It has occurred to me that we live in a world where we are constantly being bombarded with incorrect messages. Messages that tell us, you need more, make a name for yourself, buy this, buy that, more and more and more you must have, newer, shinier. When we become Christ followers do these messages simply stop, or become easier to overlook? No, the world will try to provide just as our heavenly father does. How do we distinguish what is of God and what is of this world? If you are looking for a job, the world will provide a job, so will God. You must choose. How do you choose the right one, the Godly one? I think I might have the solution. I have devoted much thought to this, that I could explain it well. It comes down to our focus, our relationship, and our heart. If you are focused on God as you are living in this world your choices become easier. You are walking hand in hand, step by step with Christ. The choices we make will be obvious. In order to walk this close with Christ we must develop a relationship with him. As you want to know a significant other, that is how you are to know Christ. This takes time, energy, effort, loyalty, honesty and devotion. Once you have started to walk with Christ and have started to develop an unshakeable relationship with him, it is now time to let God change your heart. It is time to let his desires become your desires. It is time to let his vision become your vision. It is time to let loose of the control you think you have. It is time to give God your life that he might use it the way he wants to. This is also the time where we let go of what the world says you need, what you should have, what a successful life looks like. I recently have found what it truly means to be successful: to do Gods will Gods way in Gods timing. That is my new definition of what successful looks like. Is this easy? No, we have needs like the world, we look like the world, and we talk like the world. We are IN the world but we are to be OF Christ.

If we are focused on this world we will miss God. If don’t see or are not focused on God our lives will be much more difficult. We are of Christ, so then should our focus not be on Christ as well? I think it should. If we keep our eyes on Christ as we walk through this life, the opportunities God presents before us, we cannot miss. We are to be out of this world and in Christ so that as we walk through life we can stay on track with what is right, what is real, what is correct. This will help us not to get mixed up. Our identity will remain in Christ. Our focus will remain on Christ.

Then the challenging part has to come. It is easy to see the difference between a world vision and a Christ vision. Actually living it out is a different story. First, you must acknowledge that you cannot serve two masters. You cannot serve this world and God. Second, you must acknowledge the importance of living a Christ filled life. Third, you must want to change. You must want to have a heart, a life, a mind that is full of Christ. Fourth, we must figure out what parts of this world we are holding on to. Do our actions, our words, our thoughts and our desires bring God glory? What is of this world that you hold on to? What is in your heart that is of this world? Fifth, we must turn those things we find over to God and let him deal with us. We must show obedience in our lives; this will show God that he can trust us with more responsibility. It will show him we care, that he is worth the effort.

Make a list of things that are not of Christ that you find yourself doing.
Speeding, Cussing, Lying, Immorality, Vengeance, Hatred, Integrity issues

What is your poison? Are you ready to remove it that you might grow closer to Christ? Are you ready to let your full potential in Christ out? Do you believe you can be better? Do you believe God wants you to be better? Are you ready to start acting, living, being a true follower of Christ? Seek him out, seek truth, find peace and find comfort knowing that you follow Christ and not this world.

Break apart from this world that you might find God. He is here, he is waiting. Ask him to mold you into the person he wants you to be. Let go of yourself, your thoughts, your desires, your passions and your dreams. Die to self give all of you up, and let Christ fill you. We are to die daily and pick up our cross. Make less of yourself that Christ might become more. Break apart from this world. Stop riding the fence, choose a side and dedicate yourself fully to that side. It is better to be hot or cold than lukewarm.

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11

Also read Matthew 6.

I wish I could take credit from the title but I can’t. As I was driving in my car flipping radio stations, desperately trying to find something worthy of listening to, I heard some guy ranting and raving about God this God that, between rants and raves I heard some words that had value. These words were like all other words, like most other sermons, like most other preachings and teachings, however the way they were arranged was new. This guy said “we are sheep, and through Christ we can do all things, thus this makes us conquering sheep”. He went on to say “have you ever heard of a football team called the sheep? Sheep are not very impressive, they are sheep”. This brought him to his next point we as Christians look weak and timid on the outside, but what we have on the inside no one understands. We can conquer all things through Christ, and yet we can be as gentle as a sheep, as meek and mild, as tender and carefree. This guy went on to say “as conquering sheep, life will not become easier, but harder, God can trust us to give Him back the glory of each trial, each test, each problem”. How cool is that God trusts us enough to give us situations where we could fail, yet He knows with His help we will conquer all trials and tribulations, giving back maximum glory.

How are we doing with our sheepness, I ask? Does the world really see us as sheep, slow to anger, quick to listen, things that make us different from this world? Do we ask “why is our life so hard”, do we always take the easy way out, and do we fail over and over? God is on our side, who can be against us? God is within us, how can we fail?

What do we have to lose? Why do we so long to be like the rest of the world, why do we try so hard to fit in. It’s not like we are of this world, it’s not like this is our home, so why? What do we have to lose, is it worth it to stand out, to let your light so shine before men? I think we have nothing to lose, if Christ is within us, why not let him take control and let our sheepness out? Why not let the world see Christ in our faithfulness in Christ?

What is our purpose, what is our chief aim, what is the great commission, what do all of these things have in common? Love is the answer. We are to love others as ourselves, we are to go and love people enough to teach and preach, we are to love our Lord God with all of who we are. Really, I think we don’t want to lose control, control of our job, our life, our education, or perfect little world that revolves around me, myself and I. Think about that, God spoke the world into existence, what control do we have? Bingo we control nothing. So why not simply say “yes, Lord”, then do whatever He calls us to do? God is worthy; give Him what he is due. Don’t wait, give up now! Do not deny Christ what He so deserves. Give Him your adoration, your praise, your thoughts, your best, your heart, your temptations, your guilt, your all, keep nothing, it all belongs to Him anyways. Let go, give up, live each day knowing you follow Christ where He leads, and be content in that. Have some faith in the Creator of the world that He will always look out for you, that you are always in His best interest, that you will never be tempted with more than you can handle. Become a conquering sheep!

Remove shoes before your imagination embarks on a short journey.

As I set at my desk with no shoes, typing these words, a few thoughts flutter in my mind. With no shoes on, I seem to be more relaxed, I seem to have fewer worries and all the things I care for seem to drift away. I am lost in the same hypnotic thoughts as they draw me in ever so deep. My mind wonders, moves around as if no shoes has released me from all my troubles and is freeing me from all my ever so heavy burdens.

What if you are reading this and you don’t have shoes on yet not because you took any off but because you simply do not have any to put on. Maybe with no shoes on I become more aware of the world around me. Maybe after being lost in thought I have now found something. If I have no shoes to take off how do I ever get rid of all the worries, fears and stress? My conclusion is I can’t. I need help; I need a pair of shoes. Who will shoe me, who will help those who have no shoes? How much is spent on eating out, how much time is spent in movie theaters, how many people have no shoes, no food and no first aid kits. Who will give a buck; wait not a buck, who will give a pair of shoes to the shoeless. Is it odd that my worries go away with me slipping off my shoes and yet a large part of society, a large part of the world has no shoes to take off?

My thought is that, if we can’t meet the needs of people, how can we help them understand that there is a God who loves them. Christ is coming back. He will return with or with out our help. How great it is to have the opportunity to help out in the return of Christ. We are products of this world but we are not of this world. We have Christ in us; we have Christ’s love in us. When are we going to start spreading Christ and his love to those who need it? When are we going to start meeting the needs of the needy? When will the church and the members stuck on the pews decide it’s time to move, time to help, time to give? Christ so loved the WORLD that he GAVE His ONLY son. Do you get it; God gave His only, only, only, only, son to die. What are you willing to give?

It dawns on me; I have shoes and the moment my feet reenter the dark, dismal place where my feet meet the sole, all of those things come right back. Yet, I have no worries, no doubts, for my faith and hope is in Christ the retuning King.

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33

I have an example that shows me how to live when I put my shoes back on. Do you?

Love

Gods Love

True real honest love

What is love, where does if come from, who does one love, how does one love?

What happens when we re-word that series of questions to look something like this?

What, where, how and who does God love?

Answer:  Everything, everywhere and everyone all the time.

With a drive to be like Christ, we must learn to love everything, everywhere and everyone all the time.  Not, do I feel like loving this person.  Not, is it easy to love in this situation.  Not, what do I get out of it.  How did God love? God loved unconditionally, with out exception, 100% and all the time guaranteed.  God didn’t leave us blind with out direction as how to love, He gave us some examples as to what love truly should look like.  The people in Song of Songs regarded love as sacred, beautiful and as a mysterious thing.  Do we regard love this way?  Do we regard it as sacred, beautiful, mysterious?  We say I love you and in the same breath we say I love tacos?  How does this affect the way we see love today?  Song of Songs 8:7:  Many waters cannot quench love; rivers cannot wash it away.   If one were to give away all the wealth of his house for love; it would be utterly scorned. This goes to show that monetary things and love do not originate from the same place.  Is this odd?  Things, worldly treasures come from this world.  So where does love come from?  Does it come from your desire to be good?  Does it come from your desire to have something or someone?  I don’t think so; I think that love comes from God.  Love is something that requires much more than words or actions.  1 Corinthians 13:4-8 describes what true, real, honest, love should look like.  Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, dose not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. LOVE never fails.  So is love simply words?  Is it simply actions?  Love is much deeper and much more complex than simple words and actions.  We as humans are deeply spiritual and mysterious and complex beings.  We are humans who have souls and spirits and bodies.  With the love we profess to people does not nor can compare to the “love” we have for tacos, nor should it.  Love too should be a deeply spiritual and mysterious thing and ultimately be a profoundly spiritual thing.

So the Beatles said it best, money can’t buy me love.  Money cant buy anybody love.

True love comes from God.

Lost people, you can’t love to the fullest without God.

Christians we have been told that lost people will know we are a Christian by our love.

Looks like we need to start to love like God loves so lost people will wonder what’s up and ask us why we are different.

I know God is constant because he is my strong tower, firm foundation and corner stone.  How can He be those things and change?  God was and is and will be the same forever and ever.

How do I measure up to this? Do I? Am I even close, a little?  Don’t think so.  I think I change depending on the situation, my language, body language, posture, attitude and heart are all capable to change and adapt.  So why don’t I change these things or align them to Gods measure.  Why don’t I be persistent in my everyday life so that people know they can rely on me, they can trust me, they can tell what I am going to do before I do it.  God always loved, He always did what was right, He was slow to anger, quick to listen, He always looked out for widows and orphans, He always gave and He always said the right thing at the right time.

If my foundation is weak, if I am unpredictable, if I act like a volcano, it makes it very difficult for people to build their houses beside mine.  So I can’t blame people if they chose to move away from me or if people don’t want to approach me.  It is my own fault.  I need to reflect God and exhibit Gods characteristics to draw people close to me.  Why is it important to have people close to me?  Well its not really, I can be by myself for days on end with little to no problem.  However as an ambassador of Christ I must have people around me.  I need to have people around to hold me accountable, also for community.  I need people to invest in and to invest in me.  We are to spur each other on in love and towards good deeds.  How can I do this if I living in a desert?

God is above all. We as Christians are under God but we know God. Unbelievers are lost and do not know God.

With that in mind here are a few thoughts.
God created man.
Christians have an obligation and duty to God!
This duty is to let the unbelievers know about God!
If people don’t know God they burn forever!
If people do know God they live forever!

Hmm
Is this important?
Life or death is important because it is PERMANENT!
How much is life worth?
How much is your life worth?
How much is truth worth?

Christians
This is not our home!
Why do we blend in so well?
We are to put up treasure in heaven!
Why do we have so much treasure here?
God is important!
Why do we act so important?

Questions
Why don’t we go?
Why don’t we want to see every nation, tribe and tongue praise God?
Why don’t we want our neighbors to praise God?
WHAT IS IMPORTANT?
Is this making any since?

Commandment
Love the Lord your God with ALL your heart mind and soul! The second is like this love your neighbor as your self.

Do you value life?
How about your neighbors’ life?
How about a neighboring country, do you care?

LOVE is used in both commandments. I wonder if this was intentional? Are we to love God and our neighbors the same? God loves me just as much as he loves you. A paradox I think not! We are to love as Christ loves, unconditional all the time. Who are we to love? ALL PEOPLES! Pick’n up what im putt’n down?

What will it take to get people off the pews out of the churches out of their bubbles? What will it take to see all peoples praise God?
Why are you still reading this?
Where is your heart?
Is it beating?
Why am I still writing th

I lost a friend but I gained a brother, so hard and yet so amazing.  I am proud of my friend who left all he knows and for simply having faith.  When asked if he felt lonely his reply was not yes, I miss you all, like I wanted so badly to hear, but his reply was “no I have God”.  To think that I feel lonely when I have had God fifteen years and he has only had him for a day.  How unthankful am I, how much do I take God for granted, too much.  To think that we as Christians can be so stagnant, so immune to the world around us, is disheartening.  I now have found a new love, a new peace and a new joy for God.  To see that God is not dead, to see that his word is not dead and to see that prayers are answered has dramatically changed the way I think and what I believe. I now don’t simply believe because that is what I have done for so many years but I believe because God is real and I have seen the effects of God in someone’s life.  How amazing it must be for God to look down on his new son and see him touching people’s hearts and challenging their beliefs.  I have been out of the country four times within the last two years and my heart and mind have never been so open or so challenged.  How amazing it is that all of this came about by a guy just saying yes Lord “I’m ready to believe lets pray”.  My life will never be the same.

Do people get Christianity?  Do Christians understand we have been created for a reason?  To worship God and to love him with all of our heats, minds and souls!  If Christians understood this concept would the world be any different?  Would the poor still be poor; would the sick still be sick; would the lost still be lost?  Why is it so hard to care for others? I want to make much of Him by making less of me!
Here am I send me!
In what do you believe? In what do you hope? In what do you have faith?  I believe, hope and have faith in God.  He leads and guides me.  He picks me up when I fall.  All have sinned and all have fallen.  He will pick up all who fall.  It is simple.  Ask and believe and you will receive.  Ask for God to come and live with in you and believe He will and He will!  Once Christ has become a part of you, you should automatically care for the poor, the sick, the lost, every nation, tribe and tongue.  Should you not want to see the kingdom of heaven expanded?  Go into all the world teaching and preaching and making disciples.  If you have not been told to stay, you must go!  If you have been told to stay then you must be teaching and preaching and making disciples where you are.
Here am I send me!
I am read to invoke change!  I am ready to see a world praise God!  I am ready to see a world care for others!  I am ready to see believers act like believers by caring for the poor, the sick, the lost, every nation, tribe and tongue!   Glory to God in the highest.  All people have been created to worship the one and only living God.  So why not get out there and invoke some change.
Here am I send me!

all of the required funds for china have now come in! thank you all for all of you support, money and prayer!

updates from china will be posted at eat06.com