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    Holiday Beards Are Teaching Beards


    2010 - 12.26

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    Posted in Real Thoughts | 4 Comments »

    In the days after Christmas, I have been thinking about shaving the Holiday Beard that my wife asked me to grow, but I don’t want to shave it and move on with out learning something. I believe God can, and does, use just about everything to teach us His principles. Based on that, here is my post-Christmas post.
    What growing a holiday beard has taught me about tithe:

    1. Even if you do nothing something is still happening. Like not shaving, if you have decided to not tithe it doesn’t mean something is not growing. Not tithing has just as powerful a reaction as not shaving.  When I don’t shave, my beard still grows. When I don’t tithe, the Bible says I bring a curse on my family.  Doing nothing doesn’t mean nothing is happening.

    2. The longer you do it the easier it is to do. When I first started growing my Holiday Beard it was a little uncomfortable, but after a couple of weeks it became much easier  and now I almost forget that it is there. Tithe is similar, the more I do it the easier it is for me keep doing it.

    3. At some point you just have to commit to it. There is part of growing a beard where you can talk all you want about what you would like your Holiday Beard to look like and how big it is going to be, but talk doesn’t grow and shape your beard; commitment to the process does. Tithe is the same, all the ”faith talking” and excuses do not bring the blessings of the Lord like commitment to tithing and then actually doing it.

    4. You need good friends around you that are willing to tell you, you have a problem & you look like a thief. Whether you have food in your Holiday Beard or it is getting out of control bushy, you need someone close to you that is willing to tell you the truth. In tithing, everyone needs a good friend to tell them the truth of the Bible, if you don’t tithe you are robbing God. It is the truth and only a good friend will love you deeply enough to understand your situation and still tell you the truth.

    5. Others see it differently then you do. You may think your Holiday Beard looks great, but others are seeing the whole picture. The truth may be that it is crooked or needs to be trimmed. In tithe, you might think you are doing a good job giving close to 10% or giving on weeks you have the extra money in your pocket, but not quite there. In those times it is easy to pat yourself on the back and think you are doing great, but in actuality you are tipping God and not tithing. In both growing a Holiday Beard and tithe, get the opinion and advice of others that you trust.

    6. Good friends will support you in it. While growing my Holiday Beard, people either loved it or hated it, but because it was important to me my good friends supported me. In tithe it is the same, because God says to tithe then it is important to me and my good friends will support me in doing it.

    7. With a little effort it is a lot of fun. As I continued growing my Holiday Beard it turned a corner from “can I grow one” to “how thick can it be”. As it turned, I was able to have more fun with growing it and seeing people’s reactions who hadn’t seen me in some time. It was a great conversation starter. When tithe turns from “can I really give 10% to God” to “how much more can I give to God” it really starts getting fun. This is the one thing you can test God in, make it fun.

    8. With no effort it can be very bad. There were several moments over the last 6 weeks where I was too busy to trim my Holiday Beard. After a couple days of not trimming, it would be out of control. It’s like it knew I wasn’t paying any attention and it ran amuck. In tithing, we always must pay attention and not get lazy or miss the promptings of God. He loves a cheerful giver.

    9. Even when it is a bit uncomfortable it is still AWESOME. There were several moments while growing my Holiday Beard that I thought I couldn’t go on. In might sound like an exaggeration, but I felt claustrophobic several times with it being itchy and just always on me face. Even in those moments the Holiday Beard was still awesome. It was still awesomely awesome. Tithing can feel similarly sometimes. Taking it off the top instead of waiting until everything is paid isn’t always easy. In fact, doing so has sometimes meant not paying a bill, but doing what God has asked me to do in the way He has asked me to do it, is always awesome….plus, He said He would provide for the needs of those who love Him.

    10. Jesus did it!! Not much explanation needed here. I bet Jesus knew how to grow an awesome beard and He paid His tithes. So
    next time you wonder “should I grow a Holiday Beard” or “should I tithe”, just WWJD it and the answer is “YES, YOU SHOULD”.

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    The Making of a Miracle, Part 3


    2010 - 11.02

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    Posted in Miracles, Real Thoughts | 2 Comments »

    Today we continue our unfolding of how God makes miracles in our life. I love seeing the miraculous. If you have ever seen a healing first hand then you know how it changes something inside of you. When the supernatural invades the natural, something seems to change forever. I have experienced a few miracles and because of them not even the greatest theologian or Atheist could talk me out of the existence of a God who loves us. This brings us to this weeks point.

    #3 The moment of the miraculous occurs when we acknowledge our own inabilities.

    This is at the core of what I love about God: He will never force you to do something. Don’t get me wrong, He is very good at helping you make a wise decision and choose to follow Him even if it is something hard, but He will never force you into the decision. He gives us freewill to decide if we are going to follow Him. This is an ongoing decision that we all have to constantly make, because He is constantly leading if you will constantly follow. As I wrote 2 weeks ago, when we are in the height of our struggle He is about to meet us with the miraculous, but God is willing to let you struggle it out, by yourself, as long as you want. He won’t force you to follow, although He wants you to follow and it is in your best interest to follow asap. The earlier we follow, the earlier we begin to live in His miraculous blessings. But let’s be VERY clear, everyone will bow at some point. It may not be on this earth, but at some point we all have to face our Creator.

    “Let all the world look to me for salvation! For I am God; there is no other. 23 I have sworn by my own name, and I will never go back on my word: Every knee will bow to me, and every tongue will confess allegiance to my name.” Isaiah 45:22-23(NLT)

    I know a lot of people who spend most of their lives fighting to prove that they can make it on their own as if the whole world thinks they are failures. These people are usually amazingly gifted people. God gave them some incredible talents. Those talents have launched them into extraordinary success. This success in specific areas of their life has fed into the thoughts that they are “self-made”. Unfortunately, they are missing the big picture. Yes, they have worked hard. Yes, they have done well for themselves. Yes, they are head and shoulders above others around them. Yes, because of their smarts, intellect, business sense, or decision making abilities they are prosperous. BUT each of those things are a gift from an amazingly loving Creator. They are only successful because God knew them before they were formed in their mothers womb. Is that hard to accept? At times, for me it has been. I want to think I have an active role in my own success. I want to think that my hard work will pay off in my own success.

    Good News!! We do have an active role. We do have a huge part to play in our ongoing success. Just as freewill lets us choose to follow Christ, freewill also lets us choose to release the Holy Spirit into our life. Because here’s the deal: Our inability to admit our own insufficiency will limit the effectiveness of God’s sufficiency in your life. God is: All-powerful, All-knowing, Everywhere and at all times. God already made the way for you and already paid the biggest price. And now He is smart enough, wise enough and supernatural enough to create the miraculous in your life that pulls you out of where you are stuck and lift you to new levels of success. It is when we are strong enough to admit we can’t live this life on our own that He steps in and shows His power. There are always 2 parts to every miracle; our part and God’s part. His will ALWAYS do His part. Will you do yours?

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    The Making of a Miracle, Part 2


    2010 - 10.22

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    Posted in Miracles, Real Thoughts | 2 Comments »

    As I continue my thoughts about the miraculous I am struck by the number of people that I have spoken to this week that are in need of a HUGE miracle. Not just the run of the mill, “catching all the green lights as I am late to work”, kind of miracle, but a miracle where the supernatural invades the natural; those times where God’s will intersects with our need. We are living at a time where success is being redefined and more and more people are experiencing prolonged periods of joblessness or a reduction of pay. These prolong struggles can really do a number on peoples psyche and erode faith and self-esteem. This brings me to part 2 of The Making of a Miracle:

    #2 The moment of the miraculous occurs in the way God wants.

    As the Creator, it is God who has the right to do the things in the way He wants. This is important to understand, because in these times of prolonged struggles, it is easy to spend our time thinking about all the ways to get ourselves out of the bad situations of life. The stresses begin to push against us, mixing with the weight of the people that are depending on us, often causing the normally level-headed person to do some erratic things. I have seen people take jobs that they had no business taking or see a morally “gray” issue as “white” because it would help keep the power on in their home. Here in Las Vegas we have a slot machine called Megabucks which often has a jackpot in the tens of millions of dollars. I have, at times, played Megabucks and prayed, “Dear Lord please bless me with winning this jackpot. I will tithe the winnings and give money away. I’ll even buy my parents a nice vacation house.” Other times I have wished that I had a “long lost” relative that had amassed a huge fortune and after a long life, they pass away. In their generosity, they would leave some money to me. That would be awesome! Needless to say those prayers and similar outlandish prayers have yet to be answered. If God does ever decide to bless me in this way, I will be open to it, but until then it has been a lesson in the miraculous. What I have found is God works in the way He pleases. It is not my manipulation of Him or my creative thinking that will cause God to do something.

    I see 2 major erroneous thoughts in a prolonged time of trouble. First, we get so creative in problem solving that we eliminate any chance for the Creator to be creative. We think about all of the “what-ifs” and begin to implement our escape plans without ever consulting our Maker. “Maybe I should get a new job.” “Maybe if I move cities life will be better.” “Maybe I should take this strange root from a strange tree in Africa to heal me.” If these “maybes” don’t work, we jump to the next great idea all the while leaving a wake behind us of broken dreams. Often we are just digging our hole deeper and deeper. Secondly, we can become so passive that we miss the moment of the miraculous and settle for the usual. We say things like “If God wants me out of this situation, He’ll do it.” If He never get’s us out of the struggle, in the way we think He should, we begin to blame God or others for the problems in which we continue to live. Both of these erroneous thoughts are wrong because it puts the focus on the wrong thing. Both are self focused. In the first, we clearly are the ones trying to force something into working. If it works great we may give God glory, but let’s be honest, IT’S ALL ABOUT US. We made it happen. We were creative and we got ourselves out. In the second thought, we are the judge of whether God actually is moving and working on our behalf. If He doesn’t act in just the right way or do it in a big enough way then it wasn’t Him moving at all. We want to see clouds parting and audible voices heard by all. This can be horribly paralyzing and let’s be honest, IT’S STILL ALL ABOUT US.

    So what should we do? The prophet Isaiah says…

    “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. Is 55:8-9 (NIV)

    We have to learn to trust that God is thinking about us and knows what is happening in our life. Jeremiah says this,

    “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jer 29:11 (NIV)

    We have a choice. Do it with God in His way or go at life alone in our way. Our loving God is waiting for us to let Him do what He does best… Work a miracle. We serve a miracle-working God and He is just waiting for us to give up and ask Him what He wants us to do. I guarantee that if we will spend more time listening than talking then God’s voice becomes a lot more clear. He wants to prosper us. He wants us to trust in Him. Your miracle may not be packaged the way you were expecting. It may not come through the means you had hoped. It may not even come as quickly as you would have liked it. But one thing is for sure, if you do your part and seek God, then He will do His part and cause the miraculous to take place in your life.

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    The Making of a Miracle, Part 1


    2010 - 10.14

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    Posted in Miracles, Real Thoughts | No Comments »

    I have not posted to my blog in quite a while not because of lack of things to say, but because I have been on an incredible journey. God has been opening my eyes to His Word (the Bible) and bringing me to a dependence on Him as the only sustainer of my life and my families life. A couple weeks ago I began to read through the book of John. What an amazing book! I love rereading the Apostle John’s take on Jesus as the conquering King.

    As I read the account Jesus’ feeding of the 5000 in John 6:1-14, I began to see a pattern that is mirrored throughout the Bible and personally in my own life as well. I know God is a God of pattern and structure. He has created patterns and predictability in life and the things around us so that we can know we weren’t put on earth by “chance”. As I read this section of John, it became clear that even in the miraculous there is a pattern and a moment that the miraculous occurs. It is almost as if God was saying, “Do you need a miracle? Then here is what you need to look for.” For the sake of brevity I am going to break down the pattern over the next few blog entries.

    #1) The moment of the miraculous occurs at the height of the struggle.

    Whether it was the woman with an issue of blood, turning the water into wine, Lazarus raising from the dead or receiving an unexpected check in the mail, God is amazingly able to let us go further then we thought we could go. Yet he is omnipotently able to provide the miraculous. There is something about a struggle that makes us dig in and work harder to get out of the struggle. Many people are doing that right now in their finances. There has been an economic downturn and many people have “tightened their belt” to get through this time. In Las Vegas, we have an unemployment rate as high as 20-30%. The analysts are saying there is no end in sight. We will be this way until 2012?! It is tragic, but people are fighting to get through.

    It makes me wonder are we at the height of our struggle? Is it possible that God is trying to get our attention? Many times right before a miracle people will say, “I can’t go on” or “This is never going to end.” At the height of a struggle there is a desperation, loneliness and depression. Where we direct those emotions will either position us for or remove us from the miraculous. Sometimes we put ourselves in the wrong place. Other times God is allowing things to happen so that we grow. Either way it is up to us to align ourselves with God’s will.

    In the height of the struggle, it can feel horribly lonely. It can feel like no one understands what you are going through. It can feel like we are going at life alone. Especially if others around you are succeeding with little effort. But be encouraged, you are not alone! Think about these 2 examples: Joshua, just after Moses died. Joshua followed Moses for 40 years in the desert and saw a whole generation die off without entering the promised land. Moses was the only leader he had ever known and now he is dead. That is when the word of God comes to Joshua and says clearly, “Be strong and of good courage, for I am with you.” What an awesome word of clarity. Secondly, Jesus Christ, Himself, moments before His death on the cross. He has already been beaten and spit upon. He has already been mocked and kicked. He has already had the crown of thorns driven into His skull and laughed at. He has already carried His cross up the hill and nailed to it. As He is about to die, He feels the weight of all mankind’s struggles and cries out, “Eloi, Eloi,” “lama” “sabachthani?”"–which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”(Matthew 27:46).

    You are not alone. Even in your struggles, God knows how you feel. If you feel trapped, depressed or caught in a struggle, no matter how small or big, I believe you are on the precipice of a miracle. You are about to have a moment where the supernatural invades your life and changes everything so that you can see God’s glory at work. Stay focus! Stay alert! Complete the journey for God is with you!

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    Going Extreme


    2010 - 07.02

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    Posted in Real Thoughts | 2 Comments »

    Last week in our studying of the book of Acts at Valley Christian Center, something hit me like a ton of bricks (and it was more then just the amazing power of the Holy Spirit). As we began our study, we ran right into Acts 2 and the Day of Pentecost. It is an amazing account of the first Holy Spirit Baptism. Those that were in the upper room on the day of Pentecost experienced something EXTREME and it forever changed them. This was not the first time we have studied this text, but what was new for me was the extent to which the release of the Holy Spirit set the foundation of the church for the future. This was an extreme transition time, that we as Christians get to look back on with the vividly descriptive words of Luke and see what God was doing. Because of the extreme transformation of these men, there were several qualities of the early Church that spread beyond just those in the upper room.

    When we look at Acts 4:31-37, we see qualities of the early Church that were the result of the people being filled with the Holy Spirit. First and foremost, there were those that were NOT in the upper room on the Day of Pentecost that were filled with the Holy Spirit. This gives us such great hope! You see, the power from the Holy Spirit, that they received after the day of Pentecost, we too can receive. This power of the Holy Spirit is the force and ability that will help us overcome the enemy in this earthly life. Other qualities that were possessed by the early church include the following: they were bold in their witness, they were in perfect unity, they were selfless in their attitude toward others, and great grace was upon them.

    However, the one quality that struck me the most was the Early Church was EXTREMELY generous with those in need. Now, I understand generosity and I think I am a generous person, but what does it mean to be EXTREMELY generous? Is it giving away our unwanted items to Goodwill so that they can sell them at a discount to someone less fortunate then us? (We all know that we really give to Goodwill for the tax write-off or so we don’t feel bad because there are kids in Africa going to bed naked if we don’t take care of our clothes.) Is it seeing a homeless man on the corner of the road and rummaging through our ash tray for loose change to give to him? Is it giving our left over McDonald’s to the beggar standing just outside the comfort of the air conditioning? While all of these might be good, they don’t seem very extreme to me. We have all done them. In fact we have done them so often, now there are people standing outside most MickyD’s and on almost every major street corner. What was once meant to be a gesture of generosity has now turned into a scam by the guy on the street corner (Note for all those still naive: not all street corner guys are truly “Hungry” or “willing to work for food”. Discernment can help you to know when and how to give to these people).

    So again I am forced to ask myself, “What does it mean to be EXTREMELY Generous?” Based on Acts 4:34-35, it involves effort and sacrifice along with knowing where the generosity should be directed. If I had to put it in a mathematical equation it would be, (e+s)G=X or Effort+Sacrifice(Guidance from the Holy Spirit)=eXtreme Generosity. It takes effort on our part to be willing to give up what is our excess, when we are prompted by the Holy Spirit to do so. I am not saying we should all run right out and sell our houses and give the money to the poor, especially right now in this economy where most homes are under water. Nonetheless, to be extremely generous we must be open to however God directs our generosity. It is part of willful submission. One thing about this equation that the early church had figured out: You can’t have EXTREME generosity without the Holy Spirit. It is His generosity that is the source of our generosity. He is the connector between the giver and the receiver. Without the direction of the Holy Spirit you have charity not generosity. The Holy Spirit’s prompting usually involves a recipient for our generosity. It is not haphazard charity or unbridled giving, although charity and giving are good. Extreme generosity is instead focused through our relationship with the Creator of the universe. It is hearing His prompting that will get us to pay for the multiple people in line behind us at Starbucks. It is His prompting that will get us to buy a new computer for a student who can’t afford one, when we have been saving for months to get one ourself. It is His prompting that will have you recover a friends broken pool table when you have no pool table of your own. It is His prompting that will have you looking for the next opportunity to give something you value away. Without fail if you are in unity with the Holy Spirit and looking for an opportunity to be EXTREMELY generous, He will lead you to someone who is in need of your EXTREME generosity. If we can understand and build our lives with this principle, we will be like the early church that saw their possessions as tools for kingdom expansion and therefore they were bold and powerful in their witness to the Gospel through the Holy Spirit. It is not about us gaining more things to keep. It is about us being the conduit for the supply train of Christ. Let’s develop a truly EXTREMELY GENEROUS state of mind.

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