Outa here…

“And He said to them,”Come away by yourselves to a secluded place and rest a while.”  (For there were many people coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat.)”  Mark 6:31

Dad’s ministry (Maranatha Ministries Unlimited) is having their Annual Conference in Kitty Hawk, NC. this weekend.  I am looking forward to taking a few days away with my family.  It’s nice to go somewhere every once in a while and not have any demands placed on you.  Simply put, “a time of rest.” 

If you do not act intentionally about you rest, you won’t get any.  It is so easy to get wrapped up in what looks needful in the lives of other, especially if your heart is to truly serve.  Jesus said He did not come to be served, but rather to serve.  However, He knew when to take a break.  He knew how to rest.  Jesus was always in demand by people and their needs;  and in Mark 6:31 He encounters a situation that weighed heavy on both Him and His disciples.  In the midst of many people coming and going they didn’t even have time to feed themselves.  I can get so busy that I neglect my own need for nourishment, both physically and spiritually.  Jesus said, “Come away…” 

Are you living a balanced life?  Are you aware of your own needs as well as the needs of other around you?  God has given each of us the same amount of time to do what He has planned for our lives.  Our job is to walk closely to Him and hear Him when it comes to our “TO DO list.”  If we don’t have enought time then there is something out of order in our life.  Ask Him what is out of order or that should not be on your plate.  Trust Him enough to obey what He says.  If we will give our schedules over to Him we will find the time we need and we will hear Him when He says, “Come away…”

I’m Excited, Halloween Is Here…

I was watching Regis and Kelly yesterday and was briefly surprised by a comment that Kelly Rippa made.  The theme of the day was obviously about Halloween.  Kelly was asked by the co-host of the morning, Jimmy Kimmell, if Halloween was a big deal around her house.  She said that Halloween was a bigger holiday than Christmas in her home. Does this give you an idea where the world is headed? 

 

Many of us that grew up in the church were taught to be separate from the world.  Some have taken that to mean inoculate yourself  from the world, crawl into your Christian closet.  Is this really what God means?  This sounds more like fear that we will be tainted by the world.  Should this really be our fear?  If Kelly’s admission is any indication of our worldly direction and we are actually supposed to keep putting distance between us and the world then we will be backing ourselves into an ever decreasing corner.

 

The description of believers in scripture is one of faith and boldness.  We are to rule, increase and fill the earth.  This cannot be accomplished by running away from the world.

 

Jesus was accused by religious leaders as being worldly because of His association with sinners and being found in places where sinners were.  Jesus seemed to run into the world not away from it. So what do we separate ourselves from and what do we run after?

 

We are to be in this world but not of it.  When we are born again, we are no longer of this world.  We are now born from above.  We most definitely are not of this world.  So, now what does the scriptures tell us to do?

 

“For God, who said, “Light shall shine out of darkness,” is the One who has shone in our hearts to give

the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.”   2 Corinthians 4:6

“In him was life, and the life was the light of men.  The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”   John 1:4-5

 

 If I want to enter into a dark room, I turn the light on and the more light for me, the better.  My understanding is that my father owns all the rooms.  You cannot eliminate darkness without light.  Bring the light, dispel darkness.  So, bring it!  We cannot be of the world.  It would be contrary to our true nature to participate in deeds of darkness, but it is our command to storm into the darkness and bring the light – to rescue those in darkness by showing them the way. 

So, I’m excited it’s Halloween.  What an opportunity to bring the light into dark places and help those who are held by its power to find their way.

To Boldly Go Where…

I am a huge Star Trek fan.  Not the crazy go to convention kind, but I have love watching it on TV since I was a kid.  Yes, I own all the original Theatrical Releases and all the Star Trek - TNG episodes (all 7 seasons).  Something about the adventure of boldly going where no one had gone before fascinated and excited me.  There is an adventurer in all of us.  The question is whether we will take the risk and boldly go.  But what is the risk if we don’t?

This makes me think of Jesus words in Matthew 28:18-20, “All Authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth.  Go therefore and make disciples of all nations…“.  Can you imagine what these guys were thinking as Jesus gave them this command.   They could have seen this as an impossible task or an incredible adventure.  As we read the book of Acts we get a glimpse of this great adventure and certainly into places no one had gone before.

As I think about ministry today I am so grateful that God chosen me for the time I live in.  I believe I feel the same excitement that the disciples must have felt as they began to embark on their journey to”Boldly go…”  I know they never dreamed that to mean across the Internet into the remote parts of the earth.  It’s an exciting feeling to embark on a new adventure to share the Gospel through this Blog around the globe - hopefully.  I hope that more than my wife reads it. 

Anyway, I hope you are comforted, encouraged, challenged, and yes even convicted by the thoughts I share here.  Come back often and share it with someone you might think would benefit from what I write.  So here it goes, my first blog into the uttermost parts of the world…