Month: March 2012

I’ve heard of quite a few, I’ve seen one. These churches will literally be torn in half.

One thing that I think is important is don’t make hasty decisions. Stick around for awhile. Let the bombs stop exploding and let the dust settle. Rashness is where I see most people make a big mistake. That’s one way my dad has impressed me. He’s willing to stick out uncomfortable or antagonistic situations. Of course, there is a point where things just have to end. But I can’t tell you how many situations I personally would’ve thrown up my hands and got out of there where he keeps going. (I don’t envy the job of the pastor.) And that’s one thing we need. Be patient. Be humble.

Too many people treat the church as some sort of entertainment choice. They come because the preacher is dynamic, or the fellowship is good, or the fellowship meal food is tasty. Easy come, easy go. My dad always says, choose your bunch of sinners and stick with them. I think we need to have this philosophy more. It’ll make us more stable long term. Maybe one group really turns you off, well then go somewhere else. No big deal. But do find someplace and create roots. I realize that stability is mocked. Marriage is mocked for instance. But don’t let that be your driving force. Try to be stable. Christ is incredibly stable. He’s the rock. Shouldn’t we attempt to be this way, instead of being blown around by every wind of doctrine or little fight?

Please don’t be the angry men and women who are unstable and want to hurt others. Love others. Even the ones you disagree with you should love. If there was only more love I think we would see less big explosions.

The last words Paul wrote to the Corinthians were “Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect, be of good comfort be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you. Greet one another with an holy kiss.” ~ 2 Corinthians 13:11-12

Too many people either just want to be right or more mature and throw their friends under the bus. Or they talk about being in unity and making up the truth to be whatever they want. This verse brings it into perspective.

Also, greet each other with a holy kiss. 🙂

😉 Or at least try to be more relational – hugs are cool. But don’t get creepy. ;-P

Why call them children or kids when they can be called little people. Way better. 😉

That’s all. Sleep tight everyone. ^_^

How will you know a true friend? How will you know who is going to ride through those waves of blood with you? How will you know who really loves you and will lay their life down for you? You’re going to have to get in the ship and ride those waves with him. I’ve known a good number of people during my short lifetime, and over the years you see this exact scenario. You reach some sort of horrid impasse and either they stick through it, or they leave and possibly even throw a few stones on the way out. I’m kind of sad to put it this way. I honestly wish we could just all take a test or ask a few questions and suddenly low and behold we know who will be a true friend.

My best friends are those who I’ve fought with. The ones who have borne the brunt of my sin. This is how it’s always going to be. To reach a certain level in your friendship you have to accept the challenge of that level of friendship.

If your friendships are about hilarious/well-thought out responses on Facebook and an occasional pithy comment about the sermon on Sundays, your friendship will never go beyond that level. And those friendships will break down as I’ve seen time and time again. They’re not based on anything of value. No substance. Substance isn’t something that’s built through fun and games, although they certainly have their place, substance comes from hard work and long hours.

Your family is going to generally be some of your best friends because you’re stuck together. You grow up with your family. But in the modern day society of baby care, preschool, K-12, college, and eventually a job in who knows where as long as it pays you enough, your own family won’t be your best friends.

People say that friendships will last forever if you’re always there for each other and care for each other. Yes, true. But why do half of marriages end in divorce? Why do the majority of young people shack up? (In answer to that, the previous generation was the divorcing generation and now naturally the children don’t want to have to go through the pain and suffering their parents went through, so they naturally avoid marriage but want some sort of emotional/physical relationship to satisfy them. I read an article on that recently, anyways…)

See? People aren’t willing to go through the hard times. This is a new phenomena to some extent. People didn’t break off marriage relationships or avoid them altogether just a hundred years ago. We’re living in a society that can’t have strong relationships. They don’t have the ability. They don’t have to stick around through a fight, because they could go to school, go to work, take an airplane 2,000 miles away, or can just escape into a movie/computer.

Please guys, live in a way that you can take the seas of blood and hardship. Don’t be the one who is ending their marriage or not getting married because you are so selfish that you will break off a covenant or avoid it for that reason.

Friends are amazing. Friends are those who love you. They care about you. They are standing next to you in the ship and when the waves get big and everyone else runs or goes crazy they will still be standing at the helm next to you. Maybe you’re missing an arm or your face is destroyed beyond all recognition, but they still stand with you.

Christ is going to always be our ultimate friend. He died for us. Can we all try to emulate him and lay down our lives?

Most people are driven by emotion and personal experience. You can throw facts and statistics at people, but unless you’re able to appeal to their emotions they will ignore all of it. We are emotional. One experience we have may shape our view of life in a wrong impression. Much of today’s political atmosphere is based on the rhetorician rather than someone who stands for what’s right. Whoever can put on the better show tends to win.

Now, facts and statistics can appeal to peoples emotions. But much of the time the deciding factor is driven by the emotions. That’s why we know a good speaker or blogger because they appeal to our emotions. A truly good speaker/blogger backs up his/her arguments with actual facts, as well.

Basically I’m saying instead of just absorbing whatever people tell you, try to look at it with an eye of critical thinking. But at the same time don’t be the eternal skeptic, like I tend to be.. <_<

Friends,sorry for the lack of posts. We were doing our conference this last week and the late nights/talking all day aren’t really conducive to getting posts written. I’ll be a good blogger next week though. ;-P

It’s easy to forget that you are part of a problem. It’s easy to look at others and see problems. But when you look at you, “Mr. Perfect” there’s nothing wrong. Sometimes you have to take a good long look at yourself and see if you’re the one or at least one of the ones contributing to the problem. Whatsoever that problem is.

People remember for a long time. This is one thing I’ve learned about people. If you offend them, they remember. They may remember in a way that will not hurt your friendship. But it’s like a marker through a sentence in a book. You may forget it’s there. But the instant you open up the book, ta-da there it is.

But how do we get rid of that marker blotch?

Well, how many pages have you marked up? How many times have you asked forgiveness? How big a blotch did you make on the book?

Here’s the deal. You have to ask forgiveness. When you ask forgiveness, (and mean it) it’s like writing next to that big blotch, the words you markered on with a little love you heart scribbled next to it. So, they’ll still see the blotch. (and it will fade with time) But instead of cold and angry memories of you making marks all over their book, they will see the love and repentance you had. It’ll become a warm and happy memory, hopefully.

Here’s the thing, fights aren’t bad. Fights happen. People are sinners. People have to stick their foot in their mouth sometimes. But what happens after them? Do you both go away bitter? Do you make big blotches on books constantly? Or do you make those blotches and follow up with some tears, some writing, and just plain old love?

Now if you tore up the book and put it through a shredder, that will be a lot harder to fix.. 🙂