A Long Absence

Sorry for the long absence. I am teaching a summer class which means I have to lecture every day. It is quite demanding since it is an upper-level class. I'm hanging in there though. Just a few more days. I'm still reading blogs. I just don't have as much time to write my own. These are the time when I have to remember that God is first and everything else follows.

Jude Chapter 1: Be Weary of False Teachings

I started reading the book of Jude today. I only read the first chapter. The main thing that I was reminded of was to be aware of false teachers. False teachers are everywhere. They lead us to sin and destruction. This is a good example of what false teachers do. They look out only for themselves and distort Biblical teachings to do so. The Bible is clear, in order to reject false teachings, one needs to grow in the knowledge of Christ. This lead me to this question:

How do I know that my beliefs are the right beliefs? I am not talking about things like the fact that Jesus was the son of God. He was crucified for our sins and rose from the dead three days later. I KNOW those things are true. But what about other church doctrines? For instance, I have seen arguments that evangelicalism was a command to the disciples, not us. I believe this to be incorrect, but am I sure I am right? Many baptists frown on women in any leadership role in the church. I'm a little more liberal on this issue, but how do I know I am right? Look at the several different denominations. They all have something that separates them from the others. How do they know their "way" is better than the others?

I don't think it is wrong to question my beliefs. As a matter of fact, I think it can only make them stronger.

How do you know that what you believe is right?

Proverb of the Day: Proverbs 9:11
"Wisdom will multiply your days and add years to your life."

It's Independence Day!

Happy Independence Day!

Take a few moments and do something few Americans have actually done; read your Declaration of Independence! It will be amazing what you will learn about the country by reading the documents produced by her Founders.

Below is a video of one of my all time favorite songs. I just can't help by think about how blessed we are to be Americans and the suffering many have gone through so that we can have the quality of life we do.




The closing words of the Declaration of Independence:
"And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor."

God and Vanilla Dr. Pepper

So today I was enjoying a healthy lunch at Sonic. Now, I love Sonic. I can sit in my truck, listen to the radio, and eat all at the same time. Not to mention, their drinks are fantabulous. I placed my order and in no time the carhop was at my window delivering tasty goodness. This carhop, however, was different. When we finished our transaction he said "Have a blessed day." As he skated off I got a glimpse of his name tag. It said "Choose Life."

I thought this was rather interesting. Based only on these two things, I think I could argue that this young man was a man of faith. I could be wrong, but that isn't really the point of the post. We could argue as to whether or not abortion is or is not allowed by God or if a name tag is the appropriate place to espouse your views. We can even argue if work is the appropriate place to overtly share your faith. Again, these question are not at the heart of this post. My interest is more of in "what if?"

What if every follower of Christ shared this young man's desire to spread the Word? What if all Christians had a name tag that said, "Spend Time with God" or "God Gives Me Joy" et cetera? What if all Christians ended their conversations with people with a "Have a Blessed Day"?

Now, I'm sure there are people out there who are thinking such actions might be a little jingo-istic. Perhaps they are, but I would have never known that young man was a believer had he never said what he said or had his name tag arranged like he did. I would have never written this post. You would have never read it. Some random person coming across this blog may not have had their life changed because of it.

We should exude a way of living that makes people wonder "what does he/she have that I don't?" We should be bold about our faith. As I wrote in the previous post, there is no perfect time to spread the Gospel. All the time is the time to spread the Gospel.

This young man, who probably hasn't even graduated high school yet, was putting it all on the line for God. Some day, someone will complain to management about his "Godliness" and how they don't like it being forced upon them (it wasn't forced, it was just obviously there), but this young man didn't care. He was out to do things for God.

What have you done for God lately?