Summer in Alabama continues.
Hot, humid, muggy and about a thousand other adjectives to describe the weather.
Enough about that.
Kind of stuck on I Corinthians 15:31..the last part of the verse.
Paul is writing the church at Corinth and he makes this statement....."I die daily."
Each morning that Paul arose from sleep, he determined, within himself, to die or give no place to his own desires. He knew that some desire comes from the old nature or flesh. I think Paul sought the Lord for wisdom on how to discern what was from God and what was from Paul's own nature.
Paul knew that his old nature is very selfish so he had to guard himself against such things that would only profit and feed that old way of life. I think the scary part for Paul (my opinion) was the fact that Paul had such a tremendous religious background. It would have been very easy for Paul to slide back into the mindset of a Pharisee and feel like God was empowering him to operate from this way of life. We read where Paul said, "Hey guys ( a loose translation if you will), I have weighed out my old life against this new I have in Christ. You know what? My old life is manure, dung, waste!" Paul layed down everything he thought was valuable and useful to embrace a life of dying daily. But it is in the dying that real life, God life, is found.
I find myself wanting the best of both lives.
How foolish is this?
The two lives cannot coexist in the same body.
It is the surrender of one that allows the other to grow.
As Bob Dylan so aptly put it, "You gotta serve somebody."
Why not lay down the world and embrace the cross and the Kingdom Rule of God.
Let your prayer today be "Your Kingdom come, Your Kingdom will be done....on earth as it is in heaven."
Let the rule of God be the focus of your walk today.
Seek his direction in your life today.
God on you.....
mb
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Monday, August 9, 2010
Message From Saturday Night
The Message From Saturday night is now available in the podcast section of our blog.
PEACEMAKERS --- we begin taking a look at Step # 8 which calls us to begin to draw
up a list of the people we have harmed and wronged.
We are now going to launch out and begin the process of restoration. Restoration of relationships, as well as our own self esteem. We let God's Holy Spirit continue to do His work deep inside of us to bring about the change we felt like was always beyond our reach.
Enjoy the message!
God on you.
mb
PEACEMAKERS --- we begin taking a look at Step # 8 which calls us to begin to draw
up a list of the people we have harmed and wronged.
We are now going to launch out and begin the process of restoration. Restoration of relationships, as well as our own self esteem. We let God's Holy Spirit continue to do His work deep inside of us to bring about the change we felt like was always beyond our reach.
Enjoy the message!
God on you.
mb
New Beginning
Driving out to Rapha this morning, I passed by numerous groups of kids gathered at the end of driveways.
New clothes and tennis shoes.
New back packs....
The kids were laughing and playing around.
It is the first day of school.
New beginning for each of them.
As I drove on, I found myself praying for them.
"O God.....right here in front of me is the future. Which one will be a leader? Which one will go on to greatness? Which one will serve you?"
I found myself asking God to cover each one of the children and lead them to a saving relationship with Him.
I remember "first days" of school, in my own life and the lives of my sons.
Time passes so quickly. Of course the reality is that each day still has 24 hours. That hasn't changed, but the perception of time has changed.
I have been out of high school now for 41 years.
Vicki and I have been married (as of Sept. 1) 38 years.
My oldest son is 36 years old.
My youngest son is 33 years old.
My oldest grandchild is 8, and my youngest is 4.
I truly see how Scripture could say that man's life is like a flower, or like grass. Green and thriving one day......gone the next.
If you go to a cemetery and look at the headstones, you'll see where it lists the birth date and the death date of the person who is buried there.
In between those dates is a hyphen.
A little mark that signifies everything that person buried there accomplished.
That insignificant little "straight" line holds every bit of information that was a part of that individuals life.
kind of scary isn't it?
We place so much on personal achievement. The strength of the human will. The ability of man to rise above his situations. Truth is........man rises no higher than God allows him to rise.
Today....
Find God for yourself.
Realize how precious you are to Him.
Rest in the knowledge of your place in Christ.
Tell your story to someone else.
Pray for someone today.
God on you..........
mb
New clothes and tennis shoes.
New back packs....
The kids were laughing and playing around.
It is the first day of school.
New beginning for each of them.
As I drove on, I found myself praying for them.
"O God.....right here in front of me is the future. Which one will be a leader? Which one will go on to greatness? Which one will serve you?"
I found myself asking God to cover each one of the children and lead them to a saving relationship with Him.
I remember "first days" of school, in my own life and the lives of my sons.
Time passes so quickly. Of course the reality is that each day still has 24 hours. That hasn't changed, but the perception of time has changed.
I have been out of high school now for 41 years.
Vicki and I have been married (as of Sept. 1) 38 years.
My oldest son is 36 years old.
My youngest son is 33 years old.
My oldest grandchild is 8, and my youngest is 4.
I truly see how Scripture could say that man's life is like a flower, or like grass. Green and thriving one day......gone the next.
If you go to a cemetery and look at the headstones, you'll see where it lists the birth date and the death date of the person who is buried there.
In between those dates is a hyphen.
A little mark that signifies everything that person buried there accomplished.
That insignificant little "straight" line holds every bit of information that was a part of that individuals life.
kind of scary isn't it?
We place so much on personal achievement. The strength of the human will. The ability of man to rise above his situations. Truth is........man rises no higher than God allows him to rise.
Today....
Find God for yourself.
Realize how precious you are to Him.
Rest in the knowledge of your place in Christ.
Tell your story to someone else.
Pray for someone today.
God on you..........
mb
Saturday, August 7, 2010
"The Mark of a Man of God" - [Where are the Men of God?]
"Oh God, let me grow up before I grow Old."
"Let not my character stand in the way of Your Anointing, that I should treat it as a child plays with a toy."
In an age and society that places emphasis on the "image" and the "outward look" I pray that I do not turn into a white washed tomb, but be a vessel that the Holy Spirit finds a home in.
I want to be one of the men of God.
God on you.........
mb
Payday !
He showed up at Rapha this morning around 8:30 a.m.
He'd been gone for a couple of months and from time to time I found myself wondering how he was doing.
Was he working a program?
Was his anger in check?
Had he been arrested any more?
Here he was....
Knocking at the R.A. door....
"Mike, could we talk if you're not to busy?"
I'm never to busy to lay everything down and talk to someone.
We made small talk as we walked across the compound to my office.
I asked him how he was doing and he replied that he had come to Rapha to see me for a reason.
Usually this means a favor or to borrow some money. Help in some form or fashion.
Not today though.
Once in my office he looked at me and said, "I need to be saved today! I can't wait any longer, and I need to be baptized."
This individual had been at Rapha before for a number of months.
He'd sat under the teaching and had gone to the church meetings we host here.
He had heard the Word of God.....
Now, here...today.....August 7th, he was completing the circle.
As he prayed, I stood there marveling at the heart of God.
A God who did not surrender on this one.
A God who did not cast him aside.
I saw the truth of God's will is that none should perish.
Finishing his prayer, he stood up and grabbed me in the biggest, tightest bear hug a man could give....
Tears running down his face, he said over and over...."Thank you...thank you....thank you.."
Dude, I had the least part in all of this.
But I got the payday.
I got to see someone surrender and the Holy Spirit of God fill them with new life.
That, my friend, is what it's all about.
God on you.........
mb
He'd been gone for a couple of months and from time to time I found myself wondering how he was doing.
Was he working a program?
Was his anger in check?
Had he been arrested any more?
Here he was....
Knocking at the R.A. door....
"Mike, could we talk if you're not to busy?"
I'm never to busy to lay everything down and talk to someone.
We made small talk as we walked across the compound to my office.
I asked him how he was doing and he replied that he had come to Rapha to see me for a reason.
Usually this means a favor or to borrow some money. Help in some form or fashion.
Not today though.
Once in my office he looked at me and said, "I need to be saved today! I can't wait any longer, and I need to be baptized."
This individual had been at Rapha before for a number of months.
He'd sat under the teaching and had gone to the church meetings we host here.
He had heard the Word of God.....
Now, here...today.....August 7th, he was completing the circle.
As he prayed, I stood there marveling at the heart of God.
A God who did not surrender on this one.
A God who did not cast him aside.
I saw the truth of God's will is that none should perish.
Finishing his prayer, he stood up and grabbed me in the biggest, tightest bear hug a man could give....
Tears running down his face, he said over and over...."Thank you...thank you....thank you.."
Dude, I had the least part in all of this.
But I got the payday.
I got to see someone surrender and the Holy Spirit of God fill them with new life.
That, my friend, is what it's all about.
God on you.........
mb
Friday, August 6, 2010
Larry Norman- U.F.O.
Jesus...........the ultimate UFO. His return has gotten lost in all the "religious" mess that is being bandied about.
Call it pie in the sky....
Call it bad theology.....
But when He comes back, call me long distance. I'm going home.
As Daniel Amos put is so "in your face" with the Skeptic Song.....
I guess you aren't expecting no resurrection real soon....world doom.
That stories got to be bunk about that trumpet tune....cheese on the moon
Won't your peepers get the creepers when you realize
that it's all happening before your eyes
Oh my, you'll fry as we wave goodbye to you......
Maranatha, Lord Jesus!
mb
Thursday, August 5, 2010
End of the day
It's 8:25 p.m. and I have just finished preparing for the 9 p.m. Bible study.
Sometimes preparation is as simple as rolling off a log (Like last Tuesday night)
Other times it like trying to strain water from a rock. There just isn't anything there.
So I wait.
I have no clue as to what God wants to do other than the simple fact we are going to gather together in a little over 34 minutes from now.
It isn't that I'm lazy in my preparations.
I'm not.
It isn't that I waste time.
I don't.
This just seems to be the soup du'jour when it comes to my messages.
I have actually stood to give one message I had prepared, only to have God say, "Nope...not what I want to hear."
I close the book and stand there while deep inside I'm going , "Oh God, Oh God, Oh God..."
Then the faintest thought of a verse will come and I will start with that.
Truth be known, I'm not a very good teacher.
I'm adequate and I stick to what God gives me.
In my mine ( or rather should I say "my flesh") I would like to be this incredible Bible scholar who unlocks the Holy Mysteries of God. But you know what, if that was me I would get myself in such trouble that God would look and say, "O.k. big boy...you dug the hole, now climb out."
On Saturday nights, we have been following a trail that God started back on December 26, 2009.
Seth Barber spoke and during his teaching, he referenced a phrase from the Big Book of AA.
Seth said, "Those who are willing to go to any lengths, here are the steps..." God spoke to me and said that we were to teach the Twelve Steps, one a month for the entire year of 2010. So far, He has kept His word as we have followed this pattern. Since this is August, we are on Step # 8.
Step # 8 reads:
We make a list of all persons we have harmed, and we become willing to make amends to them all.
Wow! That's pretty heady stuff. Sounds like Kingdom behavior. Something that Jesus would teach doesn't it. Making amends and restitution.
All of this coming as a result of our new relationship in Christ.
We no longer do business like the world or on the worlds terms.
We follow the guiding and leading of the Holy Spirit.
This Step # 8 helps me to prepare to rid myself of the burden of guilt, fear and shame.
Think of it as removing all the road blocks and obstacles that we have inside of ourselves that keep us from moving on and having the life we desire to live.
Each amends we make.......
Each restitution we complete, removes one of those obstacles until at last, we are free.
I don't know....
I may be kidding myself, but I think every church in America should have a copy of the Twelve Steps hanging somewhere in the building.
After all, it isn't really about drugs and alcohol..........
It's a sin problem that is manifested as we surrender to the drugs and alcohol.
God on you............
mb
P.s.
Just finished the Bible Study and God was very gracious to come into our group.
We prayed for 3 different men who had never been ministered to before.
They all went down (we call it "doing carpet time) under the Holy Spirit.
It is so wild to watch them when they get up...this really surprised look on their face like "What happened?"
You go God!
Give them ears to hear now as they begin their relationship with you.....
Sometimes preparation is as simple as rolling off a log (Like last Tuesday night)
Other times it like trying to strain water from a rock. There just isn't anything there.
So I wait.
I have no clue as to what God wants to do other than the simple fact we are going to gather together in a little over 34 minutes from now.
It isn't that I'm lazy in my preparations.
I'm not.
It isn't that I waste time.
I don't.
This just seems to be the soup du'jour when it comes to my messages.
I have actually stood to give one message I had prepared, only to have God say, "Nope...not what I want to hear."
I close the book and stand there while deep inside I'm going , "Oh God, Oh God, Oh God..."
Then the faintest thought of a verse will come and I will start with that.
Truth be known, I'm not a very good teacher.
I'm adequate and I stick to what God gives me.
In my mine ( or rather should I say "my flesh") I would like to be this incredible Bible scholar who unlocks the Holy Mysteries of God. But you know what, if that was me I would get myself in such trouble that God would look and say, "O.k. big boy...you dug the hole, now climb out."
On Saturday nights, we have been following a trail that God started back on December 26, 2009.
Seth Barber spoke and during his teaching, he referenced a phrase from the Big Book of AA.
Seth said, "Those who are willing to go to any lengths, here are the steps..." God spoke to me and said that we were to teach the Twelve Steps, one a month for the entire year of 2010. So far, He has kept His word as we have followed this pattern. Since this is August, we are on Step # 8.
Step # 8 reads:
We make a list of all persons we have harmed, and we become willing to make amends to them all.
Wow! That's pretty heady stuff. Sounds like Kingdom behavior. Something that Jesus would teach doesn't it. Making amends and restitution.
All of this coming as a result of our new relationship in Christ.
We no longer do business like the world or on the worlds terms.
We follow the guiding and leading of the Holy Spirit.
This Step # 8 helps me to prepare to rid myself of the burden of guilt, fear and shame.
Think of it as removing all the road blocks and obstacles that we have inside of ourselves that keep us from moving on and having the life we desire to live.
Each amends we make.......
Each restitution we complete, removes one of those obstacles until at last, we are free.
I don't know....
I may be kidding myself, but I think every church in America should have a copy of the Twelve Steps hanging somewhere in the building.
After all, it isn't really about drugs and alcohol..........
It's a sin problem that is manifested as we surrender to the drugs and alcohol.
God on you............
mb
P.s.
Just finished the Bible Study and God was very gracious to come into our group.
We prayed for 3 different men who had never been ministered to before.
They all went down (we call it "doing carpet time) under the Holy Spirit.
It is so wild to watch them when they get up...this really surprised look on their face like "What happened?"
You go God!
Give them ears to hear now as they begin their relationship with you.....
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