I am a dorky Christian, husband to my beautiful wife & best friend and father of three amazing children. In my spare time, I like to play guitar and coach little kids' baseball.
I use this website to log my random thoughts (which doesn't seem to be that frequent).
I am a designer, developer and web analyst for my company, Visual Notion.
Contact me if you need something.
I just read the article, 'Rob Bell says he has no regrets over Love Wins'
I noticed how Rob Bell twists, "universalizes" and generalizes specific, absolutely-defined terms to say what better fits his personal, unbiblical theology. Making well-defined and established words to have vague all-encompassing definitions just shows you can't sidestep what you don't like so you have to redefine it.
It has always bugged me that the verse in Matthew 7:1 is often misquoted by people. Here's what it says: 1“Do not judge, or you too will be judged."
Then they conveniently ignore or purposefully leave out the context of verse one by leaving out verses 2-5 as they provide more insight and practicality:
I've been meditating more on God's announcements of His Son to the world based in Luke 2:8-20. How awesome it must have been for the dirty, smelly, low rungs on the social ladder that were known as shepherds. They were rough around the edges, but they had to be. They worked long nights guarding sheep from predators and making sure the property entrusted to them stayed together. It certainly wasn't a glamorous life and most in society didn't think too highly of them.
Had God picked our time to announce the birth of Christ I believe He would have done so at a truck stop. I don't have anything against truck drivers, at all. Its just that the nature of their business is more in line with the shepherds. They are tough, hard-working, and work long hours to protect and deliver the cargo they are tasked with carrying. Nobody in society really thanks them for their work despite how most benefit from it. We just don't think about it, really.
At the nearby truck stop, there were truckers checking their cargo and filling up their trucks. Suddenly, the sound of hydraulics and trailers was silenced by the appearance of an angel of the Lord that was hovering over the parking lot. It was surrounded by a light brighter than they had ever seen. These strong, tough men, were paralyzed with complete shock and terror at the sight. And the angel said, "Don't be afraid, for I am bringing you incredible news and joy that is meant for everyone. Born this very day inside the city, is the Christ, the Savior of all men. You will know it is the Christ when you find the baby wrapped in some ragged t-shirts and lying in cardboard box in a garage behind the hotel."
Just as they were soaking this in and getting more comfortable with this being, the parking lot was lit up with a choir of angels praising God and saying: "Glory to God who is above all and peace on earth with those that please Him!"
Then the angels left just as abruptly as they had appeared. The truckers started talking about what the angel had said. "We have to go see this baby that God has announced to us!" Immediately, they left and they found him, with his mother Mary and Joseph. They were all in the garage just as the angel had said.
When they saw this sight, they knew the Christ had come! They piled in their trucks and, with horns blaring and jake brakes grinding, they made as much noise as they could to get the attention of anyone they could find. They told all who would listen about what they had seen. All who heard them wondering about the things these truckers had told them, "Could the Christ be here now?". The baby's mother, Mary, was amazed and treasured all of these things in her heart and wondered what God would do next. And the truckers returned and let loose hoots and hollers, until they had no energy left, praising God for all they had experienced that night, just as they had been told.
I believe that Jesus Christ was born in humble circumstances that those of us in similarly low points in life and status would understand that He truly came to save ALL who would call on His name. God didn't choose the equivalent of our pastors, deacons, theologians and politicians to receive the first invitations of this wonderful announcement. He chose the common person that was despised by the church's high society and ignored by the rest.
God still chooses those in lowly and humbled circumstances to announce His great news. How did He make it known to you? Will you make it known to others no matter their social or economic status in life?
Ask God to help you obtain that same level of excitement that the shepherds had. It truly is incredible news!
I gave the "Breakfast is the most important meal of the day" speech to our oldest children this morning when they wanted to pick at their breakfast instead of eat it. (It's frosted mini shredded wheat. What's not to like?)
My proud speech: "Do you know what the most important meal of the day is? Breakfast. You need it to get you going in the morning and help you make it through the day. It will give you energy to run, play, and think. It is very important."
My wife and I got the kids ready and I dropped them off for school as is our priority most mornings. I knew I needed to read my Bible this morning and spend some time with God. In that still quiet voice that he used with Elijah on the mountain, He kept reminding me: "Spend some time with me."
Studying Jesus' words on hell and the parable of The Rich Man & Lazarus (the begger) has always been very telling about what hell is like. I've always found this parable to be fascinating especially as God showed me, over time, new things about this parable I hadn't noticed before.