance is truly possible. We have Bibles everywhere, Jesus shows up in country music songs, there is so much Christian radio and TV and a church on every other street corner. It is hard to miss Jesus if you are willing to look up, even the littlest. If you can’t plead Jesus when standing before the Father, it will be because you never wanted to take the time in this life to look into Him. What else can I say? Don’t bet on pleading your own case.

Sorry there is no proper video for the Tree 63 song “Answer to the Question”.  I got the CD a couple of years ago and listened quite a bit.  Really focusing on some of the other songs on the CD.  I highly recommend the CD, and if we had an online store, would like to provide it.

Have you ever listened to a song, and got part of the lyrics wrong?  Well, I sure did recently.  I pulled out the CD and listened to it recently.  All night long I had the song stuck in my head.  “He is the answer to the question. . . He is only seventeen.”  That line is just dumb, so I knew that it couldn’t be right.  Tired of having it stuck in there wrong, I was determined to listen to it careful for once.

Chorus: “He is the answer to the question, He is cure for the infection.  He is . . . ALL HE SAYS HE IS!  He is ultimate reflection of holiness and true perfection.  He is . . ALL HE SAYS HE IS!”

Wow, what a concise way to describe Christ.  Who is he?  Is He this, or that?  Man, who does He say that He is.  Is there reason to believe that He is who He claimed to be?

With all that in mind, I started to go through one of my red letter Bibles where all the words of Jesus are written in red.  He says things with so much power and conviction.  With such beauty and backs up His words with miracles.

Years ago, Kelloggs cornflakes had an ad saying, “Try them again for the first time.”  Because people were skipping over cornflakes in the aisles for fancier cereals, that they forgot that cornflakes really are an OK cereal.  Sometimes I think that we can do that with the Bible, the gospels, claims of Jesus etc etc.  Sometimes it is just good to go back and taste it again, for the first time.  Really take a look at what Jesus was saying.  I would encourage you to take another look.  You know what, He is all He says He is.

Our local AF2 team, the Spokane Shock went to the Arena Cup for the second time in their three-season history.  This year, hosting of the Cup was awarded to the team with the best record so we got to have the championship game in our sold out home stadium.  What a crowd!  Ten thousand six hundred fans screaming their guts out for the number 1 Spokane Shock, it was incredible… except for the fact that we lost by 1 point in overtime.  I was dejected.

Now you have to understand that I am very invested in the Shock.  My dad had the incredible good fortune to get three season tickets in the front row of the center section, really some of the best seats in the house.  Plus, I did the audio editing for a lot of the in-game audio including a crafty edit in my own voice that turned Queen’s ‘We Will Rock You’ into ‘We Will Shock You.’  Not only that but my brother-in-law and I did all of the ribbon board graphics and much of the promo video, and we often do other projects with the voice of the Shock, Dave Mason.

During these first 3 seasons of the Spokane Shock I have only missed 1 home game, and that was only so I could go to one of my friends’ 40th birthday party.  When the Shock went to and won the Arena Cup in their inaugural season it was held in Puerto Rico so I couldn’t attend.  I was disappointed but glad that they won.  Imagine my excitement when the league announced that they were awarding the Arena Cup hosting to the team with the best record.  I was elated to have the opportunity to watch the Shock win the Arena Cup from the front row of our home field… except they didn’t win.

So there I was, lying in bed at 12:30 in the morning tossing and turning with regret over the win that got away from us.  Ears still ringing from the overwhelming noise I just couldn’t help but think ‘What If?’  What if we would have stopped the clock on the last play of the second half?  What if we hadn’t gone for it on 4th and 10?  I just couldn’t believe it, to come so close and fail by 1 point?  I was beside myself.  I kept lying on one side then the other trying desperately to forget this hurt, to forget this disappointment.  I just need to go to sleep and everything will be OK in the morning.  But my head was pounding, there was a sorrow and a rage that I just couldn’t shake.  How could this happen?  How could we get so close and lose heart?  How could we do great all season and lose the game when everything is on the line, in front of the home crowd?

Then like water cooling the fires of self-pity I heard the Lord say to me, “This is how I feel toward the lost all the time.  With time running short and the souls of so many on the line how is it that our team is coming up short?  The love of many is growing cold and they aren’t giving it their all.  Who will stand up, stop thinking of themselves and look to the harvest?  Who will defend my Name against those who mock and accuse and against those who wear my name in an unworthy manner?  Who will speak the truth?”

“I will,” I whispered. “I will.”

“Hurry,” He encouraged, “there isn’t much time.”

Yesterday, my pastor gave another great sermon. It’s kind of unfair really, to be at Calvary Chapel of Spokane. I get amazing sermons every week. I’m spoiled… in a good way. Anyway, this sermon dealt with godliness and maturity in Christ. So you can track with me here is the audio from yesterday and here are the sermon notes. (Right click and ‘save as’ to hear and view the files.)

I paraphrased K.P. Yohannan last post and am going to do so again. My pastor quoted from K.P.’s new book and I think it is insightful.
“Unfortunately many Christians, even after decades of knowing the Lord, still remain shallow and carnal…. They have not really touched godliness. The reason is that they are still in control of “their lives” and God cannot mold them, for they are not like clay in the potter’s hand. Instead, they fight to save their lives, and in the end they lose them.” K.P. Yohannan

Pastor Ken went on to talk about how a certain member of the congregation has struggled financially for years and years and finally got fed up and went before the Lord for three days until he got his answer. He asked God, “Why won’t you bless me?” and God said, “Because you won’t let me.”

I am having a really hard time with this right now in my own life. I am constantly asking myself, God is this path from you or am I doing it on my own again? I want so badly to hear from God and in some small ways I believe I have. As I am transitioning from a steady full-time job to freelance media work I am being worked over regarding trust and I have come to the conclusion that God has indeed spurred me on to this path. Now the battle of faith forces me to constantly be on my knees trusting God. I know in my head that I can trust Him, I always have known that. It is another thing entirely to be relying on His provision for your paycheck. I have never had to live that way. It is terrifying and exhilarating all at the same time. Some times I am scared, some times I am at peace, but at all times I am safe. The trick, I am finding, is to bring my emotions into line with the reality of the situation.

As K.P. said, to release control of my life to God is what is necessary. I pray that God will give me the faith to trust Him. “I believe, God help my unbelief.”

well, at least a tiny part of the world.  The purpose of this blog is to remind both Christians and non-Christians that the actions and attitudes of sinful humans should not be taken as the only representation of Jesus Christ in this world.  Jesus saves sinners, He forgives them of their sins, He changes them… sometimes really slowly… so don’t get impatient.

My name is Ken.  Together, my buddy Rich and I will do our very best to present a real version of what true faith is all about.  We want to serve as encouragement both to the body of Christ and those who have no relationship with God.  Whether you believe in Christ or think it is all a bunch of bunk, we want you to know that Jesus is much more deserving of your respect than the followers that bear His name.  ”Hypocrites,” you charge, “the church is full of hypocrites.”  I agree.  In fact, the scriptures make it quite plain that every Christian is nothing more than a sinner who is forgiven.  Of course, God loves us enough to not leave us that way, and slowly transforms us as we give Him room.  Give Him room…  I think we’ve found the issue.  Unfortunately there are many people who are Christian in name only and are as dead on the inside as ever.  Jesus even said that not everyone who merely calls him Lord will enter heaven.

K.P. Yohannan relayed an interesting story.  I’ll have to paraphrase since I can’t find the source at the moment.  It goes like this; A man left his home to go to work.  While he was away a thief broke in and took the man’s hat and coat.  The thief then went to the nearby store and robbed the store owner.  After the robber had left, the store owner called the police and reported the robbery.  He told the police about the clothes the thief was wearing, the hat and coat.  One of the police men recognized them from the description and confronted the man to whom the coat and hat belonged.  ”But I have been at work all day.” he protested, “I would never rob a store.  Honestly, you have to believe me.”

For non-Christians I hope the point of the story is obvious, just because someone is wearing the identity of Jesus in an unworthy manner, doesn’t mean that they truly represent Him.  My friends, please don’t let the actions of any person dissuade you from considering the claims of Jesus Christ.  What a disservice you would do to yourself to simply reject Jesus based on the actions of someone who may or may not know Him.

For Christians there is a meaning as well.  The scriptures warn us that in the last days the love of many would grow cold.  I say this because I have found myself guilty as well.  Brothers and sisters, let us not grow weary in doing what the Lord requires of us.  As He said, we will know we have life because we love our fellow believers.

Rich and I love God and are committed to loving people and presenting them with an honest picture of faith, salvation and the church.  We hope you will enjoy reading these thoughts and that our ramblings will encourage the body of Christ and entice those who don’t know God.

Our goal is to create a podcast where we can talk about these issues, answer questions from believers and non-believers alike and encourage everyone.  Life is hard, and the life of faith is even harder, but with the life changing power of God we can make it through.