I know it has been a while since I have blogged, and have been thinking about this for a long time. You see I do not blog just to blog, or just sit here and think, people need to hear what I have to say so I better type something today. Blogging helps me get what is going on in my life out there, and lets me type through what God is telling me. A way to purposefully think through what God is doing, and remember it so to say!! Potentially could this have an effect on someones life…maybe, but can only happen if I am honest and vulnerable, and listen intently to what God is saying! So here we go on a month of blogging to get back at it, and see where it goes from here! … I will post at least 3 times during the week to start and hope to do daily blogs…. Here we go!

The past year and half has been a whirlwind so to say, things going on in life that are unexpected, a layoff from a position that I thought was God’s calling on my vocational life to find out that it was just for a season (not saying that about the layoff, just clarity that God has me where He wants me), relationships that have been kind of ripped away so to say (missing the teens) , Personal struggles (sometimes not feeling good enough, anger towards people, sometimes including God, having a I do not care attitude), and not giving God the totality of my life. You see it is because of these things that have happened that I have taken some HITS to the gut, and BLOWS to the face, and KO’s to my personality, and would go as far as to say my being….all caused by a round 1 of doubt that crept in when I felt someone tell me I was not good enough (was it that person telling me or just my thoughts to the matter…I am guessing the second one.) and flat out …the thing I was not doing was punching back….with each blow, I would turn my head and give them another cheek….heck you would think I would have 20 cheeks instead of 4 (you have to know me to get the 4 joke). This crap knocked the living tar out of me, to the point of where I am still battling my way back off my knees, but hear me say this….I AM GETTING THE CRAP BACK UP…and CANNOT WAIT TO WALK WITH GOD this year. Cannot wait to see what he does through the fam, in the fam, and just in me personally by saying…. GOD…. I know what I am worth to you…. I do not care what life throws at me…. in you I will always win, apart from you….I AM NOTHING!

Watch this clip from the ROCKY BALBOA movie!

So where are you…be honest, lets start a discussion of WHAT GOD is telling us we are, vs. what we are hearing from others….Let’s throw out there things people have been telling us, and enable this place to be a complete place of lifting each other up….kinda working the cuts and swellings down so to say, and begin the healing process! I pray that you will keep moving forward, and that it will not take until the 8th or 12th round for you to figure out who God has intended you to be!!

Proverbs 24:16 states (MSG) No matter how many times you trip them up, God-loyal people don’t stay down long; Soon they’re up on their feet, while the wicked end up flat on their faces.

You see you are gonna get knocked down and tripped up…TAKE THE HITS….but do not stay down long!

Start the discussion!!

So even though I am out of the youth ministry loop so to say, I still check up on two of the most talented, creative, and stinkin hilarious individuals involved with youth ministry, the Skit Guys (@skitguye and @skitguyt )  I have seen them at numerous conventions and at some point in time, I really want to have a “night with the Skit Guys” in Lima, Oh.   So if you read this Tommy and Eddie…come on up and join us! (http://www.willrock4food.com to contact us)

Besides that shameless plug, you all know that I am a huge buckeye fan, a huge sports fan in general…in fact at some point in time I traveled acrossed the country to go pay homage to this team at the Rose Bowl this year.  Sometimes I think it is pothetic but yet I still do it.  You see I spend my Saturdays on the couch or in “the Shoe” watching the Buckeyes, and I spend my Sundays on the couch or at Beer Barrel if it is on NFL Network (thanks Time Warner) watching the Browns.  I could use the excuse, I get it honest  ( http://www.1photoperday.com/family/pick-a-hat/ ) …my dad is the biggest Browns fan alive, even bigger than the BIG DAWG.  But when is it enough, at what lengths do we go to to serve our “Real God!”  Watch this video, and then we will discuss!

When you saw the first bit…you were like, ok funny, I see this on National Geographic or some other channel and in fact it makes me laugh when I see the sticks through their nose, or the amount of jewelry or paint that they wear. This being said, I have made Buckeye necklaces after picking them up in the woods. I even have shoes that were custom made in China ( http://www.nikeid.com ) with the name Beantown Bucknut on the back of them…hideous I know! I have two drawers of Buckeye Shirts and other gear! I will still root them on, but with less of a priority!

So now that you get the drift, how excited do you get about Church, how excited do you get about the Word, about what God is doing in your life! Do you plan the days ahead on what you are going to be reading, or where you will be going to church, or how engulfed you want to be that someone better not knock on the door and interrupt your time with God! Or will we keep going on in a passion that is no different than “building the golden calf.” We are placing “our team before our GOD!”

Enjoy Opening Day and the National Championship tonight!
Tug
(still a Buckeye Fan, just not a worshiper)

How do you picture Jesus…seriously…what does He look like to you, who is He to you…How do you represent Him to others, do you actually represent Him or counterfeit Him.  I am realizing who He is to me, and pray that this blog may encourage you today, that during this “Holy Week”  He is soooo different to sooooo many, but yet the same to all of us as well!  Please feel free to comment!

Before you read on….as I normally do…please watch and listen to this music video (it is not an official video but is the real song)

So yesterday I went to church with the wife….and honestly on the way there I asked God one thing….PLEASE KICK MY BUTT TODAY?  It seems that of late I am wanting to be so effective in my faith, but yet am not knowing which way I need to step it up! I am busy, but that is it!  I am being used by God, and have alot of things in the works, but yet really wanting to desire God soooo much, that I am really refocusing who I am , and not wanting to be labeled for what I do at all and really do not care what anyone thinks of what I do.  I am really wanting what God does through what He gives me to succeed but do not want any of the credit so to say!  Anyways….I walk into church and the message that was given by Pastor Daniel yesterday was what God wanted me to hear!

the title was- Who do you say I am? (taken from Mark 8:29)

in Mark 8:29 Jesus says  “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” Peter answered, “You are the Christ.”

This was great and all but when it really started to hit home is when Pastor Daniel started telling us who Jesus was to him…I really could feel the Holy Spirit’s presence and in that moment I knew that God was say….hey Tug…who do you say that I am!  I looked at my life….and said I need to write this out…I need to think on this and really choose who JESUS is to me!  Who He is when no one is around, and just flat out decide if I want to be known by being a fun loving laid back guy, or known because of the God that I serve!  So here is who Jesus is to me!  I will do my best to make this known every day by my actions and love for you!  Yes even you, who really do not agree with me!

So here we go… MY JESUS

• is my Savior (who came down from His place on high, stepped into the gates of hell and bore my sin…that is a crap load by itself and he had to carry the rest of the worlds too!)
• is my Father- disciplines when needed, loves when needed, cares when needed, and always calls me his son- no matter how i have wronged him!
• is so giving- I have the best wife and children and family in the world…He has soooooooo blessed me, and it has taken me 10 years to figure this out!
• is my Acceptance (for so many times I battled with living for you(people), that only because of Him I am accepted and do not need your acceptance…but I do value it)
• Loves the “Hell” right out of people- is not afraid to walk into a bar, a different church no matter what denomination, and love on people and that right there is what draws them to Him! His love and pursuit of people…in which I believe is what draws me to Him as well!
• is THERE- wherever I go, no matter when or if you are not there….HE IS!
• is SOOOOOO FORGIVING-  He chooses me, in spite of me, and yet I screw up so many times that I wonder why He continues to forgive, then I look at the cross and see why!
• is Jealous-  I focus on so many things that he is constantly reminding me to live for Him….HE wants my time, my love, my family, and wants me to enjoy life, but give Him the glory…that He is sooooo deserving!
• is my Hope- When I get down, or even when I am up….HE IS MY HOPE….or at least is supposed to be..alot of times I get wrapped into thinking that the Hope is in this world…when in all honesty as Daniel put it yesterday…the world guarantees you one thing…problems!
• is Patient-I look at my life and He knows my heart, He has too…cause deep down I want to love Him sooooo much, but alot of times outwardly it is not apparent, and needs to be!
• Loves Rock Music and CCM music and maybe even U2…lol- in the past 7 years whether you like it or not, has started the ministry called WillRock4Food and has done things through it that only He can do
• Is my peace- my life has been a wreck, in the last year, I have been laid off, lost students, still dealing with the loss of my Grandma, personal struggles and ministry struggles, fighting with God, and others and finally realize…HE IS MY PEACE! in the midst of problems, I do not worry because He is in control!
• is My ambition- Alot of people look at what I do as being prideful sometimes, and if you would get to know me, you would know at the core of me, is to do whatever it takes to get the tasks done that Jesus has given me!  I come acrossed pushy sometimes, but I believe that God has entrusted me to exalt Him with my responsibilities and if I am not busting my rear to do these responsibilities well, than who am I doing them for…Jesus did not go to the cross HALF WAY!
• is always moving- I do not think that He sits in one place and just waits on things to happen…I believe He is always on the move in and around us and wants us to constantly be moving to learn more and love more for Him!
• is my Provider- I can honestly say, that I do not know how it happens and that is the way He loves it…Got laid off, and did not miss a check, but more than that, I never questioned that but yet was wondering where I was going to be…
• is moving from being lord of my life to LORD OF MY LIFE- I have not been great at Him being everything to me, and am moving to allowing Him to be LORD over all!
• is suprising-  if you asked me last year where I would be at this time…I would not have told you…where I am at today…I would have said…a youth pastor of this church (do not know which one)  but now this is where He has me…National Sales Director for Radius Gateway ( http://www.radiusgateway.com ), Exec. Director of Will Rock 4 Food ( http://www.willrock4food.com ), and newly hired coordinator of THE STICKS ( http://www.thesticks.tv ) I am sooooooo stoked about the last thing (the Sticks) in which it is not something that I even saw coming and God spoke to the team and they called….GOD JUST FLOORS ME!
• Humbling-  I so am just happy to be His…
• is my teacher
• is my friend
• is my butt kicker
• shows me how to be a better dad and husband and son and friend
• has taught me that I love you….no matter what you have ever done to me…seriously!
• needs me to LOVE HIM MORE!
• looks past the Shell to see the inside!

I am not putting this out there for you to read…but merely for me to hold myself accountable!  I realize of late that what you speak, comes from your heart, and if others hear your heart, than you know that is what was needed to be shared!  I am a work in progress…a mess at the least, but yet God finds in me something and wants me to know His Son…and to know that I am His!!

If you need to discuss anything….feel free to call me at 419-236-3107 , I am not the most theologically deep person in the world….BUT I BELIEVE I LOVE AND CARE WITH THE BEST OF THEM!!

-Unworthy But His!
Tug

So I was clued into this video by a fellow employee at work, in which I truly respect this guy.  He cannot stand Christians that are hypocrites, and so many times, there are so many of them!  You see How many times have you had something wrong happen in your life?  You have lost your job, your relationship with your girlfriend or your boyfriend, even your wife or husband has left you, or someone has said a bunch of crap about you and you are left standing in it.  I have to admit when I was younger I often prayed like that, that God would show them where they were wrong, that He would tell them about their mistakes and whatever it takes God that they would finally get what has happened.  This video hits it on the head, although I have to admit when I watched it for the first time, I cracked up laughing, but then it sank in…..how do I pray when my life has fallen apart?  Do you pray like this guy??? (watch the video and then read the rest of the blog)

Now I am sure that you laughed at that video and found it somewhat humorous….but think about it…the words that we pray…COME FROM OUR HEART!!

I sat in a bible study last night with Pastor Daniel and a group of guys that I have never really met (except a couple) and at first I thought, what have I came into…and Jesus was soooooo there, teaching me again, not to be a hypocrite but to love with the utmost of my being!  To pray for people for real…no matter what they say, do or how they treat me….look at how they treated my Savior!  In Matthew 15 Jesus was questioned by the Pharisees, on why the disciples do not wash their hands before they eat, and Jesus after responding to them and asking them about their lame traditions (religion so to say) had this conversation with the disciples and those gathered.

Matthew 15

^10-11He then called the crowd together and said, “Listen, and take this to heart. It’s not what you swallow that pollutes your life, but what you vomit up.”¹²Later his disciples came and told him, “Did you know how upset the Pharisees were when they heard what you said?”^13-14Jesus shrugged it off. “Every tree that wasn’t planted by my Father in heaven will be pulled up by its roots. Forget them. They are blind men leading blind men. When a blind man leads a blind man, they both end up in the ditch.”¹⁵Peter said, “I don’t get it. Put it in plain language.”^16-20Jesus replied, “You, too? Are you being willfully stupid? Don’t you know that anything that is swallowed works its way through the intestines and is finally defecated? But what comes out of the mouth gets its start in the heart. It’s from the heart that we vomit up evil arguments, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, lies, and cussing. That’s what pollutes. Eating or not eating certain foods, washing or not washing your hands—that’s neither here nor there.”

There it is…what you speak out to God is obviously in your heart, so if you are praying for the harm of others….including our President…maybe it is time Jesus walked by ya slapped ya upside the cranium and said, are you being willfully stupid!

So many times people have came against the ministry of WillRock4Food,claiming that the music is not Christian…..and these guys are Christians, or Religious so to say……My love does not change for them, but I pray that we all some day will be on one Accord (not a Honda) and be able to break down the denominational barriers, and realize that the same Jesus is Lord over everyone!

So lets Rock the Cross, and take it to the world….speak truth to all who you come into contact with, and pray for them….FOR REAL!!

So last year Morgan’s (my 8 yr old daughter) guidance counselor Mr. Christoff asked me to do an assembly on friendship….and as any dad would say (or at least I hope) given the opportunity to spend the day at your child’s school, having your child as your assistant…of course I said yes, not knowing what I was getting into.  I thought this would be easy, then he told me…6 assemblies, 100 kids at a time, 40 minutes each assembly, and you need to keep their attention.  This had me nervous, and I am not like that…I wanted to do God justice first and foremost, but then at the second thought it was my daughters school and she has to walk in there everyday, and if I suck at this….CRAP!!!  Well needless to say, the assemblies went well, according to the principal and I had a blast doing it, although I woke up 5 times in the middle of the night wondering how to keep the attention of k-2nd grade children and influence them about friendship!  (it was sooooooooooooooooo neat to see how Morgan worked with me and how she actually ran the powerpoint without having to tell her to go to the next slide…I mean I have even had to do that with adult youth volunteers! WE HAD A BLAST)

But that is not what got me…..this is what hit me close to the heart!

I was introduced to this boy….he seemed really quiet but then he opened up and talked to me a bit about soccer.  You see this kid never attended any of the assemblies, because they were in the cafeteria!  When I was introduced to him, this is what was said…Tug, I want you to meet this boy (forget his name) he is from Haiti, and he has a lunch date today…someone eats with him everyday, but not in the cafeteria….he will not step foot in there, because he was in a cafeteria in Haiti when the earthquake hit! WOW!!!!  I immediately thought adoption, immediately thought what can I do for this or any other kid…but then realized having three children is like having a blender with the lid off….I realized a 4th would definately not be in the mix.  But it did not stop there, I could not stop thinking about this….. HE WOULD NOT STEP FOOT INTO SOMETHING THAT HAS SHAKEN HIM UP SOOOOOO BADLY….so here are the thoughts that God gave me on this, and I would love for you to respond with comments or thoughts.

1.  When dealing with fear of anything what is your cafeteria, what is it that you need to overcome by stepping or jumping to a place that you are so afraid of going!  Is God calling you to something that requires you to step out!

2.  Could this Cafeteria in your life represent your struggles or a sin that you have been dealing with for so long, that you need to your “eating spot”  the place that is costing you so much trouble and so much addiction, and you need to run from that?

I have not been able to get this out of my mind….so I thought I would share it!!

By the way I have taken a huge step in life…I let go of something that I was holding onto for the longest time and God has moved…details in next blog!

Again, we will get to the point in a bit! From my readings of Crazy Love (anything in italics is straight from the book)

I have to admit, this morning I came in to work early to make sure that I get a few things done, but another reason I like getting to work early, is the fact that my office is quiet before 9, with usually only Mark (my brother from another mother) Aaron (accountant who is a great guy and fellow believer) , Kristy (our Shipping and Receiving backbone, and fellow believer) and Bob (someone, who I have the utmost respect for, and have grown to understand).  This morning was no different, except the fact that  I find myself fighting back tears, not that anything has happened to me , or that I am completely out of line, but simply I read a question that was posed by John Piper but can be found in the book Crazy Love on page 100…Here it is!

The critical question for our generation- and every generation-is this:   If you could have heaven, with no sickness, and with all the friends you ever had on earth, and all the food you ever liked, and all the leisure activities you ever enjoyed, and all the natural beauties you ever saw, all the physical pleasures you ever tasted and no human conflict or any natural disasters, could you be satisfied, if Christ was not there?

I asked myself this question this morning and almost began crying…I am getting it, I am really getting it.  I have been fighting this for so long and truly wondering what is enough for Christ, not out of guilt, not out of fear, or anything, but what in totality does Christ want from me.  This question put it all in perspective…If I get to see Grandma again, if I can enjoy my kids and wife when in heaven, La Charreada, Will Rock 4 Food, Mom and Dad and my Brother Gabe’s fam, and other family, the Buckeyes, Racquetball, the elliptical, and yes the Cleveland Browns, If I had all of these earthly things in heaven, would I be satisfied with being in heaven with these if Christ was not there…..HOLY FREAKIN CRAP, that is a wake up call if I have ever seen one.  I mean think about it, does alot of your thought of Heaven focus on the fact of who you are going to meet when you get there, or the fact that you get to spend the rest of eternity in the presence of Christ. I must answer that I do the same…and that is not cool, but still ok!  I do not think, It is going to be the thing that I have longed for, for my whole life, to die and be in the presence of God for eternity and think that is enough. But my eyes are open, and I see that the true importance of this life is not the complete result in the end, although do not get me wrong, I believe that I am the biggest fan of getting to spend the rest of my life in heaven, but the biggest thing is the way that I am running to God on this earth right now!

The fact is that I need God to help me love God. And if I need His help to love Him, I definitely need His help to love other, fault filled human beings.  I mean think about it, we cannot love God well without God, we would lose or focus. So the major thing that we need to think about is the fact that we need God to step in and show us exactly how to love Him, ourself and others and the only way to love others well, is to run straight to loving God, if we do this with all that we are, and we run to him because He is our refuge, instead of guilt, if we run to him, I mean with a laser focus…then watch what He does with our lives.  The fact is that we run towards Him, while carrying other things with us….I mean have you ever tried  to run while eating a box of twinkies, besides being self-defeating and sideache inducing, it would also be near impossible–you would have to stop running, in order to eat the twinkies. In the same way, you have to stop loving and pursuing Christ in order to sin! When you are running toward Christ, and pursuing love, you do not have the time to wonder, Am I doing this right, or did I serve enough this week!

So this is it, Is Christ enough to run after with just Himself being the result of why I am loving so much, or am I loving out of selfish guilt driven ambition!  My prayer today has been that I will take whatever that has been placed in front of God, even though He knows what my heart wants, will be put in a secondary role, and Him be my main reason for loving Him and people, the way that I do.  I challenge you to join me in this prayer.  Please leave a comment if you are not going to “Run with Twinkies” any longer.

Jesus, I need to give myself up, I am not strong enough to love YOU and walk with YOU on my own.  I can’t do it, and I need YOU.  I need YOU deeply and desperately.  I believe YOU are worth it,that YOU are better than anything else I could have in this life or the next.  I want YOU! And when I think I don’t, I want to want YOU.  Be all in me. Take all of me. Have your way with me! Amen

BE GREAT TODAY GUYS!! THINK OF WHO LOVES YOU!

In light of Thanksgiving I have chosen to blog on Chapter 5 of Crazy Love, by Francis Chan.

For many years of my life, especially my high school years and those shortly after, I served God the leftovers and felt no shame, I took my eyes off of scripture and compared myself to others. The bones that I threw to God had more meat on them than the ones others threw on them, so I thought that I was doing Good.  I wonder if that is how Cain felt when He served up the offering for God that He did not accept.  Or maybe it was because I was satisfied with just doing what I thought was just enough to suffice God, you know kind of like the dog that you have in a kennel outside and jumps up and down until you give Him a bone, and then he will stop barking for  a short period of time.  In Hosea 13:6 says “When I fed them , they were satisfied, when they were satisfied they became proud, then they forgot me.”  I would go to the random prayer group in the morning, hold hands and close my eyes and think about practice after school, or I would go to TFC, and give Him the token singing of a song, or listening to the lesson and responding to some questions….or even church, where I would be every Sunday, enjoying it nonetheless, but it was just another day…and another time for me to give God the leftovers of my life, when I think He left all of the meat on His Son and sent Him to the cross to die for me? Am I right on that, did He send a third of his son, did He cut off his finger and save the world? Because honestly he could have decided that, that would be enough for us!

Nah, that is not our GOD, He does everything for us knowing what it is going to take for wretched souls to see His grace, and ugly, sinful, creations that He made, who just play the game….or are we even in the game?!?  Take this scripture for example, when you read this, is He talking to the saved or the unsaved?

Revelations 3:15-18 “I know that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were even one ore the other! So because you are lukewarm–neither hot nor cold–I am about to spit you out of my mouth. You say I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.  But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold, refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes so you can see”

(page 84-85, Crazy Love ) When you read this passage, do you naturally conclude that to be “spit” our of Jesus’ mouth means you are a part of His kingdom?  When you read the words poor, wretched, pitiful, blind and naked, do you think that He’s describing saints? When He counsels them to  buy white clothes to cover their shameful nakedness, does it sound like advice for those already saved….I thought that those who were already saved were already made white, and clothed by Christ’s blood?

Wow….I have never actually thought of this, is there ever really a luke-warm Christian…or has that person really experienced the grace that God has intended for us to have.  I mean if I am looking at this scripture and looking at all of the times that we serve up our token praise (now I am not saying that there are not times when we have lukewarm tendencies, but quickly turn back) or we just step in church to stay with the jones’s.  The fact that in scripture right above it says that Jesus wants all or nothing is enough to say, HEY MAN, for thanksgiving do not even serve me any turkey, and mashed potatoes…give me nothing, why would I want it anyway, if it something that you really have not grasped.  Do we sugarcoat crap, to only realize that it is still crap when we get to the bottom of it?  Do we send mixed messages from the pulpits of our churches that our mediocre lives are just ok, that you can just come here, and life will be great during the week, are we that have been pastors even more responsible for sharing a mediocre message of God’s love and not the maincourse.  WE FLAT OUT, need to quit giving God the leftovers, and need to offer Him everything that we have in our kitchen, and anything else we can come up with.

So your family is coming over in less than 48 hours and you have one agenda, getting their meal ready so that when they get done eating, they loved what you gave them….it filled them up, and honestly they cannot wait till you serve it up again!

Some of you that are reading this may be like, Tug, you are taking this all wrong…..Tug, this is not what was intended by this scripture, and to that I say, that we can find any quote on anything that can back every view up…but the point that I am trying to make here is the only point that we need to get!  GOD WANTS ALL OF US, not the leftover…..last but not least an excerpt from page 86 in Crazy Love

Let’s face it We’re willing to make changes in our lives only if we think it affects our Salvation.  This is why so many people ask questions like, Can I divorce my wife and still go to heaven? Do I have to be baptized to be saved? Am I a Christian even though I am having sex with my girlfriend?  If I commit suicide can I still go to heaven?  If I am ashamed about Christ, is He really gonna deny knowing me?  To me, these questions are tragic, because they reveal much about the state of our hearts. They demonstrate that our concern is more about going to heaven than loving the King!! In John 14:15, Jesus says “If you love me, you will obey what I command!”  And one question becomes even more unthinkable!  Can I go to heaven without truly and faithfully loving Jesus? I DO NOT SEE ANYWHERE IN SCRIPTURE HOW THE ANSWER TO THAT QUESTION COULD BE YES!

If we claim we know God, and feed Him leftovers, is He really in us???  You may say you know Him, but is He the LORD of you life that He wants to be?

Answer these honestly..(page 97 Crazy Love)

Are you willing to say to God that He can have whatever He wants?  Do you believe that wholehearted commitment to Him is more important than any other thing or person in your life?  Do you know that nothing you do in this life will ever matter, unless it is about loving God, and loving the people that He has made?

After answering those questions, I challenge you to eat on Thursday, only as much as you serve God!!  Hope you can eat more than one of Grandma’s homemade noodles!

This is gonna be a short post….Angie and I went to church this morning, and I sat there in complete disbelief!  The whole message was so right on with the book Crazy Love, that I am reading right now.  The pastor even talked about our good deeds being like filthy rags!! Now he did not mention them being like used tampons….although I was wondering if he was gonna say it! LOL  He spoke about the twinkling of an eye, about us really seeing God for who He is, and the part that really got me was this…As much as I have  enjoyed blogging this week, and oh by the way, Sundays are gonna only be a short blog day, I realize that this is exactly what God wants me to hear! I do not read a ton of books, and I felt lead to read this one, and then the first time in church, boom, right upside the head with the same dang stuff I read this week.  You cannot tell me God does not speak directly to you!! He has to me this week!

See ya tomorrow with the next chapter of Crazy Love

When I was reading Chapter 4 of Crazy Love, I just could not help but just take the questions and put them on here…, just post these descriptions and let you think….SO SEE IF THIS IS YOU>

LUKEWARM PEOPLE

• attend church regularly, It is what is expected of them, what they believe “good Christians” do, so they go
• give money to charity and to the church…as long as it doesn’t impinge on their standard of living. If they have a little extra and it is safe to give, they do so. After all, God loves a cheerful giver, right?
• tend to choose what is popular over what is right when they are in conflict.  They desire to fit in both at church and outside of church; they care more about what people think of their actions (like church attendance and giving) than what God thinks of their hearts and lives.
• don’t really want to be saved from their sin; they want only to be saved from the penalty of their sin; they don’t genuinely hate sin and aren’t truly sorry for it, they are merely sorry, because God is going to punish them.
• are moved by stories of people who do radical things for Christ, yet they do not act on it. They feel this is only for “extreme” Christians.
• rarely share their faith because they do not want to make people feel uncomfortable by talking about private issues, like religion.
• feel satisfied with their so-so Christianity… hey, they are not as bad as the guy down the street!
• say they love Jesus, and He is a part of their life, but only a part….HE IS NOT ALLOWD TO HAVE FULL CONTROL
• think that total devotion to God really isn’t possible.
• love others but do not seek to love others as much of themselves….they give them the left overs
• love God and others, but there are limits to how far they will go, how much time, money and energy they are willing to give
• think about life on earth more often than eternity in heaven, focused on the to-do list, rather than the life to come!
• feel called to minister to the “rich”, while very few feel called to minister to the “poor”
• do whatever is necessary to keep themselves from feeling “too” guilty….do the bare minimum just to be good enough
• do not sacrifice or enjoy risking it for God.
• feel safe because they attend church, got saved at the age of 12, baptized, come from a christian family, vote Republican, or live in America
• do not live by faith, only by structure
• drink and swear less than the normal person, but aren’t that different from the normal unbeliever

Kind of a wake up call don’t you think…. I mean seriously think about all the characteristics of being luke warm…chew on it for a while and then either decide if you want to walk away, or completely turn it on for God.  I saw an analogy once, and I believe it was a Francis Chan message, where he was talking about how he loves lemonade, and he loves chocolate milk and had them in two separate cups….then he mixed them together and drank it…simply just nasty..and that is the way it is with being luke warm….if you are gonna sin…man go all out….if you are going to love Christ….go all out…do not sit in the middle!  I am working on going all out..after I read this chapter, I do believe that I would be considered lukewarm…time to turn it up people!

In Matthew 13:44 it says… The Kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy he went and sold all he had and bought the field.

Is that how you love God, once you find it…you go bury it in your heart, get rid of everything that is holding you back and go and BET THE FARM on HIM!!!

I know the title drew you here, and that is what I wanted it to do… believe me, when you understand what we are getting at by the end of this blog, you will understand the title. It will help you understand God’s love for you.  (this is my blog on chapter 3 of Crazy Love, by Francis Chan)

Do you know that God loves you, Are you scared of Him and led to Him only by Guilt or do you really understand that He is flat out Crazy about you….do you come to him with all reserves aside and no care in the world, and realize that though you are mistake driven, God still loves YOU!!!

KNOWING GOD’S LOVE FROM MY DAD!

To get this to you I am gonna embelish my dad a little bit, and maybe you are not able to do this because you have not had a great relationship with your dad, and maybe that could be why it is hard for you to understand that God loves you.  Some of you know my dad, and you would never think that my dad is one of the most caring individuals. Maybe you saw him at a game in high school yelling at the refs, and almost getting kicked out of a game, or maybe you have just seen him.  He to the normal eye( we were at the fair this year and one of the CARNIES even told him he does not look like someone who follows the rules) looks like someone you would not want to upset!  That is where it is all wrong, my dad has one of the biggest hearts ever and one of the biggest images of love that a son could have ever seen.  My dad and I growing up and even now have one of the closest relationships that a son could ever ask for…why…because I knew from the beginning that he loved me.  Even the one time when I tried to give him a wedgie and he ripped my underwear off..LOL…Nothing impressed me more, than the using of his vacation days to come to our basketball games.  There was nothing like a backscratching from dad growing up. Everyone that I know that does not really know my dad always says…your dad is a beast., but never gets to see his tender heart! My dad has always provided in ways for us that I can never show enough gratitude, and has cared for my kids even so much, that they love their papaw Rock with all their hearts, why, because he loves them. So I must say that I can attribute a little bit of me knowing that my heavenly Father loves me because my dad has loved and loves me well.  But maybe you do not have the benefit that I had growing up, maybe your dad was not that loving of you, and you were always fearful of him…maybe he beat you, demeaned you, and never came to your events….sit back and think, can I attribute the way that I look at God, to the way that I have seen my earthly father. Now I know you are supposed to be fearful of God, but not led to pray, praise Him, spend time with Him out of strict guilt.

KNOWING GOD’S LOVE BY BEING A DAD!

Secondly I would like to discuss the love of my Heavenly Father towards me with the way that I view my relationship with my kids.  You see if you even have a remote clue of who I am, you know my kids.  If you have talked with me , you know all of the ins and outs of what my kid is saying today, what they did that was funny last night, what they want for Christmas, how much they mean to me. I want to give Morgan, Reese, and Tanner the best relationship that a dad could give their kids.  It all began when I heard that first cry in the delivery room, the moment that my oldest daughter took her first breath…then it was time to cut the umbilical cord….the time that she was going to have to rely on me for alot of things, and the time that I was going to spend loving for her (and my other 2 the same way) and caring for her in a way that no one else could. I watch them grow up and become more independent and love them even more.  The best feeling that I have is when that 5 o’clock bell strikes and I pack up my laptop and head home, and I cannot wait to get there. I walk up to the door and 90% of the time before I even get into the garage, that door pops open and out comes 3 of the most precious gifts that I could ever have asked for….to run up to me, hug me, give me a kiss, and let dad know how much they love Him.  Now really think about the love that I as their earthly father have for them and listen to these verses.

If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! -Matthew 7:11  (I go overboard to make sure my kids enjoy life, now can you imagine if that is the case, how much God has in store with us, with his love?)

The word of the Lord came to me, saying, “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; ” Jeremiah 1:4-5a (When my children were born, I felt a love like no other, realize that God had that feeling about us before we were born….wow….he set us apart, those who call Him FATHER….HE actually wants you!!!)

KNOWING GOD’S LOVE FROM HIS LOOKING PAST MY FAILURES AND LOVING ME!

This is where the title comes in, and I know before you were like…where is he gonna tie that in…You see when I was younger, when I did something wrong, there was always a result of some sort of punishment. Whether it was grounding, whether it was my grandma breaking a ruler over my butt, getting my mouth washed out with soap…whatever it was there was always a consequence for doing something wrong.  Now think about it, alot of times we are hesitant to think about the love that God really has for us, by really dwelling on how many times we have failed him….we tend to think about the failures sooooooo much more than the successes.  And we really want to outweigh the failures with the good. It will never happen! That does not mean we should not try to live set apart….it just means, we sin, and we need to know that God still loves us…(if you know the story of David…you may be able to get God looking past failures and calling someone a man after His heart) But in scripture there are two verses that tell me, I am not perfect and that my good deeds really nothing compared to God’s holiness.

No one is good-except God alone- Luke 18:19  (realize it people you are not gonna be perfect but we have someone that is there to love us, and accept us for who we are)

All our righteous acts are like filthy rags! Isaiah 64:6 (your good will never outweigh your sin) On page 60 of Crazy Love, Francis Chan says this .. ” The literal interpretation of ‘filthy rags’ in this verse is ‘menstrual garments’ (think used tampons…and if you are disgusted by that, then you get Isaiah’s point.  It is hard to imagine something more disgusting that we could brag about or put on display. But compared to God’s perfect holiness that is how our good deeds appear!

God’s mercy is a free, yet costly gift.  It cannot be earned. Our righteous acts, just like used tampons certainly don’t help us deserve it. (end of excerpt from book) No matter what you think, no matter what religion you are….your good works cannot get you to understand God’s perfect love for you.  You cannot earn your way to feel it.  It is something that has to be developed and through the relationship you will understand the love that He has for you.  If our good deeds are compared to one of the things that you never would think about talking about, than how do we get there.  We need to realize that it is only by God’s grace that we can ever know His love.  We know we deserve hell, but through God we can experience heaven (Romans 6:23) We know we have sinned, and do not even deserve to know His Love (Romans 3:23) We know that even though we have been a grotesque image to God He still loves us and sent His Son for us (Romans 5:8, John 3:16)  And ultimately we know that once we realize we cannot make it to heaven on our own, we need to change our life to learn to live in His image. (Romans 12:1-2)

So no matter where you are at…maybe you did not have a relationship with your dad, or maybe it is filled with bad memories…..GOD STILL WANTS YOU

Maybe you do not have a great relationship with your kids and do not understand the fact that God loves it when we run out the garage door and into His lap to love Him, and let Him feel that in return……GOD STILL LOVES YOU!

Or finally maybe you think that your sin is too much for God’s Son to have bore on that Cross, and that He could not have done that for you…GOD STILL DID THAT….for you!

So wherever you maybe….God still is waiting for you, and is loving you, with a love that we will never be able to understand why, but can rest in the fact that He does!!

Please, lets start a discussion on this topic, and if you have questions please ask!!