The Gods You've Chosen

But you have forsaken me and served other gods, so I will no longer save you. Go and cry out to the gods you have chosen. Let them save you when you are in trouble!

Judges 10:13-14

God is mighty to save but He doesn’t save everyone! He saves those who honor Him as God. A day even came when He decided not to save His own chosen people! Why? Because they had chosen to serve other gods. Gods that could not save. God says, ‘Go cry out to them. Let them save you…'

God’s chosen people were breaking His first commandment, “You shall have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:3). People have the ability to chose their gods. You choose your gods by serving them. Who are you going to serve? What are you going to worship? The Israelites served the Baals and Ashthoreths because they fed the selfish pleasures of the flesh. They turned away from the living God.

In our culture there are not any idols or temples that I can see, but there are plenty of gods to worship. These gods feed our selfishness. Our worship of them (through our allegiance, love, time and energy) will turn us away from the living God. We choose our gods in this culture as readily as they did in ancient Israel. God would say, “If those gods are going to steal my glory and your worship, the worship that I deserve, then cry out to them for help. Let’s see how that goes…”

You alone, Father, are worthy of my heart, time, attention and energy. You alone can save! Give me the insight to see the idols I am prone to bow down to and serve. Give me the strength to only serve You! Thank You for Your Holy Spirit who lives with me this day. Lead me on.

Feed Yourself!

Well today was fun for me. I preached in a t-shirt and jeans which was a first for me (on a Sunday morning, anyway). I also wore a blazer that I haven't worn in 10 years, I figure. It was a throwback to my church up in Seattle.


The blazer hid the message on my shirt until the 'superman' moment when I revealed it. I had some admit that trying to read the shirt was driving them crazy...

"Pastor... I'm just not being fed here..."


I don't have any sour experiences over this, although the comment I am finding is COMMON to preachers. It was simply time to teach on daily devotions again and this was too good to pass up!

The back of the shirt wasn't seen, obviously... but it's good too!

"The days are coming," declares the Sovereign LORD,
"when I will send a famine through the land—
not a famine of food or a thirst for water,
but a famine of hearing the words of the LORD.

Springing Bright Sunday

So I'm springing 'Bright Sunday' on the church family tomorrow. Unbelievably I had never heard of this until this past week. Here's some info I found:

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For Centuries in Eastern Orthodox, Catholic and Protestant countries, the week following Easter Sunday, including 'Bright Sunday' (the Sunday after Easter), was observed by the faithful as 'days of joy and laughter' with parties and picnics to celebrate Jesus' resurrection.

The custom was rooted in the musings of early church theologians that God played a practical joke on the devil by raising Jesus from the dead. "Risus pachalis - the Easter Laugh," the early church called it. In the early days of Christianity, all of Easter Week was one continuous feast... a week of intense happiness and spiritual joy.

Easter Week celebrations went on for centuries until they faded away in the last century in increased secularized societies. Easter Monday is still observed as a holiday in 125 countries, including the United Kingdom, Canada and the state of North Carolina.
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If the Resurrection doesn't fill us with joy and laughter... intense happiness and spiritual joy... then why are we doing this? Of course it does! How awesome an idea, regardless of its origins.

Great Question

My daughter sends me an email today with this picture embedded. How great is that!?

Where Are You, God?

4 You are my King and my God,
who decrees victories for Jacob.

5 Through you we push back our enemies;
through your name we trample our foes.

6 I do not trust in my bow,
my sword does not bring me victory;

7 but you give us victory over our enemies,
you put our adversaries to shame.

8 In God we make our boast all day long,
and we will praise your name forever.

Psalm 44:4-8

If there is any victory over the enemy of our souls, it is through the Name of Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit. In God we make our boast all day long!

The rest of the Psalm (vs. 9-26) says, “But where are You, God? You’ve made us a reproach… a byword. We’ve been faithful to You, but You crushed us. Where are You? Rise up and help us!” Here’s the kicker: Psalm 44 never resolves. It ends with the questions lingering…

In the darkness of the night when I have more painful questions than answers… when it seems that God is silent… when praise is the smallest percentage of my prayer – I need to remember the truth I know about God and I need to trust Him. During the silence is when faith is on display! My trust is in Jesus. There is victory through His Name and by the power of His Spirit.

Lord Jesus, thank You for Your Word! Thank You that I can return to it and always hear Your voice. Increase my faith and trust in your this day…

Warnings For Us

Now these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did. Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written: "The people sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in pagan revelry." We should not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did—and in one day twenty-three thousand of them died. We should not test the Lord, as some of them did—and were killed by snakes. And do not grumble, as some of them did—and were killed by the destroying angel.

1 Corinthians 10:6-10

Israel’s story is written down for us, teaching us from a negative example what not to do. We need to learn from what was written in the OT and keep our hearts from evil.
• Don’t be idolaters, as some of them were.
• Don’t commit sexual immorality, as some of them did.
• Don’t test the Lord, as some of them did.
• Don’t grumble, as some of them did.

God was not pleased with most of them (10:5) and many of them died.

I want God to be pleased with me! This doesn’t come from fear of a God who can strike me down dead, although He can! (I should not take God’s holiness lightly… this would be unwise. We learn this lesson from the Israelites’ story in the Old Testament.) No, as a child wants to please his father, so I want to please my Heavenly Father. He has adopted me into His family through Jesus. I am His son and I want to please Him. So learning from Israel’s story, which was written down as an example for me, I need to worship no other gods. There are plenty of idols available in this culture, but I will bow down to none of them. I need to remain moral sexually, living out as God intended the sexual being He created me to be. I need to trust God in all things and not test His patience or His grace. I need to be grateful at all times and not grumble. Philippians 2:14 says, “Do everything without complaining or arguing…”

As I live this quality of life in the power of God’s Spirit, He will lead me each day and God will be pleased!

Thank You for Your Word, Father. Thank You for the lessons learned that help me to be a son that pleases You. You have made me glad! May I bring joy to Your heart this day is my prayer.

Remember The Prize

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? 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. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.

1 Corinthians 9:24-27

In a race only one person wins. Run to win! The trophies, ribbons and crowns of this world… they will not last. They will be dust! But the prize we run for is eternal!

1 Timothy 6:11-12; 2 Timothy 4:7-8; 1 Peter 1:3-5

This is a race worth running – remember the prize. The difficulties of the battle and the mastering of the flesh are worth the effort – remember the prize! Yielding to Christ and submitting to His Spirit is vitally important – remember the prize. Having patience with people, being an encourager and an equipper is not optional – remember the prize!

Thank You, Lord, for this purposeful life. Thank You for the crown of glory that awaits all of us who long for your appearing! Help me this day to run in such a way that brings honor to You.

Easter's Coming!

WHY Jesus?

See you Sunday morning!

No Sweeter Name!

No sweeter name than the Name of Jesus
No sweeter name have I ever known
No sweeter name than the Name of Jesus

You are the life to my heart and my soul
You are the light to the darkness around me
You are the hope to the hopeless and broken
You are the only truth and the way

Tabella's Turned to Christ!

In my hometown there was this certain club... now it's a church! That's about the coolest thing... here's the Seattle P-I article!

God's moving in this world!

These Words Are My Life

When Moses finished reciting all these words to all Israel, 46 he said to them, "Take to heart all the words I have solemnly declared to you this day, so that you may command your children to obey carefully all the words of this law. 47 They are not just idle words for you—they are your life. By them you will live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess.

Deuteronomy 32:45-47

By these words long, prosperous life is guaranteed to the Israelites. These words needed to be taken to heart so that they could teach their children. If the words are not taken to heart, it is not possible to teach them to your children… ‘You can teach what you know but you reproduce who you are.’

If I teach my children the Words of God but have not taken them to heart, my children will be people who recognize the Words of God, possibly, but they are not changed by them. They will be ‘religious’ people… knowing all the right stuff but not knowing Jesus. My children cannot take the Words of God to heart if I don’t. “These are not just idle words for you – they are you life!”

Father, may what my children see in me be what I believe in my heart about You. May they come to You fully and find their life in You. Thank You for Your Words which are life to me.

March Madness!

You're invited to join our March Madness group. You'll need a Yahoo account... The password is "jesusislord." (Do you agree?)

It's Bracket Craziness and a lot of fun! Hope to see you in there...

My Identity

But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons. Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, "Abba, Father." So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir.

Galatians 4:4-7

Jesus redeemed us so that we could fully be sons of God. Since we are sons, God placed the Spirit of Jesus in our hearts! This Spirit cries out for us, ‘Abba Father!’ This Spirit promotes a closeness of relationship between us and God the Father.

Sonship! This is my identity – a son of the Most High. Clearly God wanted this relationship. He sent Jesus! He wanted this closeness of relationship. He sent the Holy Spirit to dwell in my heart! The question becomes if I want it. If I wanted this relationship with God Almighty even a fraction of how much He wants it… wow! What a rich life I would have…

Thank You, Father, for pursuing me. Thank You for providing the way for me in Christ. Thank You for Your Spirit that draws me closer and closer to You.

A Treasured Son

You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.

Galatians 3:26-27

Sonship! We are children of God because of what Jesus Christ has done PLUS one more thing… we must respond in faith. We must believe the Good News in our hearts. We must place our full confidence in Jesus as One who is mighty to save! And we must walk in obedience. Those who have faith are referred to as “The Faithful.” They are obedient to the Lordship of Jesus, yielding to Him in all things. Paul writes that those who have been obedient in Christian baptism have ‘clothed themselves with Christ.” Being clothed with Christ is a compelling image. We are covered with Jesus. We wear His look… His style… we are filled with His Spirit and have the attributes of the Spirit increasingly evident in our life! (Galatians 5:22) This is life in the Spirit. This is obedience to Christ. This is sonship.

It is important for me to be clothed with Christ when it’s not convenient. My flesh will cry out from time to time and object to being submitted to the Lordship of Jesus. It is in those times when sonship, fueled by trust and obedience, will be the most important. I love being a son of the Most High God more than anything this world can offer. False gods or idols are all around. They are not worthy of worship and yet they receive a lot of it. In the times of greatest stress and conflict, I want to be a son clothed with Christ.

Thank you, Father, for promising to Abraham that all nations of the earth would be blessed through him and his Seed. I am one of those! I am blessed through the promise and given sonship, adopted into Your family! Grace me today, Father, with the ability to live as a treasured son and not an abandoned orphan. Remind me continually of who I am in Christ. You are awesome! You are worthy of praise and worship.

Great Quote: 4

"Rule your mind or it will rule you."

- Horace

Testing Allegiance

If a prophet… says, "Let us follow other gods" (gods you have not known) "and let us worship them," you must not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer. The LORD your God is testing you to find out whether you love him with all your heart and with all your soul. It is the LORD your God you must follow, and him you must revere. Keep his commands and obey him; serve him and hold fast to him.

Deuteronomy 13:1-4

The greatest commandment (according to Jesus in Mark 12) is one that the Lord God was going to test. It would be relatively easy to say ‘Yes, I love God with all my heart and soul.’ But how do you know? God is found testing His people. He is testing their obedience, their loyalty, their love. It seems clear that the test is not for God’s benefit. He knows the state of our hearts at all times. The test is for our benefit. I show us where we are in our love for God. He is the One we must follow, revere and obey! He is the One we must serve.

The prophets of today are exalting many little gods saying, ‘Let’s follow these! Let’s give our time, energy and affection (worship) to these gods." These are gods that do not deliver. They cannot save. They do not bring meaning and purpose to life. They are not able to bring vitality to my days, in fact they bring the opposite! The gods of this age steal joy from me. Is this a test? Will I obey God? Will I pursue Him? Will I love Him with my whole heart, soul, mind and strength? This is the way of worship and no other but the Lord God deserves it.

None of those condemned things shall be found in your hands, so that the LORD will turn from his fierce anger; he will show you mercy, have compassion on you… because you obey the LORD your God, keeping all his commands that I am giving you today and doing what is right in his eyes.

Deuteronomy 13:17-18

I love You, Lord. May today bring evidence of that love as I serve and obey You with my whole heart. You are God and there is no other that is worthy of my worship. Thank You for Your mercy and compassion that is abundantly provided in Jesus. I yield to You again this day.

Blindfolded Jesus

The high priest tore his clothes. "Why do we need any more witnesses?" he asked. "You have heard the blasphemy. What do you think?"

They all condemned him as worthy of death. Then some began to spit at him; they blindfolded him, struck him with their fists, and said, "Prophesy!" And the guards took him and beat him.

Mark 14:63-65

Man’s judgment was that Jesus was worthy of death. Not true. Even Pilate said that He had done nothing deserving of death. Why the difference of opinion? Human judgment is not reliable. We are sinful and selfish, motivated the wrong stuff. Why did they blindfold Jesus? In order to play the ‘Prophesy’ game? You’re going to kill a man… is all of that really necessary? It probably is for messed up human beings who have worked really hard to contrive a way to kill an innocent person. It is necessary to justify the wrong doing. Belittle the One you’ve condemned and somehow feel better about it.

Well… a blindfolded Jesus can see perfectly. Nothing is hidden from Him to Whom we must give an account.

Is my life in full view of the Lord? Or have I blindfolded Jesus? My life is in full view regardless of the blindfold.

Lord Jesus – my heart is broken that You took the fists… took the beatings… took the cross. My hope and joy is that you scorned all that! You rose from the dead and are now seated at the right hand of Your Father. You alone are worthy of worship! Thank You for Your patience with us human beings. Thank You for Your patience with me.

Blues, Peach, Pinks & Purple

I am witnessing a beautiful sunrise out my back window. It occurs to me that God didn't need to be so creative in something like this... but He is! And I'm enjoying it and Him.

I'd like to hold back the sun. Freeze this moment... but that's not going to happen. God is forever moving forward. He's taking me into a new day.

Thank You.

The Way I Should Go

In spite of this, you did not trust in the LORD your God, who went ahead of you on your journey, in fire by night and in a cloud by day, to search out places for you to camp and to show you the way you should go.

Deuteronomy 1:32-33

By not trusting the Lord, the Israelites rebelled against Him. Even though He had been proved faithful and trustworthy, fighting for His people against Pharoah and the Egyptians, the Israelites did not trust Him to fight for them against the Amorites and the Canaanites.

God will powerfully lead His people on their journey, going ahead of us… preparing the way… showing us the way we should go. Even so, we must trust Him. Our lack of trust, while potentially unbelievable (who wouldn’t trust God!?), is all too common. God leads… He does not shove. You can try your own way and He will let you. Repentance will be needed because that is rebellion! It’s not always rebellion, I suppose. Sometimes I have ‘run ahead’ of God unknowingly. I can get excited about something, put the blinders on and not seek God about it like I should. Eventually it becomes clear that ‘God’s not in it’ and so, what do I do? What I should have done before! I seek God and trust Him… and He leads! He is most often gentle in His course corrections with those who are humble in heart. By His grace!

Father, my brief journey testifies to Your glory! Thank You for the times in my life when You clearly lead me – and powerfully! I think about those times because they encourage me to trust You now. You are still leading. You still go ahead of me, searching out places for me to ‘camp’ and You show me the way I should go. And when needed, You fight for me. Amazing! I only need to be still and watch you work on behalf of Your child. Glory to You! Thank You for Your Spirit that lives with me and leads me this day. Help me to trust You more. Receive glory through my life, is my prayer.

Higher Authority

So they answered Jesus, "We don't know."
Jesus said, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things."

Mark 11:33

The chief priests, teachers of the law and the elders threw their weight, their authority toward Jesus asking Him who gave Him the authority to do what He was doing. The question from Jesus in return and their response is classic! They had spiritual authority from God but were more concerned about the opinion of people… “We don’t know” was the best they could do. Jesus said in return, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.” Jesus answered their basic question, did someone with authority give Him authority to do what He was doing. The answer: Yes! But Jesus wasn’t going to explain it plainly to them. He certainly knew that they would not believe Him and would respond as they did to John. If so, what would be the point of telling them where His authority came from? By asking the question about John they came directly into contact with their own weaknesses. If they could honestly process John’s ministry, they would be closer to the purpose of Jesus’ ministry. After all, John came to prepare the way for the Messiah in the hearts of men.

There was a higher authority who gave all authority to Jesus (Matthew 28:18). In Mark 9:7 He said, “This is My Son whom I love. Listen to Him!”

Lord Jesus, You’ve been given all authority in heaven and on earth. I yield to Your reign and submit to Your authority in my life. Speak Lord… I am listening!

Lost It?

For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it.

Mark 8:35

What does losing my life for Jesus and for the gospel look like? Have I done that to any degree? Really done that.. really lost my life?

Salvation comes by losing. Winning comes through forfeit.

Lord Jesus, remind me of whom I am and give me boldness – to never be ashamed of You or Your words in this generation and to joyfully lose my life for Your gospel is my prayer this day.