Yesterday my wife and I received word that one of our dear friends lost her battle with cancer and passed away. Lisa was a dear friend, but we have not been in contact in several years. She leaves behind a husband and two children and will be missed.
This family were good friends of ours and we hung out together quite often when we were younger. We attended the same church and would spend time at their house and they would spend time at our house. We would play games such as Rook and Win, Lose or Draw and just have a good time together. Their two children were the same age as our oldest girls and so it made our friendship even more special. We once took a vacation to Puerta Vallarta, Mexico with them and it was her husband Doug that was my parasailing buddy while we were on the vacation.
We also worked together in the youth department of our church. Doug and Lisa taught the 7th and 8th grade class, our other friends taught the 9th and 10th grade and then Gabbie and I taught the 11th and 12th grade. Along with the Youth Minister Mark we called ourselves the four horsemen of the Youth department. It was a great time of growing, serving and loving on teens together. We made an impact on a lot of young lives in those years.
It was with Doug and the rest of the guys that we comprised our first rap song. Yes you heard that right, we did a rap song. The intention was to get the attention of the youth group during that time. Can you imagine what went through their minds as the 20 something guys began to rap. We had the sun glasses and started rapping you better believe that we had their attention. I still remember my part: "God made Adam, God made Eve, then He told them never to leave." I had more, but that was the part I remember the most.
The point is that we shared history with this couple and they were dear friends. We began to drift over the years after I accepted my first pastorate and moved away. We would occasionally talk and see them, but over time we lost contact accept through mutual friends. However, they are still a part of our life and she will be missed.
But I am encouraged that she is in a much better place now and that she is healed of all her sickness. She is no longer suffering any pain and there are no longer tears. The reason I can have such encouragement is because Lisa was not just a friend, but she was my sister in Christ. Because of her relationship with Jesus Christ I know exactly where she is this very day. She is safe in the arms of her loving heavenly father because she had placed her hope of heaven through faith in Jesus Christ as her personal Lord and Savior.
For this reason I do not greive like other people, because I know where she is at this very moment. Paul told the Thessalonians "Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep." He later goes on to say that we will be with them forever someday.
Even though my heart is sad and I wish I could offer some comfort to my friend Doug, I am encouraged that someday we will see Lisa again. We have our hope in Christ Jesus who gives us victory over death. Michael W. Smith sang years ago "Friends are friends forever if the Lord's the Lord of them." Lisa will be our friend forever.
Let me encourage you two ways today. First, pick up the phone and reconnect with old friends. Do not wait until it is too late to tell them you love them. Second, make sure that you know where your hope lies beyond this life. Place your faith in Jesus Christ as Lord of your life and experience victory over death. If you would like to know more about a relationship with Jesus Christ drop me a note and I will get back with you.
Lisa we love you and though I know you are in a far better place we will miss you. But we look forward to the time when we can see you again.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Am I a citizen?
Yesterday I took off from work and thought I would take care of a couple of things which I have been putting off for some time. One of them was to get my son Jameson his driver's license. The other things I needed to do were to get my cars registered and to get a driver's license myself. Getting a driver's license for my son was easy, the other two were difficult. In fact I was not able to get a license or register my vehicles.
Supposedly I do not have the right documentation to receive a driver's license in the state of Illinois. I ran into the same problem when I went to Arizona and back to Texas. It seems that you need to have several types of documentation to prove you are a citizen of this country. I know there is no way that those who are undocumented aliens, illegal aliens, or non registered immigrants, however you want to look at it are driving cars legally here. How do they get anything without the proper documentation, but that is another post.
It seems that I have to prove that I am indeed a citizen of the United States and of Illinois before they will give me a license. So I went armed with my social security card, which does not have a photo ID on it. I had some recent mail delivered to my house. I had my Texas Driver's license. My car registrations and several other documents that pretty much prove who I am. However, I did not have a birth certificate to prove I was legal. Okay, I have a birth certificate, but I did not have it with me. And of course they will not take a copy of a birth certificate, it has to be a birth certificate with a raised seal, so that they can make a copy of the birth certificate. Did they even have raised seals when I was born?
The thing that gets me about all of this is that I did the same thing in Texas. In other words they issued me a license because I proved I was a citizen of the United States, but now Illinois does not believe I am a citizen of the United States. As far as registering my car, I have to provide the name of the banks that hold the title to my car. I understand that they need to issue an Illinois title to the loan company, but still I think we sometimes go overboard. The lady said that having my Texas registration was not enough, because I might have sold the car in Texas. Of course my little pea brain said "why would I want to register a car that I do not own or am not paying for?" Sometimes I think our government makes things harder than they need to be.
Needless to say I will need to go back with all the documentation at a later date and go through the whole process again. I will have to locate an official birth certificate so that I can prove that I am actually a citizen of the United States.
Which brings me to another topic. The Bible says that my citizenship is actually in heaven. The question I must consider is "how do people know that I am a citizen of heaven?" I mean after all I don't have a birth certificate that has a raised seal stating that I am a citizen. How do I prove to others that I am indeed a citizen of heaven? Paul stated in 2 Corinthians 1:22 that God "set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come." And then again in Ephesians 1:13-14 Paul writes "having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance. . ." So we actually do have a seal placed upon us that proves we are children of heaven. Later Paul will say that God's Spirit testifies with our spirit that we are indeed the children of God.
I like the idea of the Holy Spirit being a seal on my life that affirms me as a citizen in the kingdom of God. However, how do others know for sure that I am a citizen of the kingdom of God? The teachings of Jesus might help us with this question. Jesus said the way that others will know that we are his disciples and therefore citizens of heaven is by the way we love one another. Check it out in John 13:34-35 if you do not believe me. John will later write in 1 John 3:15 that if we do not love one another then we are not really citizens of the kingdom.
So the question you must ask yourself is "How do others know that I am a citizen of heaven?" How are you doing in demonstrating love toward others might help to answer that question. I hope I can eventually validate that I am a citizen of the United States, but to be honest I am more concerned that I validate that I am a citizen of heaven. Once I prove to Illinois I am a legal citizen, I want have to worry about it any more. But proving I am a citizen of heaven is something I must demonstrate everyday. I am glad my citizenship is in heaven, now I just want to live my life as proof of that fact.
Supposedly I do not have the right documentation to receive a driver's license in the state of Illinois. I ran into the same problem when I went to Arizona and back to Texas. It seems that you need to have several types of documentation to prove you are a citizen of this country. I know there is no way that those who are undocumented aliens, illegal aliens, or non registered immigrants, however you want to look at it are driving cars legally here. How do they get anything without the proper documentation, but that is another post.
It seems that I have to prove that I am indeed a citizen of the United States and of Illinois before they will give me a license. So I went armed with my social security card, which does not have a photo ID on it. I had some recent mail delivered to my house. I had my Texas Driver's license. My car registrations and several other documents that pretty much prove who I am. However, I did not have a birth certificate to prove I was legal. Okay, I have a birth certificate, but I did not have it with me. And of course they will not take a copy of a birth certificate, it has to be a birth certificate with a raised seal, so that they can make a copy of the birth certificate. Did they even have raised seals when I was born?
The thing that gets me about all of this is that I did the same thing in Texas. In other words they issued me a license because I proved I was a citizen of the United States, but now Illinois does not believe I am a citizen of the United States. As far as registering my car, I have to provide the name of the banks that hold the title to my car. I understand that they need to issue an Illinois title to the loan company, but still I think we sometimes go overboard. The lady said that having my Texas registration was not enough, because I might have sold the car in Texas. Of course my little pea brain said "why would I want to register a car that I do not own or am not paying for?" Sometimes I think our government makes things harder than they need to be.
Needless to say I will need to go back with all the documentation at a later date and go through the whole process again. I will have to locate an official birth certificate so that I can prove that I am actually a citizen of the United States.
Which brings me to another topic. The Bible says that my citizenship is actually in heaven. The question I must consider is "how do people know that I am a citizen of heaven?" I mean after all I don't have a birth certificate that has a raised seal stating that I am a citizen. How do I prove to others that I am indeed a citizen of heaven? Paul stated in 2 Corinthians 1:22 that God "set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come." And then again in Ephesians 1:13-14 Paul writes "having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance. . ." So we actually do have a seal placed upon us that proves we are children of heaven. Later Paul will say that God's Spirit testifies with our spirit that we are indeed the children of God.
I like the idea of the Holy Spirit being a seal on my life that affirms me as a citizen in the kingdom of God. However, how do others know for sure that I am a citizen of the kingdom of God? The teachings of Jesus might help us with this question. Jesus said the way that others will know that we are his disciples and therefore citizens of heaven is by the way we love one another. Check it out in John 13:34-35 if you do not believe me. John will later write in 1 John 3:15 that if we do not love one another then we are not really citizens of the kingdom.
So the question you must ask yourself is "How do others know that I am a citizen of heaven?" How are you doing in demonstrating love toward others might help to answer that question. I hope I can eventually validate that I am a citizen of the United States, but to be honest I am more concerned that I validate that I am a citizen of heaven. Once I prove to Illinois I am a legal citizen, I want have to worry about it any more. But proving I am a citizen of heaven is something I must demonstrate everyday. I am glad my citizenship is in heaven, now I just want to live my life as proof of that fact.
Monday, February 8, 2010
I will understand later
Many times things happen in life that I have no idea why they happened or even how they happened. It is not until much later that things become clear and I begin to have a better understanding of why and how they happened. This truth is one that we need to grasp as it will make things a little easier as we go through life. There is no way we can understand everything that is going on around us.
This truth is revealed in Scripture as well. I was reading in John 12:1-19 and saw this truth revealed three times. The first mention of this truth is revealed when Mary anoints the feet of Jesus with precious perfume and wipes His feet with her hair. Judas complains that the perfume could have been sold and used to help the poor, but Jesus states that she was simply preparing His body for his death. At the time the disciples did not grasp the significance of the event or the teaching. In about 6 days they would understand the truth.
Another episode is revealed with John's comments about Judas. John states that Judas did not care about helping the poor, because He was a thief and was always taking money out of the money bag for his personal use. John is writing about one of his fellow disciples. Why would he make such a statement? If I were writing the story, I would have sprung all of this on my readers at a later date. Yet, John writing in retrospect of the event was able to explain the motives behind Judas' statement. He was able to look back at this event and realized that Judas showed signs early on of not really being a follower of Jesus.
I remember a story from my past about a good friend of mine from Seminary. He was probably my best friend at the time. We carpooled to seminary together and had some great conversations together. We talked about the Bible, about church, about our families and about things in general. Before we graduated from Seminary he accepted a pastorate in New Mexico and he asked me what I thought about the decision. I told him to wait and graduate first before he moved to New Mexico. I told him he would be all alone in the area with no support system and he would need that later. He did not heed my advice and moved to New Mexico with his family. In a very short time, my friend called me and told me he was having an affair and thought he was in love. He eventually resigned his church, divorced his wife and married this woman.
However, in retrospect, I saw some warning signs before this event occurred, but I was not able to be as discerning as I needed to be. I saw some struggles in his marriage early on and the move to New Mexico only brought more struggles to his marriage. I understood things much clearer at a later date. The same scenario played out with John as he looked back at this event with Judas.
One other episode is revealed in John 12 that highlights this fact. As Jesus is making his way into Jerusalem the people are praising him and celebrating his triumphal entry and John states that the disciples did not understand the significance of the event until after Jesus had been glorified. They looked back over this event and they began to understand it clearly.
Why do I tell you all of these things? There are times that things happen in our lives that we do not understand. These may be times of difficulties and struggles in our lives. I have been through some that I still do not understand and I am going through some now that are difficult as well. Perhaps it is happening to you also. Maybe you have lost a job and you cannot make sense of what is happening. Maybe you are struggling to pay your bills and it is causing other problems in your life. Perhaps changes are happening around you and you cannot understand what is happening. My word of advice to you is to not lose hope or lose your faith in God. There will come a time when you will understand everything better. You may never fully grasp why something happened, but you will understand it better by and by. Do not let the circumstances of your life determine your future. Do not throw your hands up in the air and give up just because you do not understand what is happening in your life.
Use these times to draw closer to God and trust in Him more. God did not wake up one morning and realize that you were in a struggle and there was nothing He could do about it. He is always in control and He is always able to do more than you can even imagine. You keep being faithful and you keep trusting in God to work all things out for the good. The things happening to you can make you bitter or better, but only you can make that decision.
Years ago one of my professors said "It is not what happens to you that determines what happens to you. It is what happens to what happens to you that determines what happens to you." Think about that and decide today that even though you may not understand what is happening, you are determined to come out better because of it.
This truth is revealed in Scripture as well. I was reading in John 12:1-19 and saw this truth revealed three times. The first mention of this truth is revealed when Mary anoints the feet of Jesus with precious perfume and wipes His feet with her hair. Judas complains that the perfume could have been sold and used to help the poor, but Jesus states that she was simply preparing His body for his death. At the time the disciples did not grasp the significance of the event or the teaching. In about 6 days they would understand the truth.
Another episode is revealed with John's comments about Judas. John states that Judas did not care about helping the poor, because He was a thief and was always taking money out of the money bag for his personal use. John is writing about one of his fellow disciples. Why would he make such a statement? If I were writing the story, I would have sprung all of this on my readers at a later date. Yet, John writing in retrospect of the event was able to explain the motives behind Judas' statement. He was able to look back at this event and realized that Judas showed signs early on of not really being a follower of Jesus.
I remember a story from my past about a good friend of mine from Seminary. He was probably my best friend at the time. We carpooled to seminary together and had some great conversations together. We talked about the Bible, about church, about our families and about things in general. Before we graduated from Seminary he accepted a pastorate in New Mexico and he asked me what I thought about the decision. I told him to wait and graduate first before he moved to New Mexico. I told him he would be all alone in the area with no support system and he would need that later. He did not heed my advice and moved to New Mexico with his family. In a very short time, my friend called me and told me he was having an affair and thought he was in love. He eventually resigned his church, divorced his wife and married this woman.
However, in retrospect, I saw some warning signs before this event occurred, but I was not able to be as discerning as I needed to be. I saw some struggles in his marriage early on and the move to New Mexico only brought more struggles to his marriage. I understood things much clearer at a later date. The same scenario played out with John as he looked back at this event with Judas.
One other episode is revealed in John 12 that highlights this fact. As Jesus is making his way into Jerusalem the people are praising him and celebrating his triumphal entry and John states that the disciples did not understand the significance of the event until after Jesus had been glorified. They looked back over this event and they began to understand it clearly.
Why do I tell you all of these things? There are times that things happen in our lives that we do not understand. These may be times of difficulties and struggles in our lives. I have been through some that I still do not understand and I am going through some now that are difficult as well. Perhaps it is happening to you also. Maybe you have lost a job and you cannot make sense of what is happening. Maybe you are struggling to pay your bills and it is causing other problems in your life. Perhaps changes are happening around you and you cannot understand what is happening. My word of advice to you is to not lose hope or lose your faith in God. There will come a time when you will understand everything better. You may never fully grasp why something happened, but you will understand it better by and by. Do not let the circumstances of your life determine your future. Do not throw your hands up in the air and give up just because you do not understand what is happening in your life.
Use these times to draw closer to God and trust in Him more. God did not wake up one morning and realize that you were in a struggle and there was nothing He could do about it. He is always in control and He is always able to do more than you can even imagine. You keep being faithful and you keep trusting in God to work all things out for the good. The things happening to you can make you bitter or better, but only you can make that decision.
Years ago one of my professors said "It is not what happens to you that determines what happens to you. It is what happens to what happens to you that determines what happens to you." Think about that and decide today that even though you may not understand what is happening, you are determined to come out better because of it.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Facebook Friends
A few months ago I joined the facebook crowd. I was hesitant to join the crowd because I was afraid that I would be disappointed when I joined. My wife was a facebook member and had hundreds and hundreds of facebook friends. I was afraid that if I joined that I would have maybe six friends. Five of those would be family and the other one would be a telemarketer. What a disappointment that would be if I had no one that wanted to be my friend.
Then I found out that I could invite people to be my friend. Oh great just what I need to start looking desperate and ask someone to be my friend. I had visions of the pretty girl or the popular guy in school looking at the scrawny guy and laughing. What if they rejected my request? How would I respond? What would I do? Rejection can be so hard when you think about it.
My wife helped me out of my situation as she told others that I was on facebook and they requested to be my friend. Of course I thought they were only doing it because my wife asked them to, but hey at least I had someone that would be my friend. I mean what is the point of being on facebook if you are the only one that is going to look at your wall? It is kind of like writing a blog that no one reads. What is the point? Yet, slowly but surely people began being my friend and I was able to connect with some old and new friends.
I have still been hesitant to request to be someone's friend, but recently I have changed my attitude. I told myself it was stupid not to invite someone to be my friend. I thought I was showing humility, but instead it was probably pride. After all if you never take a risk you will never get hurt or disappointed. Now I have decided that I will try to invite more people to be my facebook friends.
You know the parallels with inviting people to church are obvious. As a matter of fact I will probably submit that the majority of us find it easier to invite someone to be a facebook friend than inviting them to attend church, much less be a friend to Jesus. How often do you invite people to come to church? Is it hard? Are you afraid that they might turn you down? Are you afraid that you might be disappointed? Or perhaps you are afraid they might embarrass you.
You know sometimes we get friends on facebook that might not post things that we want others to see. They might not have the same values or the same ideas that we have and may actually cause us to be embarrassed by what they write. And the truth is that when we invite people to come to church, they might not be exactly like us. They might dress differently. They might act differently. They may not be look like us. I say that is a good thing because it would be pretty boring if we were all the same.
So what is the point of all of this endless babble? We need to get over our fears of inviting people to attend church. Everyone we see we need to invite them to worship with us. It does not matter who they are, or what they do, we should extend an invitation for them to be our pew buddy. You know invite them to come to church and then sit with them in church. Wouldn't it be great if when you went to Walmart or Target, or some other store and invited the cashier to church, that two other people before you had already beaten you to the punch. What a wonderful testimony about your church. Surely that cashier will be saying in her head "what is it about that church? This is the third person today to invite me to attend?" She might not attend, but at least her mind is wondering.
Don't be afraid to invite people to be your friend and attend church with you. As a matter of fact, why not invite all of your facebook friends to church? Wouldn't that be cool if they alll showed up at the same time? Hey by the way you want to be my facebook friend? I will be looking for you in cyberspace.
Then I found out that I could invite people to be my friend. Oh great just what I need to start looking desperate and ask someone to be my friend. I had visions of the pretty girl or the popular guy in school looking at the scrawny guy and laughing. What if they rejected my request? How would I respond? What would I do? Rejection can be so hard when you think about it.
My wife helped me out of my situation as she told others that I was on facebook and they requested to be my friend. Of course I thought they were only doing it because my wife asked them to, but hey at least I had someone that would be my friend. I mean what is the point of being on facebook if you are the only one that is going to look at your wall? It is kind of like writing a blog that no one reads. What is the point? Yet, slowly but surely people began being my friend and I was able to connect with some old and new friends.
I have still been hesitant to request to be someone's friend, but recently I have changed my attitude. I told myself it was stupid not to invite someone to be my friend. I thought I was showing humility, but instead it was probably pride. After all if you never take a risk you will never get hurt or disappointed. Now I have decided that I will try to invite more people to be my facebook friends.
You know the parallels with inviting people to church are obvious. As a matter of fact I will probably submit that the majority of us find it easier to invite someone to be a facebook friend than inviting them to attend church, much less be a friend to Jesus. How often do you invite people to come to church? Is it hard? Are you afraid that they might turn you down? Are you afraid that you might be disappointed? Or perhaps you are afraid they might embarrass you.
You know sometimes we get friends on facebook that might not post things that we want others to see. They might not have the same values or the same ideas that we have and may actually cause us to be embarrassed by what they write. And the truth is that when we invite people to come to church, they might not be exactly like us. They might dress differently. They might act differently. They may not be look like us. I say that is a good thing because it would be pretty boring if we were all the same.
So what is the point of all of this endless babble? We need to get over our fears of inviting people to attend church. Everyone we see we need to invite them to worship with us. It does not matter who they are, or what they do, we should extend an invitation for them to be our pew buddy. You know invite them to come to church and then sit with them in church. Wouldn't it be great if when you went to Walmart or Target, or some other store and invited the cashier to church, that two other people before you had already beaten you to the punch. What a wonderful testimony about your church. Surely that cashier will be saying in her head "what is it about that church? This is the third person today to invite me to attend?" She might not attend, but at least her mind is wondering.
Don't be afraid to invite people to be your friend and attend church with you. As a matter of fact, why not invite all of your facebook friends to church? Wouldn't that be cool if they alll showed up at the same time? Hey by the way you want to be my facebook friend? I will be looking for you in cyberspace.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
New way to grow the church
In research hot off the press, responders state that Coffee shops are the friendliest place in town. Out of 550 responders 90.6% chose the coffee shop. Second on the list was the church with 84.2%. These numbers were provided by Group Publishing in their survey called "The Friendliest Place in Town." According to Group the goal of the research was to determine where the Church ranks as compared to other "around town" venues when measuring the places, the people, and attributes that define friendly to Americans today.
Another alarming feature to this report is that only 16% of Americans say the Church is their favorite place to meet new friends. The number one place to meet new friends is a Restaurant, a Pub, or a Sports Bar. Of course that number is slightly higher among Christians, but it still only scores 19% as the favorite place to make new friends.
As I thought of these numbers I wondered what I could do as a church leader to help the church be more friendly. The answer is revealed in the cartoon below.
Okay, maybe it is not the best idea, but at least I am trying. However, the research from Group does offer some interesting facts that might be more useful in making the church more friendly to visitors and members alike. The top five factors that make a place friendly are:
Though we may not be able to be all things to all people, we in the church should at least be friendly and make people feel welcome when they come. Or perhaps it would be easier just to give them better and more coffee. What do you think?
Another alarming feature to this report is that only 16% of Americans say the Church is their favorite place to meet new friends. The number one place to meet new friends is a Restaurant, a Pub, or a Sports Bar. Of course that number is slightly higher among Christians, but it still only scores 19% as the favorite place to make new friends.
As I thought of these numbers I wondered what I could do as a church leader to help the church be more friendly. The answer is revealed in the cartoon below.
Okay, maybe it is not the best idea, but at least I am trying. However, the research from Group does offer some interesting facts that might be more useful in making the church more friendly to visitors and members alike. The top five factors that make a place friendly are:
- Making me feel like I belong.
- Making me comfortable.
- Making me feel at ease.
- Conversation.
- Smiles.
Though we may not be able to be all things to all people, we in the church should at least be friendly and make people feel welcome when they come. Or perhaps it would be easier just to give them better and more coffee. What do you think?
Monday, February 1, 2010
Cap'n Crunch to start the day
The other morning I woke up and was looking for something to have for breakfast. I looked at the many choices I had from which I could choose. I had such choices as yogurt, blueberries, and granola, which is one of my favorites. I could have had toast and eggs, or possibly toast without eggs. I also could have had oatmeal or cream of wheat. We also had several choices of cold cereal from which to choose, such as Raisin Bran, Honey Nut Cheerios and Chex Cereal. However, there was a red box with a guy wearing a bright blue suit that caught my eyes, Cap'n Crunch.
We do not normally have Cap'n Crunch in the Worley Household. I cannot figure out why we do not as it is definitely delicious and nutritious. Okay maybe I am exaggerating the point, but it seems to go pretty fast whenever it is in our house. But that morning, once I saw Cap'n Crunch all the other choices were insignificant. I had to have a big bowl of Cap' Crunch.
Fortunately no one else was around when I ate my bowl of Cap'n Crunch. What would my wife say if she saw me eating such a wonderful breakfast? What would my children do if they saw me eating Cap'n Crunch? Perhaps they would sit down with me and we would have a wonderful father, daughter, son conversation. It could be a bonding experience as we enjoyed this delicious American meal together. Just think of the memories that we would have. I could be imparting some wisdom to them as we sit around and enjoy a nice big delicious bowl of Cap'n Crunch.
But no one was there to witness this meal, so I was left to eat my Cap'n Crunch in the solitude of my own crunching. However, there is not really much nutritional value in Cap'n Crunch. I am sure that if I ate a steady diet of Cap'n Crunch every day that my health would begin to reflect this poor choice of diet.
The same principle applies to our spiritual life. So often we are prone to take the easy way in our spiritual growth as well. Instead of investing ourselves in those things that are really nutritional and valuable we spend our time in trivial and insignificant things. Paul told the Corinthian believers that he would love to give them some solid food, but they were still enjoying the bottled milk too much. They were not growing spiritually because they enjoyed baby food or in my words Cap'n Crunch.
Perhaps spiritual Cap'n Crunch is fine for some people, but there comes a time when we must move on to something that will truly sustain us and help us to grow to be all that God intends for us to be. Are you tired of Cap'n Crunch in your spiritual life? Let me encourage you to step out of your comfort food and dig into something with a little bit more bite to it.
Here are some simple solutions to your ho hum eating habits. Instead of listening to your normal radio station, why not try Christian radio and spend some time worshipping God while your driving. Or better yet download some of my sermons and allow God's Word to speak to you. Oh wait a minute we don't want you sleeping at the wheel. On second thought forget that idea. How about this one, instead of showing up five minutes early to the worship service, how about showing up five minutes early to Sunday school so you can get that chair by the teacher. Maybe during the sermon time instead of nodding your head when the sermon is delivered, why not take some notes and study them later on. Or maybe you could start the morning with a daily quiet time instead of the daily sports news or political news.
The point is don't go through your spiritual cupboard content with Cap'n Crunch. Look for those things that will truly be nutritious and delicious. Remember that Jesus said man does not live by Cap'n Crunch alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God. Okay I made that last part up, but you get the point. Hopefully you are ready to move on to something better than Cap'n Crunch. I know that I am!
We do not normally have Cap'n Crunch in the Worley Household. I cannot figure out why we do not as it is definitely delicious and nutritious. Okay maybe I am exaggerating the point, but it seems to go pretty fast whenever it is in our house. But that morning, once I saw Cap'n Crunch all the other choices were insignificant. I had to have a big bowl of Cap' Crunch.
Fortunately no one else was around when I ate my bowl of Cap'n Crunch. What would my wife say if she saw me eating such a wonderful breakfast? What would my children do if they saw me eating Cap'n Crunch? Perhaps they would sit down with me and we would have a wonderful father, daughter, son conversation. It could be a bonding experience as we enjoyed this delicious American meal together. Just think of the memories that we would have. I could be imparting some wisdom to them as we sit around and enjoy a nice big delicious bowl of Cap'n Crunch.
But no one was there to witness this meal, so I was left to eat my Cap'n Crunch in the solitude of my own crunching. However, there is not really much nutritional value in Cap'n Crunch. I am sure that if I ate a steady diet of Cap'n Crunch every day that my health would begin to reflect this poor choice of diet.
The same principle applies to our spiritual life. So often we are prone to take the easy way in our spiritual growth as well. Instead of investing ourselves in those things that are really nutritional and valuable we spend our time in trivial and insignificant things. Paul told the Corinthian believers that he would love to give them some solid food, but they were still enjoying the bottled milk too much. They were not growing spiritually because they enjoyed baby food or in my words Cap'n Crunch.
Perhaps spiritual Cap'n Crunch is fine for some people, but there comes a time when we must move on to something that will truly sustain us and help us to grow to be all that God intends for us to be. Are you tired of Cap'n Crunch in your spiritual life? Let me encourage you to step out of your comfort food and dig into something with a little bit more bite to it.
Here are some simple solutions to your ho hum eating habits. Instead of listening to your normal radio station, why not try Christian radio and spend some time worshipping God while your driving. Or better yet download some of my sermons and allow God's Word to speak to you. Oh wait a minute we don't want you sleeping at the wheel. On second thought forget that idea. How about this one, instead of showing up five minutes early to the worship service, how about showing up five minutes early to Sunday school so you can get that chair by the teacher. Maybe during the sermon time instead of nodding your head when the sermon is delivered, why not take some notes and study them later on. Or maybe you could start the morning with a daily quiet time instead of the daily sports news or political news.
The point is don't go through your spiritual cupboard content with Cap'n Crunch. Look for those things that will truly be nutritious and delicious. Remember that Jesus said man does not live by Cap'n Crunch alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God. Okay I made that last part up, but you get the point. Hopefully you are ready to move on to something better than Cap'n Crunch. I know that I am!
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