Fat Boy

Needing to lose about 20 pounds, I recently attempted the diet plan of Weight Watchers. I lasted for exactly 9 hours. I skipped breakfast the first morning and had a turkey sandwich for lunch. I was trying to accumulate "points" for later. As I began preparing dinner, I realized the limited amount of food that I could eat (including my extra points and weekly bonus points) and it wasn't enough. I decided I wanted more than what I was alloted. I quit Weight Watchers while I was cooking dinner. 

What if God handled the human sin condition that way? What if every new day we were alloted a certain amount of sin? What if we accumulated sin points if we were "good enough?" How about if we received weekly bonus sin points for the nice things we did for other people? What if there was a plan that balanced out our sin? There is: 

Ephesians 1:7 "In Christ we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us." 

I'm counting on moderation and exercise.

I'm depending on forgiveness through His sacrifice.

F Bombs

It happened again. I went to work today as a Medic, met a new partner and started the day as normal. We made sure that we had all of the needed supplies in the unit to handle any type of emergency call and headed out to serve those in need. 

Apparently, my partner thought that I was 'cool' enough and began to express himself explicitly. I was amazed at how creative he could be with the F bombs. He had a bomb in every sentence. He was able to drop in two bombs in one sentence! At one point, he dropped two bombs in one sentence along with a couple of other well know explicit words. 

As the day progressed we began to talk about each others lives, interests and hobbies. He asked about what I do in my off time and I mentioned that I serve/work full time in ministry. He thought that was 'cool' too. From that point on I didn't hear another bomb get dropped. Not even an explicit term. I was impressed at the way he could tell a story without bombs!

“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven."
Matthew 5:14-16


Be you. The you that you were created to be.
Worship Him today.

Conspiracy Theory

I have a friend who grew up as a believer in Christ, served on missionary teams that assisted those in need and was a prominent figure in his high-school youth group.

As he got older his belief in God dwindled as his faith in science increased. He opened his heart, mind, soul and strength to evolution, the existence of space aliens and conspiracy theories.

I spent months with him discussing God, creation and the Messiah. He continually argued and disregarded God. He bordered blaspheming him.

If God truly existed he wanted a clear sign from him. He wanted proof. He wanted God to "appear" to him.

My friend wanted to control God. He wanted to be the God of God.

Fortunately, that is not how it works. God has revealed himself through creation and through his word. He is visible to those who know him.

"They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths."
2 Timothy 4:4

"Come near to God and he will come near to you..."
James 4:8

Alabama Slammer

"The eye cannot say to the hand, 'I don’t need you!' And the head cannot say to the feet, 'I don’t need you!'"

1 Corinthians 12:21

"Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ."

Ephesians 4:15

I cannot begin to say what God's involvement was in the devastating tornado's that rolled through the south, but I do know that where his people are and what his people do in times of trouble, hurt and grief is a reflection of him. Maybe even more than a reflection. If Christ lives in us, and we act in love, who was it that acted in love? Him or us? I propose him acting through us. God has made the work of the kingdom dependent on us.

Whether we pray for the victims and their families, lend a hand or send financial resource, we must do something. God depends on us!

He wouldn't say, "I don't need you."

Worship Him today.

Lights Out!

"Rinse your plate.""Load it in the dish washer.""Turn off the light.""Mike, go back and turn off the light."

These are examples of thoughts that would go through my mind when I was a kid. 

My relationship with Christ began when I was twelve and from that time on I would sense a voice inside of me reminding me of the little things that I should do. This passage from Matthew 7:12 would invade my thoughts: "do to others as you would have them do to you." I would hear that thought and keep walking. I would feel that thought and keep walking. Moments later, annoyed, I would turn around and go back and "do to others."

Is that how the Holy Spirit works? Is that the guidance from the Counselor that Jesus was talking about or was that me doing the right thing because I loved my parents and wanted to please them? I've asked myself these questions many times over the years.

There are multiple passages that speak of the Holy Spirit living inside of us. Here's one; 1 Corinthians 6:19 says, "Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own..."

In the beginning God walked with Adam. Years later he spoke to Moses from a burning bush. After that, he spoke through his prophets. Then he came in the flesh (Christ) and said, "I will be going away but I will send you a guide that will live within you." That's close! So close that now he say's "I'm inside."

So my question is, when we sense God speaking within us and we decide to "do" what he says, is it us doing it or is it God doing it? The answer is it's him doing it through us. Our partnership with God binds so tight that sometimes it is difficult to distinguish who is doing what.

If God say's "turn off the light," then turn off the light.

If God says "let your light shine," then let your light shine.

Be his hands and feet.

Worship him today.

UFC Rocks!

At first I hated the UFC because it was too brutal. I was a boxer when I was young and thought boxing was the best fighting sport. I was wrong. UFC is better. The fighters square off face to face and throw punches, elbows, kicks, flying knees and hammer fists. They ground and pound, strangle hold and apply the ol' arm bar. The fight normally ends with one of the contenders submitting by tapping out or being knocked unconscious. Ouch! Way tougher. It doesn't look easy. The fighters have more ability, more stamina and train much harder. Those fighters rock!
No doubt the UFC is tough.
No doubt life is tough. Especially as a Christian.

Life is filled with all kinds of pain: physical and emotional, spiritual and relational. There are medical scares, financial troubles and baggage from the past that continues to haunt us. Our children run astray and sometimes even God seems distant. In the midst of our struggle, God reminds us to come to him with our frustrations and hurts. To come to the corner and rest. He reminds us to cling to him, trust him and follow him. We pray but so often, the words we say feel like they go nowhere. We wonder if God even cares. We plead with him to no avail. We might even get fussy like Job and question him, disputing his plan.

We are wise when we get face to face with God and ask, "what do you want from me? How shall I continue with this heavy load?" His response will be something that sounds like, "I want you to keep fighting."

1 Timothy 6:12 "Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses."

Fighting (clinging to, trusting and following Christ) does not make life easier. In fact, it may even make life harder because we have to care about the things that he cares about. Ideals like generosity, serving, sacrifice, sharing the pain of others, the homeless, the outcast, the suffering, the broken and the lost.

Your cares increase, and in turn your time with him increases, which is right where he wants you to be.

Wrestling with God will always result in a better you, if you choose to submit to Him.

Difficult? Yes. 
Worth it? Yes.
Fighting rocks? Yes.

Best Blog Ever!

Blog, blog, everywhere a blog. Blog this, blog that, won't you read my blog? So many blogs, so little time. All sorts of people blog. All sorts of people blog about all sorts of things. I even find myself blogging. I am blogging right now. I wonder how much time is spent reading blogs. I wonder how much time is spent blogging blogs. 

In 1947 the most incredible archeological find was discovered in caves near the northwest shore of the Dead Sea. The Dead Sea Scrolls. Pieces of the entire Old Testament were found including the entire book of Isaiah (minus the book of Ester).

This discovery is so phenomenal because the prophesies of Jesus Christ (the Messiah) are written in the book of Isaiah, which was first written in about 700BC. The scrolls that were found were dated back to between 100-250 BC. These scrolls are copies that were copied by the Jewish scribes of that day. They are rock solid evidence that the Christ was prophesied about prior to his arrival (Isaiah 53).

Christ came and fulfilled all of the prophecies!

“The people of Jerusalem and their rulers did not recognize Jesus, yet in condemning him they fulfilled the words of the prophets...” Acts 13:27

“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” 2 Timothy 3:16

God has taken the time to reveal himself to us through his Word. Let's take the time to read and discover for ourselves that truth can be found in the scriptures.

Jesus answered “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." John 14:6

Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”John 8:32

The converse of John 8:32 is also true. If it doesn't set you free, it isn't Truth. Real peace can only be found in Christ.

If seeing the Rolling Hills Worship blog reminds you to read "God's blog" (the best blog ever) then this blog has served it's purpose. If you decide to read God's blog instead of this blog, the same applies.

Worship Him today.