Are you Ready?

Movie Review

M and I just got home from watching the new movie "Fireproof". For starters I would definitely recommend this movie to anyone who is married or may be thinking of getting married.

In a world where movies have budgets that could solve the hunger problems in a handful of third-world-countries, it is clear that this movie was put together with a frugal budget. But once you get past the sub-professional acting and a few corny lines, you find a movie that is quite entertaining and applicable. In the movie the main character takes a forty-day challenge from his father to try to win back his wife from the brink of divorce.

The plot moves quickly and keeps your attention (which is no mean feat for a guy that thinks that every movie should have a light sabre fight and at least one epic battle). The story line is also quite interesting and really got me thinking about the kind of husband I am. I liked how the movie was pretty real about the issues that married couples face, yet still handled them tastefully. Above all it was a movie that was truly "Family Friendly" - which makes me ask the question: If a movie isn't family friendly is it really Christian friendly? We'll have to deal with that one on a future post.

All in all I give it two exuberant thumbs up, a must see for this fall's movie lineup.

Proverbs 22:6
Train up a child in the way he should go,
Even when he is old he will not depart from it.

I was looking over some of the pictures on my computer and I stumbled across this one. If you aren’t sure who the people in the picture are: (from left to right) Mom, Dad, me and a sweet old southern couple named Della and Ron Willy that were friends with my parents.

As you examine this picture (after you finish admiring the adorable little boy) there are a couple of things that the mildly astute person may notice. For one you will see that we are all drinking Dr. Pepper, an addiction of mine that was clearly established at an early age. And you will probably notice that everyone is dressed in their Sunday clothes. If you are a drawer of conclusions you might infer that the subjects of the picture had just returned from church and were enjoying a meal together. Such an observation would be correct.

My love for Dr. Pepper wasn’t the only thing that began in my early childhood. All through my childhood my parents took me to church. I don’t ever remember seeing the ritual as bothersome; It was just what we did. But I am glad that I was taught as a child that taking the time each week to attend church was “just what you do”.

It is funny that I went to church almost every Sunday for my whole life but it wasn’t until I was about twenty-two that I really started to understand why. My parents, probably without realizing fully the weight of this ritual, established a constant fixture in my week that helps me to worship and serve the Lord and be equipped to worship and serve Him better. I can’t imagine a Sunday without going to church in some capacity.

We had Tuesday Bible study tonight and we were talking about how important it is to be in church, not just for the teaching but for the encouragement we can get from each other. Iron definitely sharpens iron and it is easy to get dull in this world.

My hope is that those who are reading this blog get to enjoy the encouragement and spiritual food that they need this Sunday in church. And especially if you have kids, “train them up in the way they should go” it could change their life (for the better).

Why not look up???

I got an email today from my first grade sunday school teacher. I havent seen him for twenty years but a while back he started emailing me.
He always sends me something funny or clever or at least a story or picture running down Barak Obama. (hmmm... maybe his ancestors were Irish - O'bama? anyway...). But today he sent me a short letter and I thought that it would be a good one to put in "Ray"man's terms, so here it is:

THE BUZZARD: If you put a buzzard in a pen that is 6 feet by 8 feet and is entirely open at the top, the bird, in spite of its ability to fly, will be an absolute prisoner. The reason is that a buzzard always begins a flight from the ground with a run of 10 to 12 feet. Without space to run, as is its habit, it will not even attempt to fly, but will remain a prisoner for life in a small jail with no top.

THE BAT: The ordinary bat that flies around at night, a remarkable nimble creature in the air, cannot take off from a level place. If it is placed on the floor or flat ground, all it can do is shuffle about helplessly and, no doubt, painfully, until it reaches some slight elevation from which it can throw itself into the air. Then, at once, it takes off like a flash.

THE BUMBLEBEE:A bumblebee, if dropped into an open tumbler, will be there until it dies, unless it is taken out. It never sees the means of escape at the top, butpersists in trying to find some way out through the sides near the bottom. It will seek a way where none exists, until it completelydestroys itself.

PEOPLE: In many ways, we are like the buzzard, the bat, and the bumblebee. We struggle about with all our problems and frustrations, never realizing that all we have to do is look up! That's the answer, the escape route and the solution to any problem! Just look up. Sorrow looks back, Worry looks around, But faith looks up!

I don't know about you but I do my share of "shuffling about helplessly".

Thanks "Sarge"... still teaching me, twenty years down the road.

This week I have the privilege of leading the Bible lesson for the first official night of AWANA club. As I thought about what to do the lesson on, I remembered why we have AWANAs in the first place – To reach boys and girls with the Gospel of Christ and train them to serve Him. So the Gospel (or maybe I should say G.O.S.P.E.L.) is precisely what I’m going to teach.

A couple of years ago I attended a “Dare2Share” conference in St. Louis with the youth in our church. The emphasis of the conference was to encourage teens (and adults) to boldly share their faith with the people that are in their lives or those that cross their paths. The keynote speaker gave us a simple way to share your faith with someone using the word “Gospel”-

G – God created us to be with him.
O – Our sins separate us from God.
S – Sins can’t be removed by good deeds.
P – Paying the penalty for sin Jesus died and rose again.
E – Everyone who trusts in him alone will have eternal life.
L – Life that’s eternal means we will be with Jesus forever.

My plan is to go through each letter of the word “Gospel” and explain the message of salvation clearly. My hope is that if there is a kid there that doesn’t know Jesus as their personal savior they might see that they need Christ and make the decision to follow him.

I love to share the gospel with people, especially kids. It is something that used to frighten me, but the more I do it the clearer I become on one fact – Telling people the Good News of Salvation in Jesus Christ is the reason I am on this planet.

The last instruction that Jesus gave us before he ascended into heaven was to spread the Gospel. If that’s the instruction that he left us with, then we need to be doing our job.

The Gospel really is “Good News” because it gives hope to us sinners that there is a way to be reconciled to God – Jesus. Anybody, regardless of their background, past or current situation can trust in Jesus, be saved and given eternal life.

If you know Jesus I challenge you to share the Gospel whenever you can (if your not sure of a quick easy way, memorize the GOSPEL method).

If you haven’t given your life to Jesus I want you to know that Jesus loves you and he wants to have a relationship with you and give you eternal life. All he asks is that you reach out to him by believing that he can save you from your sins. Jesus is that thing that is missing in your life. Choose Jesus Today.

This week I was reminded of how thankful I am for pain. I’m sure that a statement like that probably sounds strange - to be thankful for pain, but it’s true. On Thursday I was the proud recipient of my first two cavity fillings.
Now I really hate pain. That is clear to my family who would tell you that I have known about these cavities for about 3 ½ years. During that time the idea of getting a filling was enough to put me on the verge of panic (largely because I previously viewed dentists as sadistic creatures bent on separating me from my money and my teeth). But I finally had to “Man-Up” (as I would have told my boy to do) and go to the dentist.
Well, lo and behold, I found out that my dentist was actually a pretty nice guy, who grew up with one of my work buddies, wants to make sure my visit is an inexpensive one, and he doesn’t like Barak Obama – Who knew!! He’s not an emotionless, human instrument of torture after all! (and a Republican to boot!)
But in the numbing process I became thankful for my capacity to feel pain. With the Novocain in full effect, ol’ saw-bones was able to drill a hole in and grind on a tooth that would previously have made me yelp from a cold drink of water. The numbing shot also effected my tongue, lip and chin. I had to be careful not to bite my tongue or lip as I ate.
Through this process I was reminded that God has designed us with the ability to feel pain, and the basic function of that ability is to alert us when there is a problem. If I hadn’t had pain when I ate something cold or sweet, I would never have known that my teeth needed attention. That pain, in ever increasing doses, was motivation for me to get past my fears and go to the sadist, er Dentist.
I can’t help but also be thankful to God for the capacity to feel spiritual pain. That twinge of spiritual discomfort that comes after doing something that I know is wrong in God’s sight. We’ve all felt it, we say something or do something and immediately we get that cramp in our heart, that feeling of regret that shows us we have messed up. This is the work of the Holy Spirit.
In John 16:8 Jesus said of the Holy Spirit:
"And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin…”
I don’t like that spiritual cramp that I get on a daily basis from my sin, But I’m glad it’s there because it draws me to Christ where I am able to confess my mistakes and experience his forgiveness. If I didn’t have that capacity for spiritual pain I probably wouldn’t realize that I had sinned, and since sin puts a barrier between me and God, I would go on being out of fellowship with the him. But since God cared enough about me to give me pain, I am able to go to him and the relationship can be restored
So I’ve come away from this undesirable necessity of life much differently than I had anticipated: With an appreciation for pain (both kinds) and a strong desire to floss and drink less pop.

Thank you for reading the first post on my blog.

The purpose of this blog is to vent the questions and ideas that come into my mind, to discuss the things that God reveals in His Word but most of all, its purpose is to point people to His Son, Jesus Christ.

This is a picture of me and my friend "Rosie" the rosebud torch. When I see this picture I am reminded of what the bible says about letting your light shine before men.

Matthew 5:16 says:

Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.

As I read this verse I am inclined to ask the question-

Why shine a light if nobody can see it?

Out in the real world there is always a temptation to hide your light. Maybe out of fear of being different or offending someone. But Jesus told us to let it shine so that people can see.

He said:
You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.

So I think the best advice for us Christians in the real world is to shine a "basket-proof" light. That way, when we start to put a basket over our light, it catches on fire from the intensity of the light.