A New Perspective

I have written this to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know you have eternal life.
1 John 5:13

Our daily lives are so full of issues, decisions, drama, joys, excitements, etc, that somehow, as Christians, we lost sight that we are going to live forever. The Apostle John said that if we believe in the name of the Son of God, we will have eternal life, meaning that we are going to live forever. So if that is the case, then why is it so important that I have to have my way all the time? Why is it so important that every one does what I think they should do? Why is it so important that everything should be done when I think it should be done? We are going to live forever!!! All these things that we think are so important really don't matter at all when it comes to eternal life. We need to start getting a Kingdom perspective on life, and get our eyes off of ourselves and what makes me happy and what makes me feel good, and start looking through the eyes of Jesus. When we start getting a Kingdom perspective, its amazing how God takes care of the things we think are so important to us. In fact, and I've seen this happen to me, that when something is not going the way I think it should and I get ahold of myself and settle down and ask God to give me a Kingdom perspective, I focus on Him and that "thing" that I thought was SO important, no longer is really that important. How do we do that? 1) Stop thinking about yourself all the time, get your eyes off of you, 2) Look at every situation through the eyes of Jesus (which may mean getting into the Bible more and finding out how Jesus sees things), and 3) ask God to help you get His perspective on things.

Take Away...

Start looking through the eyes of Jesus and make a choice to start looking at life through a Kingdom perspective.

Reverence, what?

God said, “Do not approach any closer!  Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.”

Exodus 3:5

Reverence for God, we read it, we listen to it, and we like to think that when we think about God or read His word, that we have complete and 100% reverence for Him...at least that is what I thought. Just last night while driving to work, the Holy Spirit raised that question to me, and at first I thought, "sure, I have reverence for Him," but then I remembered that when the Holy Spirit asks you a question, there is a reason. The real reason behind the question was really a statement, and that statement was "no Kent, you don't always have reverence for God." That was like a knife going straight into my heart. And then He showed me where I lacked. We go to Him in times of trouble, we go to Him when we need something, we go to church, and we think that is reverence. But how many of us ignore Him and His word? How many times have you read His word, and because it was tough, or it didn't fit your own theology, that you blew off His word? How many times do we think that if we go to church on Sunday or whenever, that is revering Him? Reverence for God isn't about how many times we go to church, or how many times we give to the poor, or how many times we open the door for someone at the store, or how many times we chose not to flip off someone in traffic. Reverence to God is putting Him at the top of your life. Reverence is saying I don't care how I think about things, God is first...and when He says jump, I don't ask why, or grumble, but do it...AND do it with a good attitude! A lot of us, including myself, have made God out to be someone that if we don't like what they are saying, we just ignore him. We have got to have reverence for God in EVERYTHING and with a good attitude. He is the Creator of you and me, He is the Savior for you and me, He is the One we trust at all times.  If you realize that you have not been revering God, confess that to Him. He has already forgiven you, all you have to do is start showing Him reverence.

Take Away...

We need to show God reverence in everything we do, we need to listen to His word and treat His word with reverence and not just brush it off when we don't agree with it. 

Pick and Choose The Seasons

You will keep in perfect peace
all who trust in you,
all whose thoughts are fixed on you!

Isaiah 26:3

Yesterday started just like any other day, the hustle and bustle of Christmas, dealing with the crowds on the roads and at the shopping center, getting ready for the family gathering for the big Christmas dinner...you know, normal last few days before Christmas when we celebrate our Saviors birth. Then I get word that a friend of mine passed away. He was young, getting his life together, things seem to be looking up for him. I started thinking "Really? Right before Christmas? God, you're in control, couldn't you have picked a different day, a different time of the year? How can any of us celebrate Christmas now that someone we know is no longer with us just 3 days before Christmas!" God gave me two scriptures. The first was Ecclesiastes 3:1: there is a season for everything, and the second was Isaiah 26:3, todays verse I am using. We would like to think we get to choose when and how things happen, but we don't. That would make things very convenient for us, right?  But the reality is that we don't get to pick and choose when and how things happen...they just happen and we are left to deal with them.  The more important thing is HOW we deal with these events. Do we ignore God, get mad at God, refuse to acknowledge Him anymore, or do we do what Isaiah said, keep our minds and thoughts on Him? Isaiah said if we do, then He will keep us in peace. Yes, the death of my friend hurts, and at times I cried and probably will again. Yes this is Christmas but it won't seem like Christmas to his family...and that's okay because they need to mourn. Its okay to mourn our lost loved ones and we are suppose to, and at the same time we can still be comforted by God's peace as long as we keep our thoughts and minds on Him.

Take Away...

If you have lost anyone during this Christmas season, its okay to mourn, and at the same time, keep your mind on Him and He will comfort you with His peace.

To Throw a Fit or Not

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

Galatians 5:22-23 (NET)

The last couple of days I've been talking about our behavior and how we, Christians, are to be the ones that make a difference in the world. I realized that when I was driving home last night from work, I found myself mouthing off at other drivers. Of course they couldn't hear me, but if they could, there would be no way they would associate me and my behavior with the way a Christian should behave as told by the Apostle Paul in Galatians 5:22-23...with joy, peace, patience...and the big one...SELF CONTROL! Yeah right, the Apostle Paul never had to deal with Christmas traffic in Atlanta! But there I was, in traffic sitting there watching several sequences of the traffic light go from red to green to yellow and back to red...and not moving a bit! While Paul never had to deal with traffic the way we do, he still had things in his day that he had to deal with. And even if he didn't, God is still God and His word is still His word, it doesn't change. The fruit of the Spirit doesn't change. We are still called to exhibit the fruit of the Spirit, and yes, it is a choice! You have the choice to show love, to walk in peace, to be patient and kind, and YES you can have self control...and I'll prove it to you. Every one of us has that moment at home when we are flying off the handle, wanting to throw something, yelling, basically having a fit, but if your boss or pastor knocks on the door you would straighten up in a second and greet them with a smile! Am I right???? The enemy would like for us to think we have no self control, but according to the word of God, we do...its a choice. 

Take Away...

Start making the choice to behave in a way that shows the fruits of the Spirit. And the next time you start throwing a fit, get a hold of yourself, stop what you are doing, settle down and just say "no, I'm not going to allow the enemy to win this one!"

Choosing a Behavior

DO NOT judge and criticize and condemn others, so that you may not be judged and criticized and condemned yourselves.

Matthew 7:1 (AMP)

What we think and say to others is extremely important to God. God is all about love, and 1 Corinthians 13, what we call the love chapter, explains what love is. If you read that you will discover that love is not a gushy feeling, love is not an emotion, but it is a behavior. It is a behavior that we choose to do. That all sounds good and everything, but how about putting that into practice...well that is another story all together. Part of the "love" walk is thinking the best of each other, or in other words, how do we treat other people. How do you treat others when they do things you would not do? How do you treat others when you are in a hurry and the clerk behind the counter is taking her time? How do you treat your kids when you are already 10 minutes late for work and they just spilled their bowl of cereal on the new hardwood floor that was installed the day before? How do you treat the person who has the body you want but you are not willing to do what they are doing to get it? It is so easy to criticize others and condemn others for whatever reason, but we are not called to do that. We are called to love and walk in love with each other. We, as Christians, are to be the ones who make a difference in someone else's life. Instead of criticizing someone because their hair is not as perfect as yours, or they are not moving as fast as you would move, or whatever, we need to show people love, show them compassion...EVEN if they don't deserve it! 

Take Away...

Make a choice to stop criticizing others for whatever reason, but choose to walk in love, be compassionate...no matter how much it hurts to do it!

The Show

It is not rude, it is not self-serving, it is not easily angered or resentful.

1 Corinthians 13:5

I was out yesterday Christmas shopping with my mom, and as we were walking down the sidewalk, I was hearing conversations going on among the people that we were passing. These conversations would lead me to believe that there was not a Christian around. Most of the conversations were very self-serving. What I mean by that is that people were talking about why the store didn't have what they wanted and they were complaining, people were getting mad at the other because someone took the parking space that they wanted, the line was too long at the store and the store should have more employees working because it was causing them to be delayed...and probably to another store where the line would be too long. You get my meaning, all of these and other conversations were really based on "I am not getting what I want and when I want it." We all have busy schedules and we all "need" to be at such and such place at a certain time. But you know, God's word is still God's word and it is still true today as it was 2000 years ago. We are still called to love people, we are still called not to be rude to other people, we are still called not to be selfish in our actions and thoughts and we are still called not to be easily angered. I challenge everyone reading this that before you go out to do your last minute Christmas shopping (and really this should be for every day), that before you even start the car engine, say to yourself "self, today I choose to love people and not be rude to people or to the business that I am going to. I choose to be kind, I choose to not be angered when someone takes the parking spot I want, I choose to show patience when the line is moving slower than what I think it should be moving, I choose to show the person behind the counter love instead of showing my impatience, I choose to show the love of Jesus instead of me wanting to get my way, no matter how much of a hurry I am in, or how much this is going to make me late for where I need to be." 

Take Away...

Make a choice today to show God's love when you walk out the door of your home. 

Worship Song of the Week...

How He Loves by John Mark McMillan

Ticked at the World

Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you; I do not give it to you as the world does. Do not let your hearts be distressed or lacking in courage.

John 14:27

Did you ever wake up and instantly you were ticked at the world? And anything anyone said to you, well, you just really wanted to rip their heads off? Funny how that happens, and for me it usually happens when I don't get enough sleep, and then I wake up feeling all anxious, knowing that if I said anything to anyone, it wouldn't be good. I've come to recognize that for whatever reason, and usually it is the enemy stirring me up, raising up my insecurities or some selfish behavior, but whatever...I need to keep my mouth shut, get by myself for a few minutes, lift up my hands to the Lord and say "Jesus, settle my soul." There are times I will say this over and over for 5 minutes. And with each time I say that, I feel something like soothing ointment pour over my mind and I start to feel less anxious, less mad and more at peace. Now the anxiety may rise up again later in the day, and sometimes 5 minutes later, but all I have to do is say "Jesus, settle my soul." Jesus wants us to walk each day in His peace. If we have anything but peace, then that should be a red flag to us that something is not right and we need to go to the Lord and ask Him to settle us down. You may not have an opportunity to get away for 5 minutes, especially at work, and if that is the case, and that has happened to me, I close my eyes for a minute and ask Jesus to settle my soul. 

Take Away...

If you feel anything but peace, if you feel anxious, stirred up about something, you feel like you want to rip people's heads off...find a moment (and real soon), close your eyes and say "Jesus, settle my soul."

Worship Song of the Week...

 It Is Well by Bethel

Beyond Where You Are Now

Show me the right path, O lord;
point out the road for me to follow.

Psalm 25:4 (NLT)

Did you ever find yourself doing something that you never thought you would be doing...and liking it!? That's what happens when you ask God to guide you and to point out the road for you to follow. The caveat to this is that when you ask Him that, you need to remain open to whatever road He leads you on, even if it is something you never even thought of doing or something you don't think you would like. For example, growing up I was a musician, I took piano lessons for 11 years privately and 1 year in college, was in the church band for many years, had my own band and was in several other bands. So one could think that was where God wanted me. Well, it was...for a season, but He had other plans. I ask God, "God, show me the right path for my life, point out the road for me to follow." Several years later I started teaching in a small group, which led to teaching a couple college courses for a few years, which led to teaching my first message to a church, which has now led to me starting a church. The funny thing is, when I was growing up, I never ever ever saw myself teaching, but when I prayed that prayer, I had to make a choice. The choices were a) I could ask God to guide my life, but only in the direction I wanted to go; or b) I could ask God to guide my life in the direction where He wanted me to go with all options available. If you ask God to guide your life, but only in the way you want it to go, you'll never go beyond where you are now. But if you ask God to guide your life and say "I don't care where you lead me, just lead me because I know that Your way is the better way and You want nothing but good things for me." When you leave all options open, it shows a level of trust in Him...and that's a good place to be. Oh yeah, and hang on, because the road He guides you on will be full of learning, growing, some pain (but there's always going to some pain), and a lot of excitement and amazement!

Take Away: don't limit yourself to your current way of thinking, open yourself up to God's plan, and allow Him to guide you, even if it is in areas you never thought of or ever saw yourself doing.

Worship Song of the Week...

It Is Well by Bethel

Joining Him

“I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in me – and I in him – bears much fruit, because apart from me you can accomplish nothing."

John 15:5 (NET)

God has given all of us abilities, talents, skills, etc, to accomplish His will through us. The key here is He will accomplish these things THROUGH us. We think that "well I have these skills, I went to college, I took piano lessons for 12 years, I don't need anyone, I can do this on my own" and then when we start running into that brick wall where nothing is happening we wonder "why God, why isn't this happening." If we think for one minute that we can do anything on our own, we are deceiving ourselves, we will continue to run into a brick wall and we will continue to get frustrated.  For example, God told my wife and I that we were to start a home church. For someone like me, I immediately start thinking about how we were going to do this, who was going to join us and help us in this, what days we were going to meet, where were we going to meet, blah blah blah...and all this time, Jesus was still way back there saying "uh, hey folks, did you forget something...like Me?" That's right, we left Jesus in the dust while we started running with what He told us to do, totally forgetting to include Him. What we needed to do, and what we eventually did, was ask Jesus, "okay, we hear You telling us You want us to start a home church, how can we join You in this?" When God tells us He wants us to do something, He is asking us to join Him, not the other way around where we think it is us asking Him to join us. We need to include Him in everything we do, we need to start asking Him "how can I we join you in this?"

Worship Song of the Week...

It is Well by Bethel

The Big Chill

One can devise many plans in one's mind, but ADONAI's plan will prevail.
Proverbs 19:21 (Complete Jewish Bible)

I am a planner. I plan things, and when I say I plan things, I plan a lot...and I mean A LOT! I plan details, and not just for later today, but for tomorrow, the next day, the next month, etc. I need to know where are we going tomorrow, what time, how are we going, how long will it take to get there, are we going to stop on the way, if we are going to stop on the way, where are we going to stop, how long are we going to stop, is anyone else going, if they are, where do they want to stop...you get the picture. That was me not long ago, but as God has worked on me to "not be a planner" I realized how being this detailed planner can have its pluses and its minuses. The pluses...you make sure things get done. The minuses...you drive the people around you crazy!!! Because now, when I get around a planner...it drives me crazy, and all I want to say is CHILL! So I can imagine that is what others were saying to me...I just didn't hear them...like Jesus. He was telling me to CHILL for a long time, I just wasn't hearing Him. But you know, God always makes a way to get His purpose through to you and me, and finally I did hear Jesus say "Chill Kent!!!!" When I finally chilled, I didn't feel any more pressure or anxiety or stress. I realized that I was finally able to enjoy the things that I was planning without being stressed to make sure they were getting done. When I stopped planning every detail and just chilled, something amazing happened...things still got accomplished! Yes, even though I wasn't planning every detail, things still got accomplished...and I was able to enjoy them! On top of everything...Jesus now has the freedom in my life to accomplish what, when and how He wants things done...not how, when and what Kent wants done, but what He wants done. Isn't that the whole goal? I'm not totally there yet, but I am a lot closer to being completely chill and doing things spontaneously than I was a few years ago.

Take Away: if you need to know and plan every detail of something, take a chill pill and let God have His way and let Him plan things. Believe it or not, things will still get done!

Worship Song of the Week...

It Is Well by Bethel

The Better Land

But as it is, they aspire to a better land, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.

Hebrews 11:16 NET

One of the things that the "Men of Faith" did that kept them going forward was wanting what was better. They knew that if they returned Egypt, even though they would be fed and have a roof over their head, it would also put them back in slavery, or even worse. They knew God wanted something better for them, so instead of constantly thinking how much better things were in Egypt compared to their current situation (which was pretty bad at the time), they looked forward to what God wanted for them. Your current situation may not look so good, in fact it may seem down right aweful with no end in sight. That in its self could cause you to look back to how things where before they got bad. But God has a different plan than your past...He has a future for you! He has something better for you, he has a "better land" for you and if you will keep that hope alive in you, you will get closer and closer to the "better land." However, if you start thinking how bad things are now and how better they were before, your hope for the future will start to fade. You need to keep God's promise of a "better land" in the forefront of your mind. For example, if you are in a financial need, God's promise says He will provide all your needs (Phil 4:19). He knows exactly what you need and He will provide for that need. What you need to do during the time of waiting for Him to provide is to keep looking to Him and speaking out His promise. When those thoughts of gloom and despair rise up in you, push them back down with "God will provide all my needs!" 

Take Away: When things look better in the past than they currently are now, keep looking forward to the "better land" that God has prepared for you, no matter what your current circumstances are. 

Tempting Thoughts

Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away. These desires give birth to sinful actions. And whn sin is allowed to grow, it gives birth to death.
James 1:14-15 NLT

Do you know that I've never been tempted to rob a bank? Nope, that was never a temptation to me. But there are certain things that are a temptation to me, like seeing a piece of new mountain bike equipment in a magazine that just gets me! It is dangerous for me to read one of my mountain bike mags or go to a bike shop and see a new bike or see a new piece of technology, because when I do, that is about all I can think about. And...if I think about it enough, I am looking it up on the internet...AND if I look at it enough on the internet, I will think about how I can buy it...AND once I saw how to buy it, ie credit card, then I am either on my way to the bike shop to buy it or I am buying it on the internet. That's how temptation works. First it comes as a thought, then that thought turns into ideas and eventually actions. God does not tempt us, but there are certain things in each of us that can be tempted which we know are not good for us. When we notice we are having a tempting thought (and it comes on us subtly at times), we need to grab a hold of that thought as quick as we can and counter it with what God has promised. For example, I see new bike, but I don't have the money for, nor do I need a new bike (forgive me my fellow bikers), the minute the thought of "Kent, you need that bike" I need to counter that thought either verbally or in my head (usually verbally for me), "God supplies all my needs, and if I need that bike, He will provide the way to get it, end of story." I may have to say that several times...in fact many times. You may say "well I sound silly for saying it many times," well that tempting thought sure doesn't stop at the first thought, it jumps on you over and over, so you have to counter it over and over.

Take Away: don't let tempting thoughts run wild, counter them with Gods word and keep at it.

It Is Well

Those who go down to Egypt for help are as good as dead,
those who rely on war horses,
and trust in Egypt’s many chariots
and in their many, many horsemen.
But they do not rely on the Holy One of Israel
and do not seek help from the Lord.

Isaiah 31:1 (NET)

At this time in Israel's history, they were under attack, but they had become so apathetic, they stopped trusting in God to deliver them. The God who brought them across dry land through the Red Sea, the God who brought them across the wilderness, fed them with manna, gave them drink out of a spring in the ground, the God who delivered them from their enemies as they went into the promised land, the God who did all these things and much much more, they stopped believing that He could deliver them and CHOSE to go to Egypt for help. Like many of you, I read this and thought, "well, they were stupid, didn't they see how God delivered them in the past, they got what they deserved then!" I call this, "I can't see the forest because of the trees." What I mean by that is we do exactly the same thing. Yes, really! How many times has God saved you from making a big mistake, how many times has God healed you, directed you to keep you from harm, but yet when push came to shove, you stopped going to Him and started going to your abilities, your friends, your work, your pastor, etc. You...and I...do everything except trust God. You may say "well Kent, you don't know my situation." That's true, but God is still the God of the past, the God of the present and the God of the future, what He did thousands of years ago, He is still doing today and will do in the future...we just have to do one thing...and that is trust Him. Trust Him that He will give you what you need when you need it. See, we all think we need what we think we need right now, at the present. But He is the God that sees the whole picture, He is the One the truly knows what we need and when we need it. Even if it is in the 11th hour (the last minute), we trust Him. Even if things look like they are getting worse, we trust Him. Even if the sickness is getting worse, we trust Him. Even if the bank account says there is no more money, we trust Him.

Take Away: no matter what the circumstance, no matter how bad things look, trust Him. If you truly trust Him, He will make a way!

Worship Song of the Week...

 It Is Well by Bethel

The Litmus Test

If anyone says “I love God” and yet hates his fellow Christian, he is a liar, because the one who does not love his fellow Christian whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.

1 John 4:20

We all want to say "yes, I love God with my whole heart," but do we really? John says here that we can say we love God until we are blue in the face, but if we do not love our fellow Christian, then we are a liar. "Well bless God I love all my Christian brothers and sisters," which is what most of our first responses are when we hear this, but when it gets right down to the definition of love...the Godly definition of love, do we really? The Godly definition of love in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 says love is patient, kind, not rude, thinks the best of people, not envious, not selfish, not easily angered. Now if we looked how we treat our Christian brothers and sisters, can we really say that we truly love these people? Can we really say to our Christian brother "even though you just made me angry, I'm going to love you and forgive you" or "even though I heard something really bad about you, I'm going to believe the best of you?" I'm not saying all this to get you down, I'm saying this so we can be truthful with ourselves and with our love toward God. The goal is to love God with our whole being (Mark 12:30), but I don't know of anyone who has achieved this except for Jesus. How do I know this? Look at the way you and I treat people! Do we treat people in Godly love as 1 Corinthians 13 says, or do we treat people bad because "I didn't get my way," or "I didn't get what I wanted," or "you got what I should've had," etc etc etc. How do we change? We spend time with God, we get to know Him more and more. And as we get to know Him more and more, we will want to spend more time with Him. As we do, we start showing His love to those around us. Yes, we can try to correct our behavior, and I would encourage that, but a true change comes from getting closer to God!

Take Away: As you get closer and closer to God, your behavior will start exhibiting His love toward the people around you.

Worship Song of the Week...

Touch the Sky by Hillsong