2010-04-25 Faith Walk/ Priorities

I struggle in life staying focused. My mind has a tendency to run wild. When I find something to be interesting, I seek it out, and then, typically, get bored with it – much like a kid playing with new toys on Christmas morning. And as my mind wonders, worries, and questions things of this world, I often feel a drift in my spiritual walk. Although I never drift completely out of faith, I do often find myself is a state that I do not want to be: farther from God. Fortunately though, at the point of realization, I am provided the opportunity to renew my faith and recommit myself to God.

I understand that my faith is a life long commitment, and one that I am very proud of, that is also going to be a continuous battle. I know that temptations and questions will try to pull me from God, but I also know that this will provide for more growth and commitments to God. As the world places demands on me, my hope and prayer is that I place more emphasis on my faith, for I know, in my heart, that is the only true way to be successful.

I counted all my dollars while God counted crosses;

I counted gains while he counted losses;

I counted my worth by the things gained in store,

But He sized me up by the scars that I bore.

I coveted honors and sought for degrees;

He wept as He counted the hours on my knees.

I never knew till one day by a grave

How vain are the things that we spend life to save.

I did not know till a friend went above

That richest is he who is rich in God’s love.

Josh

2008-04-18 Committing to God

This past Sunday morning during Sunday School, I asked the youth, “Why are you choosing to follow Christ? Why are you seeking God’s will? Would it not be easier to just live like you want, as carefree and reckless as you like?” In response, I received many blank stares. At that moment, I thought to myself, “oh no, what have I done,” fearing that I may have just sparked an interest in them of a life away from the Lord. Fortunately though, one of them answered, “I choose to have eternal life without pain and suffering.” This, then, created a chain reaction of answers amongst many of the youth.

Even though there are many answers, the question of “why be a Christian” still remains for many people. As Christians, are we not supposed to shed a light on the benefits of living a life as Christ has instructed? But how do we effectively convey such a message? I imagine this question has been thought about since the time of the disciples setting up the first churches in the days after Jesus’ resurrection; however, I do believe we can effectively shed light on this topic if we seek council and guidance from the Father through the Holy Spirit. Furthermore, giving entirely over to God is a whole other difficulty. But why? Why should we, as creations with free will, give ourselves over to a divine source when we have the option of doing our own thing instead? I believe the answer to that question must come from within the person that is making that choice, but there has to be a certain amount of faith, alongside an understanding of love and grace, involved in making such a decision.

From “Illustrations Unlimited” – Why do people resist surrendering themselves to Christ? For many, the reason they give is that they don’t really trust God to handle their lives to their suiting. A young lady stood talking to an evangelist on the subject of consecration, of giving herself wholly to God. She said, “I dare not give myself wholly to the Lord, for fear He will send me out to China as a missionary.” The evangelist said, “If some cold, snowy morning a little bird should come, half-frozen, pecking at your window, and you would let you take it in and feed it, thereby putting itself entirely in your power, what would you do? Would you grip it in your hand and crush it? Or would you give it shelter, warmth, food, and care?” A new light came into the girl’s eyes. She said, “Oh, now I see, I see. I can trust God!” Two years later she again met the evangelist and recalled to him the incident. She told of how she had finally abandoned herself to God—and then her face lit up with a smile and said, “And do you know where God is going to let me serve Him?” And there was now a twinkle in her eye— In China!”

Are you holding back from turning your life over to God? Why? I challenge you this week to think about your “faith walk” and commit or recommit your life to God.

Josh

2008-04-11 Gifts and Freewill

It’s official; I am beginning a new career this week. I have accepted a job offer from Piper Valve in OKC to work in design engineering and drafting. For those of you who do not know, I have been employed at ExxonMobil Chemical for nearly seven years, most of my adult life! Therefore, this is a big change for me.

This offer is a quite an opportunity, one that I am very thankful for. I completed all my requirements to earn my bachelor’s degree from SGU this past February, an accomplishment I am proud of; however I cannot take all the credit for the many good fortunes that have been placed in my path. I thank Kasey for her support during these past years and for putting up with me; I give thanks also to both my family and church family for the support each has provided as well; but above all I give thanks to God who has provided for me in countless ways.

In my personal situation, there have been various paths to travel leading to various opportunities, and I attribute this to God’s gift of free will – for God loves me so much, unconditionally, that he allows for me to make my own decisions and as a result of those decisions, he opens avenues. Even when I have made poor choices, I know that God has orchestrated goodness to come.

The point I am trying to make is this: through God’s love for us, he has given us freewill, and without this freewill what would life be? I have had many conversations with people in regards to this topic over the years, especially during trying times in life. The question of why God has allowed bad things to happen has often been brought up to me. My response is simple: freewill. I typically follow that up with a story of my own for illustration purposes. I often reference my education/work journey. Because of the decisions I made, I placed myself into situations that have been very trying, for instance passing on several scholarships after high school in favor of working. I understand now that while I have moaned and groaned about not having an education and not being able to get the job I want, it was my decision and solely a reaction to the actions and choices I made. It’s not God’s fault, or anyone else’s, it is mine. However, even with my foolish mistakes, God has provided opportunities for me. He has allowed me to experience many things that I otherwise would not have been able to experience; continuing with my example: traveling across the US in my early twenties; learning to balance work, school, and family; meet and learn about the “real world” work environments, etc.

My testimony is this: God will provide, but he will not dictate. I believe that no matter the choice we make, God looks at our situation and says, “I can work with this.” It is not God that makes these bad things happen, rather it is the flesh. The flesh is of the world and therefore doesn’t always know or want what God wants for us, but through God’s love, he allows us to carry on with our own path, yet he never leaves us.

What about you and your choices? Are you blaming God for something? Are you holding a grudge with the Almighty for a turn of events that ended unfavorably? If so, I hope and pray that you remove these hurt feelings towards God and open your eyes to opportunities he has laid before you. God will provide for you if you allow him to, but he will not dictate your every move. You have been blessed through God’s love with freewill, how are you using it?

Josh

New Job

So a new page in my life begins tomorrow. I must say I am excited, while a bit nervous, about the opportunity. I look forward to new challenges and problems, and the resulting solutions from each. My prayer is that God gives the strength to endure the obstacles and my hope is that I take advantage of every situation to learn something new.

Josh

What's Going on Here

Alright, here's the thing, I write on a weekly basis for my church where I serve as the director of youth ministries. I have my own section where I give out my own thoughts. I have began this blog as a way to capture some of these commentaries in another fashion. Feel free to comment on any of them. All blogs will be titled first by the date (YYYY-MM-DD) in which it was written followed by a subject it talks about.

Josh

2010-03-28 Opportunities

Opportunities are amazing things. We experience opportunities in our daily lives, regardless if we recognize it or not. For instance, as soon as the alarm clock sounds in the morning, you are presented with the opportunity to rise and give thanks for the day that the Lord hath made, or you can lie there pounding the snooze button until you are late for work (yes, I’m guilty of that). Opportunities go hand-in-hand with choices – often a choice you have made lends itself to an opportunity or a choice that someone else has made provides for an opportunity.

To use an analogy, opportunities are much like a computer network. In order to connect to the network, a port must open. This port may seem to lead to only one place, for instance a server, but from there countless other ports become available. The destination is only reached when the ports align properly, i.e. when the address is available and working. However, sometimes the destination is blocked, and when this arises a choice must be made – go elsewhere or wait for the destination to become available. Neither option is wrong or right for every situation, but this block is typically not the final destination.

Life is much the same way. We make the choice of what “servers” we connect to. This determines what other options and opportunities become available from there. As Christians, we connect to God through the Christ “server”. Through this port, many opportunity avenues are available. However, on this network there is a hacker – temptation. Satan is working to hack into our lives and cause “service interruptions” with the Christ “server”. Fortunately, there is a Satan-blocker out there and it’s found in the words of the world’s best selling book, the Bible, and through prayer.

Is your Satan-blocker up to par? Are the choices you make leading to opportunities for growth or is Satan blocking your final destination? You have the choice, and the opportunity is there through the grace of God.

Josh

2010-02-21 Grace

Grace. We hear the term in church often; most of us know a definition for it and understand the context of the word, but do you ever stop and really think about God’s grace? Grace is the freely given, unmerited favor and love of God. Nothing we do can earn salvation, nor do we deserve it, but through God’s grace it is freely given; all we must do is understand and accept that it is only through God’s mercy, through the blood of Christ, that we can be saved. We cannot save ourselves. Without God’s grace, we are destined to suffer apart from our creator, but through the selfless sacrifice of Christ, we are saved.

Ephesians 1:3-8 – Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.

Through God’s grace, we are forgiven; what a joy this is! However, God has also granted us free will through His love for us. Anything less than free will would put a stipulation on God’s love, which is not possible because God’s love is endless and unconditional. Therefore it is up to us to receive His grace. Have you accepted the greatest gift – the gift of boundless love and forgiveness, the opportunity to spend eternity with Christ in paradise? If not, will you ask Christ to come into your life and forgive you of your sins? Give thanks to God for His grace and boundless love.

Josh

2010-02-07 Structure of Ministry

Many of may have noticed that over the past couple of years I have transformed the structure of the youth program, but you may wonder why. I feel that the time is right that I explain my mission and goals as being the interim director of youth ministry.

I am sure that many of you have thought, “What exactly does Josh do anyway? He has all these other people doing his job.” Looking at my role without being involved in the process, I can understand how thoughts may arise about what exactly I am doing since so many others are doing so many things. Hopefully I can answer some of these questions in this writing.

As Ray mentioned this past Sunday, we are all called to ministry. I want this thought to remain in your thoughts as you read this commentary.

In my ministry to the youth, I provide the direction for the group on the macro level, as well as leading and assisting various programs on the micro level. I orchestrate the scheduling and long-term planning. Fortunately, I am also blessed with great group of youth sponsors that carry out many of the details of the macro plan I lay out. For instance, Kasey has the movie nights and assists with the cooking lessons; Russ leads Sunday School every other week and assists with the trips; Caapi sponsors both the cooking lessons and the trips; Jason leads Sunday School at least once a month; and Sherry and Caapi work together in leading the Son Beamers.

With these sponsors, again, I can see how many may question what it is that I do. Am I present for all these events? No. Should I be? No, I don’t believe so. Not that I’m trying to pawn my work off someone else, I actually believes it strengthen the ministry. The ministry of the youth at our church is not, and should not, be contingent upon my presence. The focus of the ministry must be on spiritual growth of the youth.

Many of us have seen what happens when a minister, youth or senior pastor, leaves a church – the ministry of the church suffers. There is often a big impact to attendance and spiritual growth. This happens, in my opinion, due to members becoming too reliant upon one person for their spiritual growth, which can be very dangerous to those members. With this in mind, I have tried very hard to orchestrate a structure that removes this threat and promotes spiritual growth.

We are all blessed with various different skills. None of us have the exact same skill set. This thought has also been a driver in the structuring and direction I have sought out in this facet of ministry. For instance, as many of you know, I am not strong in providing emotional support and sympathy, but two of my youth sponsors are very strong in those areas. I do, however, exhibit other skills that I can effectively use to reach the youth with, as do all the youth sponsors (and each of you!).

Let me pause here to write in a side note to make sure one other topic is clear. I have no intentions of quitting the position that the church has hired me to do. I do plan to remain the interim youth director until the time in which a senior pastor is called and confirmed, and go from there. If the church congregation, senior pastor, and I decide that I should continue in this role, I will. I enjoy my position at FCC and believe we have done great things over the past couple of years.

With that said, please allow me now to explain the ongoing mission for the ministry of our youth. The programs that have been implemented are strategic in nature, encompassing a balance of fellowship, outreach, discipleship, and ministry centered around worship. It is in my belief that it takes a balance of the items in order to provide growth, both numerically and spiritually. It is also my belief that it requires many leaders to provide adequate opportunities for this growth. One person cannot do it all and be effective. Again, I am so thankful for the sponsors that aid in this ministry.

I often feel guilty about always asking for money so our youth can do this or that, but nonetheless I still make the request. I do so because any guilt associated with asking for more is wiped away by the understanding of what these funds do in our ministry. We are more than a group that just goes and has fun. We are a group that is outreaching, evangelizing and fellowshipping through our Go Somewhere/Do Something trips and Movie Nights. We are ministering and practicing discipleship through Sunday School and our SNY nights. We are fellowshipping, teaching, and discipling through our cooking ministry events. And through all of these activities, and the others that are not listed, we are joining together to worship, learn about, and build a relationship with God.

As I mentioned earlier in this commentary, we are all called to ministry. How are you ministering? Do you feel a call to aid in the ministry of our youth? If so, please contact me. We’d love to plug you in.

Josh

2010-01-24 Hell

How many of you remember the billboard off of I-40 just east of Harrison that read, “Will you go to HELL or the Heaven after you die?” The sign was yellow with bold back letters with the word “Hell” much larger than the rest of the text. It seemed like a controversial sign, at the time anyway. I imagine many took offense to it. And honestly, many people should be slightly offended by it; that is if they do not know how to answer the question. I believe that was the purpose of the sign – make people think as a result of being offended. It was just offensive enough to catch people’s eyes.

Even though I know the answer to that question, I am still offended when somebody tells me to “Go to Hell.” Honestly, I believe that if the person really comprehended what they are directing a person to do, I do not believe they would make that statement. I personally wish for no one to go to Hell; cannot think of a single person in this world that I would impose that upon. Sure, thinking about it, I can come up with some names that might fit criteria for believing they deserve it, but who am I to judge? “Let he without sin cast the first stone”, and that surely isn’t me!

My point is: Hell is eternal damnation. According to The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, damnation is: Condemnation to everlasting punishment; doom; everlasting punishment. I cannot emphasize the “everlasting punishment” part enough. From what I gather from various studies, the punishment in Hell is far beyond human understanding – pain and suffering so great that a human body would be devoured in seconds, if not sooner; torture, darkness, cries, screams, and no communication. No relationship, or knowledge, of God. 2 Thessalonians 1:8-9 states, “He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power…” “Shut out from the presence of the Lord.” That is just scary.

As people that have accepted Christ into our lives as our Lord and Savior, the Son of God, the Incarnate, we are confident that our names will be found in the Book of Life and that we will be spared from eternal damnation. But what about our brothers and sisters that are not? What about those who just play lip service to God, but have not truly accepted Christ? These people are near us each and every day. These people can still be saved. They can still accept Christ into their hearts and ask for forgiveness of sins and learn to live rest assured that on the Day of Judgment their wrongs will be righted and all evil will be terminated. But what about those that do not find Christ? And those that reject God because we have failed to adequately convey the message, what about them? Are we dooming those people to an eternity in separation from God in utter damnation with no chance of salvation? What can you do to prevent this? What can I do to prevent this? What can we do as a body-of-believers in the Son of God do to prevent this?

Josh

2010-01-10 Being Stale

This past Sunday evening, I was going through my office looking for some bowls for the chili and came across some hamburger buns from October (I guess I forgot about them being in there, lol!). To my surprise, they were not moldy in the least, however they were more than a bit stale. Then, later in the evening when I sat down to think about what I wanted to write for my commentary, I ran across a statement saying, “The Bread of Life never becomes stale.” I instantly then thought about the bread in my office in comparison to this statement. How true it is! The bread of this world is only short lived, but the Bread of Life is everlasting.

For instance, Ray mentioned in his last sermon about how he has noticed an uprising in the amount of sports players that are proclaiming their Christian faith through various messages, i.e. Florida University’s Senior QB Tim Tebow and his under-eye tape with scripture on it and the growing amount of players joining in pre and post game prayers. This is what the Living Bread is about! It is about accepting Christ and allowing for God to nourish us through the Holy Spirit. If the Living Bread was more like worldly bread, this uprising, as Ray mentioned, in public Christian faith proclamation would not be happening.

Furthermore, the world bread versus the Living Bread analogy can be used for each of us. What bread are you dependent upon? Which bread are you more like? What about our church family as a whole? Are we alive in Christ or are we stale like hamburger buns from October? Or are we beyond stale, and starting to become moldy?

My hope and prayer is that we fight away the staleness and mold that poisons us. I know the Living Bread is still alive today; let’s try to keep this Bread out of the bread box and in the open for all to see and share.

Josh

2009-12-27 New Year

The year is closed, the record made,

The last deed done, the last word said,

The memory alone remains

Of all its joys, its griefs, its gains,

And now with purpose full and clear,

We turn to meet another year.

Robert Browning (1812–1889)

So begins another year. At this time, we often reflect upon what we did and didn’t do over the past 12 months, while building plans for the coming year. But why is it that we focus so much upon making resolutions at this time of the year, only to often forget or fail to do them? I know I’m not the only one that has failed resolutions – for instance, for the last three New Year’s I’ve been making a resolution to treat myself to going skydiving, but I’m yet to do it. It’s not like this is a far-fetched ambition, it’s just that I continue to not uphold my resolution. Reflecting upon this, what does this say about me? Is it that I am not committal? No, I don’t think that is it. Is it that maybe my new year’s resolution just doesn’t align with my priorities? This is probably more correct.

With that said, I challenge you to think about your resolutions. What is it that you resolve to do over the next 12 months, and how does this align with the priorities in your life? What about your spiritual life? What resolution will you make for God? Furthermore, what other resolutions can you make throughout the upcoming year? Why just wait for January to reflect upon your actions, inactions, dreams and desires?

In my thoughts, I reflect upon how silly some of my resolutions have been. Why is it that I place something out in the future to do? Why don’t I do it now? Besides, only the present exists. The past is gone, and the future is out of reach; we only have now. Shouldn’t my resolutions be for now, maybe for tomorrow, but beyond that it’s out of reach; maybe I should resolve to complete steps that will enable the completion of goal. Maybe that is the whole problem with New Year’s resolutions – the resolution is more of a goal when it should perhaps be the first step to the goal, followed by the second step being the next resolution, etc. Just something to ponder on.

May God bless you and yours in the days, weeks, months, and years to come,

Josh

2010-04-04 Easter

The Lord has risen! The tomb is empty! He who spoke still speaks; he who came still comes; he who lived still lives!

It is hard to imagine exactly what the disciples felt and thought after hearing news that the Lord had risen and is alive. I believe it would have been very easy to be like Thomas and doubt the news, especially after witnessing the excruciating torture and death that Jesus endured. Unlike Thomas, though, who was able to have his doubt cast aside by witnessing the risen Lord, we have to take it on a step of faith.

However, this isn’t blind faith. Studying both the scriptures and history, we can build a firm foundation for our faith. For example, we read that Mary Magdalene ran to the disciples with the news that she has seen the Lord. I take this to be the honest truth, but why? Answer: she is a woman. During this time, if the story would have been made up by the disciples to promote their religious agenda, there is hardly any chance that they would have used a woman to carry such a message. As many of you know, women were not equals, and seldom ever educated. If the story were false about the risen Lord, I am positive the story tellers would have placed a man as the news breaker.

Furthermore, over the years many have tried to claim that the disciples must have taken the body out of the tomb to enhance their agenda. I say that this is not possible. The disciples, I believe, did not understand exactly what Christ meant when he said that he will rise again, so why would they take the body? Besides that, how would they have got the body out with the guards around? Bribe the guards? Possible, but it would have taken a lot because the guards would have had to accept that in exchange for putting their life on the line; I’m not sure the disciples would have had enough money.

One last example – many have stated that the risen Lord was either just a vision or some kind of ghost, but again I disagree. When Christ appeared to the disciples, he allowed Thomas to touch the wounds – you can’t touch a vision! The scriptures tell of Christ eating with the disciples after the resurrection – ghosts can’t eat!

I could go on and on, but the message is clear, Jesus of Nazareth is Lord; he is the King of Kings, and the Savior for Jews and Gentiles alike. He is the Way, the Truth, and the Light. My faith is built on Christ as the Son of God. Everything else is just supporting details.

“If we are faithless, we are Christless and graceless, hopeless and joyless. Thomas was ashamed of his unbelief, and cried out, My Lord and my God. He spoke with affection, as one that took hold of Christ with all his might; “My Lord and my God.” Sound and sincere believers, though slow and weak, shall be graciously accepted of the Lord Jesus. It is the duty of those who read and hear the gospel, to believe, to embrace the doctrine of Christ, and that record concerning him” (Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible).

Josh

2010-04-11 Freewill

It’s official; I am beginning a new career this week. I have accepted a job offer from Piper Valve in OKC to work in design engineering and drafting. For those of you who do not know, I have been employed at ExxonMobil Chemical for nearly seven years, most of my adult life! Therefore, this is a big change for me.

This offer is a quite an opportunity, one that I am very thankful for. I completed all my requirements to earn my bachelor’s degree from SGU this past February, an accomplishment I am proud of; however I cannot take all the credit for the many good fortunes that have been placed in my path. I thank Kasey for her support during these past years and for putting up with me; I give thanks also to both my family and church family for the support each has provided as well; but above all I give thanks to God who has provided for me in countless ways.

In my personal situation, there have been various paths to travel leading to various opportunities, and I attribute this to God’s gift of free will – for God loves me so much, unconditionally, that he allows for me to make my own decisions and as a result of those decisions, he opens avenues. Even when I have made poor choices, I know that God has orchestrated goodness to come.

The point I am trying to make is this: through God’s love for us, he has given us freewill, and without this freewill what would life be? I have had many conversations with people in regards to this topic over the years, especially during trying times in life. The question of why God has allowed bad things to happen has often been brought up to me. My response is simple: freewill. I typically follow that up with a story of my own for illustration purposes. I often reference my education/work journey. Because of the decisions I made, I placed myself into situations that have been very trying, for instance passing on several scholarships after high school in favor of working. I understand now that while I have moaned and groaned about not having an education and not being able to get the job I want, it was my decision and solely a reaction to the actions and choices I made. It’s not God’s fault, or anyone else’s, it is mine. However, even with my foolish mistakes, God has provided opportunities for me. He has allowed me to experience many things that I otherwise would not have been able to experience; continuing with my example: traveling across the US in my early twenties; learning to balance work, school, and family; meet and learn about the “real world” work environments, etc.

My testimony is this: God will provide, but he will not dictate. I believe that no matter the choice we make, God looks at our situation and says, “I can work with this.” It is not God that makes these bad things happen, rather it is the flesh. The flesh is of the world and therefore doesn’t always know or want what God wants for us, but through God’s love, he allows us to carry on with our own path, yet he never leaves us.

What about you and your choices? Are you blaming God for something? Are you holding a grudge with the Almighty for a turn of events that ended unfavorably? If so, I hope and pray that you remove these hurt feelings towards God and open your eyes to opportunities he has laid before you. God will provide for you if you allow him to, but he will not dictate your every move. You have been blessed through God’s love with freewill, how are you using it?

Josh