“Sexting”

I ran across this video blog from a new website called www.freedombeginshere.org

This is a topic that is becoming a bigger issue in all of our communities. Watch. Learn. Get involved in the lives of the young people who God has placed around you!

Great Friday Video

Sometimes you just need a good music video to get the weekend started right!

Watch this!

Men of all nations…

In I Kings 4:34, it says that men of all nations came to listen to Solomon’s wisdom! I was trying to think if I had ever experienced that kind of gathering in my lifetime.

It is funny, we gather in large crowds for rock shows, sporting events and displays of creative expression – but all of these carry an element of entertainment.

In Solomon’s day, men traveled on foot and by donkey from great distances without a Hilton in order to hear “wisdom” from a man who did not even use power point. And then I reread verse 29 – the secret to why anyone would travel to hear a man speak:

“God gave Solomon wisdom and very great insight, and a breadth of understanding as measureless as the sand on the seashore.” I Kings 4:29

Forget power point, video clips and funny stories (not that they are useless) – I want to speak with a wisdom that can only come from God.

His Father Never Interfered

There is this brief passage that caught my attention this past weekend while sitting on a porch and reading the scriptures.

‘His father had never interfered with him by asking, “Why do you behave as you do?”‘ I Kings 1:6

What condemning words to have spoken about a father’s way of raising his son. Can you imagine the kind of man that young boy would grow up to become? You don’t have to imagine – the scriptures are clear in reporting the actions of Adonijah. He grew into a young man with a sense of entitlement and arrogance – acting in ways to serve only himself.

As a dad, my prayer is that I never get so tired, frustrated, angry, distracted or apathetic that my kids would be able to say of me, “He never interfered!”

Whose life are you interfering in today? Isn’t it funny that what often seems like “interfering” can also be the very interaction that prevents damaging behavior in the future?

Perhaps a better question is, “Have I allowed God to interfere in my life today?”

She kept it for my burial…

After Mary anointed Jesus’ feet with this expensive perfume, he made this comment about her actions,

⁷ Jesus answered, “Leave her alone; she has kept it for the day of My burial. (John 12:7; HCSB)

I wonder if Mary really bought that perfume with Jesus’ burial in mind? I wonder if she knew how good of an investment it would be? Either way, his burial was reordering her immediate expression of love. We experience this when we suffer the pain and loss of a loved one. In those last moments of life we offer words and actions that previously we simply overlooked on a day to day basis.

But this story did not end with the memory of a grand expression of love. While Mary was learning to reorder her daily expressions of love – she also experienced the return on a selfless investment. Now all of her life could be lived with the constant reordering of her expressions of love – because He is risen. Through Jesus’ resurrection, his people understand and experience true life. Life that looks beyond the “burial”. Life that reorders our expressions.

What Mary kept to selflessly give away for burial was given back beyond her wildest dreams.

Has your life been reordered by Jesus’ burial and resurrection?

Can People Change?

This is the question that was just asked on Good Morning America this morning, “Can a person change?”

Great fundamental question that lies at the heart of the message of Jesus Christ. Watch the video and let me know what you think.

“Can people change?”

Practical Atheist

I heard a gifted speaker recently use the term “practical atheist”. Even though he is a professing follower of Jesus Christ, he said that he often felt like his actions did not match his public confession of faith. Wow, what a bold statement.

As I think about my life, I am embarrassed to admit that “practical atheist” is a pretty applicable term. My actions do not line up with my confessions near as much as I would like.

Think about it. No matter your stance on God, how many times do we sell out our public belief systems in order to avoid hardship or humiliation or simple embarrassment? If you are like me, probably more than you would like to admit.

I missed the Grammys

I was unable to watch the Grammys Sunday night – hockey has to fit in the schedule somewhere – but was sent the Radiohead performance earlier today. Great performance with part of the USC marching band.

Information & understanding…

I am one of those weird people who would stay in school professionally if someone would pay me to be there. Not to teach but to learn. I was wired for a generation where information grows exponentially every year.

The real question is, what do I do with that information.

In Matthew 23, Jesus has some very harsh words for the pastors of his day who were simply using information as a way of repressing the people. Information and understanding are two different things. You can posses information without any understanding of what you should do with that information.

The following link is to a video by an advertising firm that is seeking to gain information about the global culture in which we now live. Advertising firms seek information for a specific purpose – to understand how to increase the profit margine of their clients. The information is not invalid. But it is being used for a very specific purpose. What kind of “understanding” could the church take away from this information?

Recession Reasons

One of my favorite Pastors to follow is John Piper. He posted 5 short purposes from scripture about how God uses financial downturns in our lives. This is a great read.