Disbelief and Disobedience

February 5th, 2010 | 1 Comment | Posted in » Devotions / Bible Studies

The past couple of days, I’ve been reading from the book of John (as part of the MVBC 90 Day New Testament Challenge), and have been soaking in the interaction between Jesus and the Pharisees accounted there (particularly chapters 7 through 11). It’s very interesting to me.

You see, the Pharisees, despite every reason Jesus gave them, continued to persist in disbelief. Miracles… signs… wonders… none of it was good enough for them to simply believe that Jesus was indeed the Christ, the Messiah… the Savior of the world. They continually questioned and criticized Him, investigated His miracles… generally butting heads with Him at every point possible in a feeble attempt to argue against what was becoming clearly obvious to everyone.

With the miraculous resurrection of Lazarus, enough had become enough. The Pharisees threw up their hands, in a sense acknowledging that they weren’t going to win. “What are we accomplishing?”, they say (John 11:47). Logic dictated that they couldn’t simply let Him go… He’d win too many converts and they’d lose their place of power. Only one option made sense: kill Him. After all, better to kill one man than to lose the entire nation, right?

Amazing the sheer ruthlessness of it all.

I don’t know about you, but I see a couple parallels here.

How often do we, as believers, struggle with accepting something God clearly lays out for us? Maybe it’s a mission trip He wants us to go on, or maybe talking to that co-worker or family member about Christ. Maybe it’s something even more basic… prayer, Bible study, even attending church? Whatever the case, in those times it’s almost crystal clear what God wants for us and from us. Every evidence points to that thing, every inkling of your heart cries out that it’s right. Yet we fight and fight and fight (a losing battle, mind you) against it?

Maybe it’s even the struggle the Pharisees had. Every evidence is pointing to you that Jesus is the Christ. That faith in Him is the sole path to salvation from sin. That loving and serving Him is all that really matters. You know you’re losing the battle with disbelief, so you throw up even more walls to “save” yourself?

What’s the point? Is the struggle (whether with belief in Christ alone or simply with obedience) really worth it? Is upholding your pride that your way is best really worth the misery of fighting a losing battle against God’s calling? What if submission to God’s way really is the only true path to peace and joy?

Think about it.

Jenna’s Birthday!

February 3rd, 2010 | No Comments | Posted in » My Life, Pictures

Wow… Jenna is five years old. How is that possible already?

Happy birthday sweetie! Daddy loves you!

Believe.

February 2nd, 2010 | No Comments | Posted in » Devotions / Bible Studies

Day 2 of the 90 Day New Testament Challenge. Reading from John 3 through John 6, one common message arises: believe.

Check it out.

In John 3:16-18, we find Jesus speaking with Nicodemus. After Nicodemus clearly fails to understand what Jesus has to say to him regarding being born again, Jesus says:

¹⁶“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁷For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. ¹⁸Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.”

At the end of John 3, we find John the Baptist teaching his disciples, testifying that Jesus is the Son of God. He clearly reiterates the teaching of Jesus:

³⁶Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him.

In John 4, we find Samaritans coming to belief, following Jesus’s interaction with the woman at the well:

³⁹Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.” ⁴⁰So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days.

⁴¹And because of his words many more became believers.

Later in John 4, we find Jesus admonishing the royal official at Cana who has come to him pleading for healing for his son:

⁴⁸“Unless you people see miraculous signs and wonders,” Jesus told him, “you will never believe.”

After Jesus heals the officials son, we find belief embraced:

⁵³Then the father realized that this was the exact time at which Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live.” So he and all his household believed.

We see belief in the invalid healed at the pool in Jerusalem (John 5:1-15). We see Jesus sharing with the Jews residing in Jerusalem that the must believe in him for salvation (John 5:16-47). And we see Jesus sharing hard teachings regarding belief with the masses following him after the feeding of the five thousand (John 6).

Believe.

If the Scriptures are a reliable source of information for answering the most basic questions of faith we humans have, we’re faced with a critical question that provides the answer to our ultimate outcome.

What do you believe about Jesus?

Come and See…

February 1st, 2010 | No Comments | Posted in » Church Stuff..., Devotions / Bible Studies

Today is the first day of the 90 Day New Testament Challenge for the men’s ministry at my church, Missouri Valley Baptist. We start our reading of the entire New Testament together with John 1 and John 2. As we’re reading Scripture together, my prayer is simply this:

Lord, show us something we’ve never seen in your word today.

For me, it’s summed up by three words, “come and see”.

We see the phrase twice in the first chapter of John. In the first instance, John and two of his disciples see Jesus passing by. John points out to them that it’s Jesus, the Lamb of God… the Christ, our Savior. Immediately the disciples jump up and start following Him… literally. Jesus stops, turns around to them, and asks, “What do you want?” Their response was anything but profound… “Where are you staying?” Jesus’s reply? “Come and see.”

With Philip and Nathanael we see a similar exchange. Philip has just come to Nathanael, and told him that they’ve found the Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth. Nathanael replies, “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” Philip’s reply? “Come and see.”

Come and see.

Simple, isn’t it? Come and see who this Jesus really is. Come and see just what it is that He teaches. Come and see the amazing things He can do. Come and see the difference He can make in a life. Come and see. Just come and see.

So what do you think? Are you ready to come and see this guy named Jesus? Maybe it’s been a while since you’ve looked at Him, checked Him out, thought about who He is. Maybe you’ve never given Him a thought. Whatever the case, won’t you come and see?

I am. Won’t you join me?

Best. White Elephant Gifts. Ever.

December 16th, 2009 | 1 Comment | Posted in » Just For Fun...

Wow. Words cannot describe this.

About all I can think of to say is that these would be the best white elephant gifts EVER to bring to your next church Christmas party.

Check it out here: “Rich Daddy God”

(Disclaimer: Not responsible for any injuries you may cause yourself laughing while reading the linked story.)

What Matters Most…

December 14th, 2009 | 2 Comments | Posted in » Christian Living, Worth Reading

“Happy Holidays!”

What’s going through your mind, Christian? It’s okay… you can admit it…

“It’s CHRISTMAS you moron!”

Yep. I thought so.

Maybe you’ve been offended by the greeting. Maybe you’ve even verbalized it to the well-meaning (but misguided) person who thought they’d pleasantly wished you well this season. Maybe you’ve even decided you’re not shopping anywhere that “Christmas” is not well, um… spoken?

Yeah. We Christians can be such kill-joys during the “Holiday” season.

The point of this post? You probably know where I’m going, but you won’t find the rest here… it’s over at Todd Littleton’s place (he’s shared some good stuff).

Anyway, check out Todd’s thoughts on the never-ending war over “Christmas”: “What if Retailers Rated Christians?”

Oh, and prepare for a nice load of conviction.

Hail to the King…

December 4th, 2009 | No Comments | Posted in » In the News..., Just For Fun...

This is too funny not to post. Hail to the king!

LOL!

Cholesteatoma Surgery, Round 2

December 2nd, 2009 | No Comments | Posted in » My Life

If you know me or have been following my blog for a while, you know I’ve been battling a cholesteatoma tumor (basically a benign growth in the middle ear that results in hearing loss) for a while (see here and here).

On Monday, I had my second round of surgery to correct the problem. It’s got a long technical name, of course (something along the lines of “revision tympanoplasty mastoidectomy” something or other), but the basic procedure was almost identical to before… general anesthetic (a real trip if you’ve never had it), a nice long incision (one that apparently comes pretty darned close to lopping off my ear completely), doctors’ inspection / removal of any regrowth of the tumor, reconstruction of the bones of the middle ear (yep, bionic man, that’s me), and then a patch job to put me back together (I’m sure they use superglue / duct tape in the process somehow).

All in all, it’s an amazing procedure, and according to doctors, it was a complete success… there was no tumor regrowth, and the reconstruction went smoothly. With no damage to nerves evident (from hearing tests prior to surgery), I’m expected to regain nearly all of my hearing.

So now there’s the healing process. I can’t hear completely YET, so for now, be sure to talk into my RIGHT ear if you really need me to hear you.

But remember, that won’t last forever. One of these days I’m gonna surprise all of you who think you can get away with saying things you really don’t want me to hear simply by talking on my left side!

Black Friday…

November 27th, 2009 | No Comments | Posted in » In the News..., Just For Fun...

An interesting factual tidbit about Black Friday… Black Friday is the busiest day of the year for plumbers.

Oddly appropriate, huh?

Make the Most of It…

November 6th, 2009 | No Comments | Posted in » In the News...

“Well, let’s make the most of it.”

I’m sure you’ve heard the phrase. My dad and some of his retired friends are doing just that… making the most of their retirement. They’ve been in the news recently in Maryville, Missouri, for their efforts to build a duplex together on property my dad owns. Hardly your typical contractors, these guys are doing anything but living your typical “retired” life!

It’s definitely been good for them, certainly for my dad, at least. I can’t remember the last time I’ve seen him enjoying himself so much.

Check out the stories here:

“Making the Most of Retirement”, in the Nodaway News Leader
“Four Men and a House”, in the Maryville Daily Forum

Way to go, Dad!