Investment

"Take heed and beware of covetousness, for ones life does not consist in the abundance of things he possesses" Luke 12:15

What is life all about? For some it is completely about material possessions and they stand on the motto, 'He who dies with the most toys wins'. This has become a reality with a lot of people, they will invest all their time, life, and money in what they have, even if it means they will have stacked up monthly payments they are not always able to pay. Most of the people I know always end up in major debt because they feel like they are in this competition to collect the most toys and show them off. Many feel this is the way to show they are truly succeeding in life. We tend trying to live out the American Dream to 'seek after life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness'. 

While many continue to invest themselves to fulfill such a life of possessions, many continue to be highly disappointed. You see, he who dies with the most toys, still dies. Life isn't about the abundance of money, material, and pleasure. Solomon called that in Ecclesiastes 'vanity and chasing the wind', it is pointless he said to seek after pleasure and material just like chasing the wind is pointless. 

Jesus said on the sermon on the mount, 'Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also'. Basically, whatever you invest your life in is what your identity is. Earthly investments are temporary and will rot away and disappoint you, but heavenly investments are eternal and will give you joy. Is your identity money and possessions or is your identity in Christ? 

Selah

Speak without Fear

Many don't believe me when I tell them I was a really shy young man. I would just sit there quiet and never speak a word even in a big group of people or with me and just one other person in the room, you can say I was the one who made things awkward. My shyness was so bad that I would take a 'F' in a project that required you to do an oral presentation, I did all the work and research, but I just couldn't get up there to share with the class, I would be so scared. Many of you that know me now might say 'I don't believe you, I see you behind that pulpit and you don't hesitate to share what your thinking', haha, I know! I feel the same way. I know without a doubt, the strength and courage that gets me up in front of a bunch of people preaching the word comes from the Spirit God. 

Although I might seem confident up there, I still face fear before I open my mouth, sometimes all the way up until I walk on stage. Some people have never had that fear to share in front of people, they will be the center of attention and really don't mind a bunch of weird faces staring at them. But, I have observed whether shy or out going, we all face the fear of sharing God's truth at some point, don't we. It could be with a co-worker, family member, or best friend. The truth of the matter is we can freeze up when we feel compelled to share the gospel with others. You see, it's not up to the pulpit preachers to share with everybody, their job is to equip the saints with God's word and be an example of it, it is for the rest of the flock to share with those the preacher can't get to. 

For example, I teach youth ministry every week. I teach the youth about Christ and His good news of salvation, but to only the ones who show up to the study. There are others their age whom I can't personal get to or connect with, but they can. So it is my job to teach them and hope these young people are getting bold to share with their peers. Even that is not so easy, in fact it is real difficult to share with your peers and we can become real afraid and freeze up.

The Apostle Paul faced fear in ministry as the rest of us did when it came to sharing. We read about it in Acts 18:9-10, the Lord speaks to Paul in a vision and says, 'Do not be afraid, but speak and do not keep silent; for I am with you; and no one will attack you; for I have many people in this city'. You see, even bold Paul was afraid at times, but the encouragement from the Lord Himself is to 'speak' and 'do not keep silent'. The Lord was telling Paul that this message still needs to reach to the hearts of these lost people, don't worry about what they think or what will happen to you for 'I will be with you'. What a great promise God has spoken to many throughout history 'lo, I will be with you always, even to the end of the age'. Abraham, Moses, Joshua, and His disciples were all afraid to speak the truth at some point of their time, but the great thing is that God would never leave them hanging, He always gave them the courage they needed to speak correctly, authoritatively, and with love. 

No worries saints, the Spirit of God will give you the words to share with your co-workers, family members, friends, and even peers. Be strong and courageous, the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.

Never Forget

Never Forget

As you get older, Christmas seems different every year. All your siblings grow up and get married and so they need to spend Christmas with their spouses family too. New children are brought into the scene and some of the family has moved to different parts of the country and are not able to come out this year. So it is never the same, in fact it can seem like a real bummer not having everybody there at once. Although this year was like that, I can say I really enjoyed this year a lot more because I feel with everybody that I was around, they kept reminding me of Christ  and who He is and what He has done. So it brings me joy knowing that a lot of people in my family will never forget our God.

Forgetful Nation

When reading Psalm 106 we come across a 'in a nutshell' version of how the children of Israel saw many wondrous works of God, especially the splitting of the Red Sea. But, it says 'They soon forgot His works', they put their focus on lust for food and position and other things that weren't of God and that wouldn't help them. They made a golden calf and exchanged the glory of God for an image. They envied Moses and Aaron and the earth opened up and swallowed Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. At one point they joined themselves to Baal of Peor (a Moabite god) and ate sacrifices to the dead. 

They forgot the wonderful salvation of our God and how He delivered them from the Red Sea and they allowed the lusts of the world to creep in their hearts and they exchanged the truth for a lie, the incorruptible God for the corruptible pleasure, the Real things for the fake things. It can be real easy to forget what God has done for us in the years of our life because of many doubts and fears and our dependency on God can switch easily to the dependency of temporary substances of some images as money or technology and that is when envy comes in and we become swallowed up in the earth and it's unsatisfying pleasures. God has and always will do wondrous works in our life, the cross is a huge thing in our life, so let's not forget what He has done and what He will keep on doing. Let's remember His wonderful works and never forget what He does and what He can do and will do. Let us also tell others about Him in speech and song.

Praise God from Whom all blessings flow

Immanuel- God with Us

I had one of the greatest privileges in my life last night. I got to preach a small sermon at the Christmas Eve Candlelight service at Christ Chapel on the 29 Palms Marine Base. I was so excited to share about the reality of Christmas and about the fulfillment of God's Word and how God became like us, Immanuel- God with us. This is the promise of Christmas to me, that our God will never leave us nor forsake us. He told His disciples at the commission that "Lo, I will be with you always, even to the end of the age". David even expressed in Psalm 139 that no matter where he goes, God will always be there. God is with us during this season. You  may feel a lot of grieving sorrow because this day reminds you of someone you have lost- God is with us. You might feel lonely because you feel like you have nobody and people have walked out on you- God is with us. You might feel like because of the economy, Christmas is not the same- God is with us. We must never forget is that He is with us, comforting, strengthening, and carrying us at all times. Let us always remember, Immanuel- God with us. 

Merry Christmas!

What is NOT in heaven

I if we are to examine closely Revelation 21:1-8, we will see what we will be looking forward to such as a NEW heaven and NEW earth and even Jerusalem is going to be NEW, in fact John describes this city adorned as a bride for her husband. To me God is bringing His best to us, think about it, His best is way better then our best and our best is not that bad at times. God's best has to be the biggest thing ever and I can't wait to partake in this. This is what we are going to have as He says, 'Behold, I have made all things NEW', but my focus is more on what we won't have in heaven. Like no more tears, sorrow, crying, death, and pain. That is something I am looking forward to, we will have New Glorified Bodies in heaven. This means to me that we will no longer have to worry about working out or being on a diet because all will be complete and perfect in God's dwelling place. No longer will we need coffee or energy drinks because we won't be tired. We will no longer feel broken bones or a broken heart. No more loneliness, depression, or anxieties. No one walking out on us or rejecting us. No more fear of terrorists, thieves, murderers, and gangs. There will be no more of any evil thing that has infected humanity for centuries, all things will be made new by His wonderful word for all eternity. Amen!!

Missing the Point

Christmas is easily robbed by secular culture, fantasy and myth.

I was reading in Greg Laurie's new book, 'His Christmas Presence' about a real story of a lady who took her son to Sunday School and he had heard the story of the Lord's birth for the first time. When he came home, he excitedly told his Mom all about the story and said, "Mom!, I heard about the first Christmas story today, but this one didn't have Santa Claus or elves in it, but there were three skinny guys on camels who had toys to deliver and they didn't have Rudolph to guide them with his bright light, they had a star instead to guide them and light their way"

Some people in this world can be so stuck in fantasy and myth, that they miss the real point of Christmas. I guarantee most kids in our country can quote word for word 'Rudolph, the Red Nose Reindeer', but can they quote Romans 6:23- "For wages of sin is death, but the GIFT of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord". I am even speaking about church kids who seem to know more about Frosty and Elves more than their Lord Christ. Instead of getting the young ones excited about Christmas presents, let's get them even more excited about His Christmas Presence.

A mother one Christmas Eve was stressing and trying to buy a bunch of last minute gifts at the mall. As she was frantically shopping around, she realized that she lost her three year old son and when she found him, he was looking in the window with his little nose pressed against it staring at a nativity scene and said, 'Mommy! Look it's baby Jesus in the hay'. She jerked him away and said, 'We don't have time for that and don't you realize Mommy is trying to get ready for Christmas".

We read in the Gospels that there was no room for Him in the Inn and in fact it seems that the only place that was made room for Him was on the cross. As the hymn 'Joy to the World' says, 'Let every heart, prepare Him room', so may we prepare room in our hearts for His wonderful presence to invade.

Add to Your Faith

The Lord has given His divine power to enable us to glorify Him. With all diligence we are to add to our faith, meaning to give lavishly and generously. As we walk by faith, there is a way to reflect whom we are having faith in. If I have faith in a sports team, I will wear their gear and talk about then all day and sing their team chants and all; totally reflecting them. I will give lavishly to people what my team is all about and what they represent. Now, I am on the team of God's kingdom and according to Peter's words we are to add to our faith virtue- heroic deeds, knowledge- correct insight of truth, self-control- able to hold yourself, perseverance- continue in the course of action, godliness- representing His character, brotherly kindness- acts of good service to others, and love- the conclusion and greatest of all things that truly rep God's kingdom. Selah

Snowed In

After a long weekend of preparing for our God with Us hip hop show on the base, we had a big surprise coming to the Yuc Town as blankets of snow covered our dry desert. It has been very beautiful to see all this snow cover our plain desert, it naturally makes me think of God's grace covering our dry and filthy heart and making it beautiful, oh how the Lord is so merciful. The concert went very well on sunday, there were those challenges that almost made me want to walk out, but i wasn't going to give in. Shachah brought it in with the welcome and got the crowd stirred up, man I love those guys! Then Da T.R.U.T.H. came in and delivered what was needed for those hungry teens and there was a young man who surrendered his life to the Lord that night that I knew was lost and very empty- Praise the Almighty! Now, Shan and I are hanging out in our home just reflecting on how good our God is and how He will make it snow so we just stay home and be still and know He is God and meditate on scriptures.

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