The King of Fruit

The beautiful fruit on the left is a Fulford Gala. It is described as such:

"It comes from a cross between the Kidd's Orange Red [apples] and Golden Delicious [apples]. Gala was introduced to the United States in the 1970s. Because of its popularity, many different 'sports' of Gala have been propogated, each having some beneficial characteristic. In general, Gala is a very 'safe' apple. Not too sweet or sour, no unusual tastes or textures, but offering a very pleasing aroma and eating experience. Fulford Gala hails from New Zealand. Its color is a bright orange-red with yellow background. Fulford Gala is a larger sized Gala, with a blush red rather than stripe."

The ugly fruit on the right is a durian, from the Malay meaning "thorn".  It is revered throughout Southeast Asia as the "King of Fruits".  It is mostly described as smelling like pig dung.  More facts:

"Southeast Asian cultivators and connoisseurs will swear that the durian is a fruit without compare. Durian is called King of Fruits in Southeast Asian countries where it is widely abundant. People who have just seen and smell it are immediately turned off by its strong, pungent odor, while for the brave, who manage to taste the fruit itself, the offensiveness of the smell quickly wanes. Some people describe the odor of durian as strong and pervasive that the best hotels refuse to allow their guests to bring durians into their room. But the proof is in the eating, and most people who have tasted it become lifelong addicts."

Along with the alleged "addictive" taste, the health benefits of the durian are pretty remarkable and undeniable.  But the question is, who would want to eat such an ugly, offensive fruit regardless as to how good it may taste after you get passed the sight, smell, and feel of it?  Even if it offers so many health benefits, surely there must be another way to get these same nutrients than to deal with partaking of such an ugly and offensive fruit!

The Cross of Calvary was also such a fruit.  Ugly and offensive; the shame of Christ's nakedness and the weight of guilt of all our sins on his back, the ruthless and vile beating he received on our behalf, the relentless mockery of this "King of Jews" and the world's enjoyment of his torture on a tree.  This ugly and offensive act was and is the only way that you and I can stand blameless before a sovereign God.  And we have been called to participate in this ugly and offensive act daily.  We must deny ourselves and no matter how unpopular or how undesireable to our flesh, we must pick up our cross and walk down the same path that our savior did - straight to Calvary.

The apple above represents the fruit of self; our innate desire to decide right and wrong for ourselves.  When we are left to decide what's right and wrong, we decide the path we can take to knowing God.  The problem is that those paths we choose are relative to our thinking and the reality is they only lead to a god we have created.  It is self-seeking, self-motivated, self-inspired, and self-pleasing.  It is our participation in the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil (Gen 3:6).  

The durian represents the fruit of the Spirit; the complete surrender and dependence upon God for all things.  God provided his son as an example of the great mystery that we should follow in his God-seeking, God-motivated, God-inspired, God-pleasing steps.  It is the participation in the fruit of the Tree of Life.  A fruit that was for some reason never desired by Adam or Eve, even though it was right next to the Tree of Knowledge and they had full permission to eat of it (Gen 2:9).  So why didn't they?  

The beautiful and fragrant Fulford Gala apple, the ugly and pungent durian - which fruit will choose to eat today?

President Elect Barack Obama

Excellent thought and prayer for President Elect Barack Obama as written by Pastor Paul Louis Cole. God bless.

"If you will allow me a moment, I have some personal thoughts to share regarding the new President-elect of the United States, Senator Barack Obama. What happens in this nation affects for good or bad, every other nation on earth. This is not intended to be a corporate positional statement nor a fully constructed treatise on Sen. Obama, but, my personal thoughts and observations... and prayers – herewith;

It is the wondrous miracle of America, the measure of its promise and rich heritage, that seventy-two years ago on the shores of Lake Victoria in rugged, steamy equatorial East Africa, in a small misshapen hut, a baby boy is born to a simple cook working for European missionaries... and in the loins of this boy are carried the seeds of life for the 44th President of the United States.

That boy born seventy two years ago in the jungles of Kenya grows up and by virtue of American largesse travels to America, a Kenyan student of the wild and free ‘beat era’ who meets a girl named Stanley, a free spirit herself, and the product of that short union is a child named Barack.

As a young man Barack is shuttled about from bohemian living in the States to village life in Indonesia, meeting his biological Kenyan father only once at the age of ten, finally as a young man settling in with his grandparents and being raised by his grandmother. He is an unfathered man. He follows the paths that seem to open up, then finding some balance of purpose matriculates at Harvard and begins to excel, thriving through the intrigue of law school, heading up the prestigious Harvard Law Review, moving to Chicago and becoming a community activist, connecting with the philosophies of Saul Alinsky and other activist writers and leaders.

Then, in one theophanic moment he comes to a place of faith that seems to impact his life deeply... it is the moment he recounts his accepting of Jesus Christ as his Redeemer. In his own words, from a speech given to a private group of pastors a few years ago here is his recounting of that moment –

“So one Sunday, I put on one of the few clean jackets I had, and went over to Trinity United Church of Christ on 95th Street on the South Side of Chicago. And I heard the pastor deliver a sermon called “The Audacity of Hope.” And during the course of that sermon, he introduced me to someone named Jesus Christ. I learned that my sins could be redeemed. I learned that those things I was too weak to accomplish myself, He would accomplish with me if I placed my trust in Him. And in time, I came to see faith as more than just a comfort to the weary or a hedge against death, but rather as an active, palpable agent in the world and in my own life.

It was because of these newfound understandings that I was finally able to walk down the aisle of Trinity one day and affirm my Christian faith. It came about as a choice, and not an epiphany. I didn’t fall out in church, as folks sometimes do. The questions I had didn’t magically disappear. The skeptical bent of my mind didn’t suddenly vanish. But kneeling beneath that cross on the South Side, I felt I heard God’s spirit beckoning me. I submitted myself to His will, and dedicated myself to discovering His truth and carrying out His works.”

I do not agree with Senator Obama on many issues - I am concerned about the men who mentored him over the past twenty years, the relationships with those whose philosophies are antithetical to Biblical values, his stand on abortion, his Alinsky leanings...

But, I am thrilled we have an African-American man as our new President, I am blessed by his concern for fathers and fathering, I enjoy seeing him with his children and the gracious way he treats his wife, to witness that virtue of life-long and deeply held friendships. He seems to be a man who thinks, and cares.

And, in all these things, I trust God. I truly believe that He speaks to the hearts of leaders, that God is always about the redemption of mankind... and, we must be fully focused on rescuing God’s intention for mankind, the dream that the world can be a better place. That Christ returns for a strong, vibrant, powerful Church!

Here is my prayer for President-elect Obama.

“I pray that what happened that day in Chicago, as he surrendered his heart to God, will come alive in his most private moments. That he will hear the voice of Almighty God speak words of wisdom into his inner man, that his heart will open to the counsel of Godly men, that he will find an unshakeable new place of faith, that his legacy will not be one of social/values experimentation, but one of blessing to our children and grandchildren... that America will be stronger, and by the vibrancy of this nation, be a light of grace, assistance and virtue to a world in desperate need of righteous leadership.

I pray for the Church of Jesus Christ to be a bastion of strong men and strong families - that the Church will be a bold voice for life, liberty, faith, righteous values, and Godly grace. In the mighty name of Jesus, by the power of the Holy Spirit, to the glory of Almighty God. Amen”

I believe our greatest days are ahead...that does not lessen the heat of the battle, nor the resolve needed, nor the willingness to be unpopular, nor the understanding that it will be a fight to carry the name of Jesus into the marketplaces of the world.

It is a fight, and we are joined together as allies in the greatest moment the church has ever seen...

grace/peace,

Paul

PROtect LIFE

I was listening to a radio broadcast of Jay Sekulow Live on 100.7 The Word today while driving to wonder, beautiful Dayton, TX.  Jay was talking about the significance of the Government's new $700 billion bail-out program and the impacts it likely will have on the average person.  

A self-professing Christian woman called in to the radio broadcast show in response to the bail-out plan discussion and made a statement that at first made me angry and then made me extremely sad.  She said that unlike many other Christians, she felt that Barack Obama would be the best choice for President of the United States...stay with me - everyone is entitled to their own vote so it wasn't because she said she was voting for Senator Obama that upset me.  When the radio host asked why she was voting that way, her response was that she didn't care too much for Obama but that the Democratic party that was backing him had the best ideas for the future of our country.  Jay asked her what she meant and she said that the Democrats would do what was in the best interest of the people of the United States in terms of fixing our economy, and correcting all the financial instability that the bail-out would fail at accomplishing.  Jay stopped her and asked for clarification on her voting decision, "As a Christian you would be ok with the immorality of the death of innocent lives in the form of partial-birth abortions as accepted by the Democratic ticket?"  Her response - "I DON'T CARE.  I'M NOT THE ONE HAVING ABORTIONS."

How sad when we, as Christians, stop caring about the ungodly atrocities around us simply because it is not directly affecting us at this time.  This woman, and likely tens if not hundreds of thousands of other self-professing Christians, care much more for their bank accounts and investment portfolios then the innocent life of a child who never got a chance to laugh,smile, or feel the warm and gentle embrace of another human being. When we care more for maintaining our comfortable way of lives than giving a child a fair chance at life, we have lost our way as a people and a nation.  How dare we be so thoughtless and cold!

Jesus said in Mark 9:13; "Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me."  When we welcome a new life into the world, we welcome God into our lives.  If we stand by and do nothing as life is rejected, can you really believe that when you stand accountable before Christ that He will not reject you?

We need to be wise about the decisions we make.  No greater decision now than voting for our next President.  Pray for both Presidential candidates.  Pray for our nation.  Pray for each other.  God bless.

Where Are My Sermons!!???!??

Technical difficulties at Sermon.net. Christians and their hi-tech nonsense! Blah!

I will post a new blog.....NOW!

Whose Will Are You Doing?

Another mini-sermon I had the honor to give on Sunday, August 24th 2008 at Victory Family Church in Pasadena, TX.  God bless!

More Than Just a Stick

John 15:5 - "I am the Vine, you are the branches.  If any man abides in me, and I in him, he will yield much fruit.  Apart from me, you can do nothing."

When a branch is cut-off or broken from the tree, it becomes nothing more than a lifeless stick. If left on the ground for too long, it simply rots away and becomes compost.  Such is true for man.  Apart from the Vine, we are devoid of life; without purpose or meaning.  However, unlike the tree branch, man has an inert determination to achieve and succeed in much despite being removed from anything resembling true life.

A branch, when severed from the tree, can still be used to become something that seems to be of great significance.  It can be shaven, shaped, tempered, and sealed and become many things. It may become drumsticks banging away in the hands of a highly praised and adored rock star or become the baseball bat of a hall of fame player who is on the heals of the all-time hits record.  Given the size of the branch, it could even be used to become a support beam of a magnificently beautiful million dollar home.  If any of these possibilities is true for the branch, it may think to itself, "I've made it.  I've become something of significance.   I have finally found my purpose!"  This proclamation may seem true for a season.  But one day when the rock star plays his drums too hard, that drumstick will break in half.  When the hall of famer hits the right fastball, that bat will splinter into pieces.  When the next category 4 hurricane makes landfall, that house will become nothing more than a heap of wooden debris.

When the breaking points come in life, and they will, our achievements will do little to comfort us.  Our successes will be nothing more than a chasing of the wind.  They too will be devoid of life, purpose and meaning.  When the illusion of significance passes, the man who lived apart from the Vine will realize that the school they chose to attend, the job they worked so hard at, the home they lived in, the toys they owned, and the relationships they held will not be enough to sustain them and bring them peace or joy.

True purpose comes through knowing Christ and being identified with Him in every facet of your existence.  Through Christ we have been give freedom to succeed and achieve and to discover purpose and meaning but it is only when you allow the life of Christ to be the ruling factor in all that you hope for.  God wants for you the same thing you want for yourself - to be completely fulfilled in this life and the next.  But apart from the real life, the life given through trust in Jesus, you will never find fulfillment.  Even if you do become that highly coveted drumstick or sports collector's baseball bat or all important support-beam, without Christ at the center of it all, you would have been just as well off left lying in a field rotting and becoming compost.

This world has nothing to offer you of any true value or significance.  True life is found in Christ.  Remain connected to Him, place your confidence in the promise of His words, and you will yield much fruit in this life. God loves you and wants to give you a future filled with hope, love, and joy.  All you have to do is abide in Him.

Incomprehensible Grace

The American Heritage Dictionary defines the word "incomprehensible" as - 1) difficult or impossible to understand.

In the book "The Exchange", Joel Engle asks the questions, "If the wages of sin really is death (Romans 3:23) then why are we still here?  Why are sinners not punished by a holy God as they are in the justice system of modern society?"

Then he answers by saying, "...the proper punishment for our sins wasn't overlooked or ignored. Instead, incredibly, He paid it Himself.  In the legal system of most civilized societies, the offender pays the price, but in the infinite wisdom of God, the Offended has already paid the price."

God's wisdom and subsequent grace is beyond our ability to understand.  The justice system established by His grace is more sovereign than any justice system that the most intelligent of our forefathers could have ever come up with, even with today's research and knowledge.  1 Cor 1:25 says, "For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength."

Our idea of sovereignty and justice is locking away those who commit crime.  Those who are a threat to our way of life are incarcerated or put on probation and forced to pay heavy fines so that they learn their lesson.  "You do the crime, you do the time". That's the best we could come up with.  This is our idea of justice.  It is, for the most part, graceless.  

Incomprehensible grace simply trusts the criminal not to commit crime again. Incomprehensible grace forgives AND forgets the hurt caused by betrayal.  But this grace comes at a great price. It includes not only being the victim of an offense, but then as the victim being willing to suffer the punishment that is deserved by the offender.  

The American Heritage Dictionary also defines the word "incomprehensible" as - 2) impossible to know.  Thank God that nothing could be further from the truth.  This is why God sent His only Son to the Cross; so that through the payment of Christ's life, we can know the Father. 2 Cor 5:21 says, "God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God."  So even if we can't wrap our minds completely around understanding His perfect grace, we have peace in knowing the One who's grace is sufficient for all things.

Whose Grace is Sufficient for You?

Mini-sermon I did at my church Sunday July 6, 2008.

Faith Comes by Hearing

Faith Comes by Hearing - Hosanna

Pretty cool ministry. For some reason, at first I wasn't impressed that these guys have translated the New Testament into 329 different languages...but when I started reading the language names and realized I'd never even heard of 98% of them, my jaw dropped onto my mouse pad.

There are a lot of people in a lot of places from a lot of backgrounds that need to hear the Word of God. This is just 1 example of how 1 ministry is trying to accomplish that.

Did You Know?
- 65% of Bible-believing Christians have never read the entire New Testament (www.chronologicalbiblestorying.com).
- 43% of American adults function at or below basic literacy levels – making them incapable of meaningful Bible reading (www.ccclib.org)
- In a survey of more than 500 pastors, 47% cited “lack of time” as the main reason more Christians don’t read the Bible (Phone survey, Hosanna, 1996).
- 58% of the U.S. adult population will never read another book after high school (www.oralbible.com Aug 2007).
- 42% of U.S. university graduates never read another book (www.oralbible.com Aug 2007).
- Over 50% of teens in America believe that Jesus may have committed sins (www.barna.org)
- Many Americans are biblically illiterate!

YOU'VE GOT THE TIME!

Forgiveness vs. Repentance (or) THE SHORTEST THING I'VE EVER WRITTEN!

As mature Christians, we no longer need to ask forgiveness from God.  How can we ask for that which we already have?  We have already received justification through Christ.  However, we must continually confess forgiveness through the act of repentance as His Spirit lives in us and reveals to us those areas of our lives that must be forsaken in order to live consistently with the forgiven life that we have been gifted.

Yet still, not forsaken through works or self-effort, but rather through consideration (Romans 6:11) and acceptance that we have already been set free from that old way of life (John 8:36).  The new life being evidenced in us through His Spirit revealing to us the inconsistency - the process of sanctification.

"He is Holy - You be Holy."  (1 Peter 1:16)

Praise Him in Our Suffering

Fair to say that I am not the only Christian who has to endure suffering. Whether it's suffering the stress of a full-time job or suffering the self-sacrifice of stewarding a beautiful family or helping in part-time ministry; suffering has become a regular part of my Christian walk. In all my suffering, I never fail to lament...just ask my wife! And I can also say that I never forget to praise God after the storms of life have pass through. But one thing I am guilty of is failing to praise God during my suffering.

At the sixth hour darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour. And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?"—which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"
Mark 15:33-34

As Christ hung on a Cross, clinging to physical life, His spirit remained strong as he cried out, "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?" This moment in history has always been portrayed as a moment of spiritual weakness, but I believe that closer examination of PSALMS 22 paints a different picture. This chapter of song, written to the tune of a praise chorus, reveals the ending moments of crucifixion as Christ praising His Father in an act of spiritual strength for his people, not an act of lamenting or questioning our Lord with a spirit of abandonment.

It was a reminder to all those who witnessed his death that all that had taken place was for the fulfillment of prophecy and for the glory of the Father. It was a reminder that in the midst of this terrible suffering, God was completing his plan to forever establish his Kingdom in us and through us so that we could forever have perfect fellowship with Him.

We need to remember that the suffering and persecution we endure in this life, as Christians walking out our faith, should be of no surprise to us. Christ said, "If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. Remember the words I spoke to you: 'No servant is greater than his master.' If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also." (John 15:18-20)

We need to learn to embrace our suffering and then follow-up that acceptance of revelation with application by praising during our times of suffering. Remember that a dying world is watching and even they can lament in tough times. But the world will stop and recognize a different spirit that dwells in he that offers up praise when death is eminent. When all that we hold dear has turned into ash. "We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body. So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you." (2 Cor 4:10-12)

We know that we serve a god who will allow us to experience brokenness with a purpose. We are persecuted, but not abandoned. Struck down at times, but never destroyed. Christ praised God at his death because he knew that death was not the destination. Because of his suffering and his death we became the benefactors of eternal life. We must likewise learn to praise during the tough times because we must share in His suffering and death so that we can also share in His life.

The Apple Trees

From the book THE EXCHANGE by Joel Engle.

Imagine you are walking through an apple orchard in early spring. The delicate fragrance of the apple blossom perfumes the cool morning air. The floral scent is enough to trigger memory; you clearly recall the sweet chomp of the red delicious.

Suddenly, you stop. In the heightened sensory moment, your ears grow very sensitive. They probe for any sound. What do they hear? Total silence.

An apple (or any kind of fruit) tree is one of the most marvelous mysteries in the world. No one can quite fathom the exquisite perfection of photosynthesis; soil, sunlight, water, and temperatures flow together into a wondrous harmony of creation. The results of this splendid fusion is that the blossoms on the tree slowly morph into apples.

Incredibly, despite the great industry going on in those trees, they do it all effortlessly and silently. They don't work at it or have any form of apple anxiety. It is simply their nature to produce apples.

Apples happen naturally. Now, imagine another apple orchard. As you walk into it, you hear a low mumbling hum. At first, you wonder if insects are swarming the orchard. But as you stop near a particular apple tree, you hear a very distinct grunting. What? You move your head close to the branches. The grunting sound is coming from the tree itself! Yes, the apple tree is panting, then bearing down, and finally emitting a long agonizing growl.

You see, these are "Christian" apple trees. They've been taught that bearing apples is almost impossible, requires great straining, and is a "skill" which can easily be lost.

Christian culture (especially in America) has created an outrageous, dangerous lie about what life with Jesus is like.

Just as apple trees don't try to "have an apple", those who follow Christ aren't meant to will themselves to "live a Christian life." The main reason? No one can do it. Yes, you read that correctly. No one can live the Christian life.

One of the best kept secrets of the true Christian life as that Jesus actually lives His life through us; He does it all. He is the fullness of life and that superior life surges through our heart, our relationships, our attitudes, and our behaviors. That higher quality of life makes all things new. He doesn't just require something; He also provides what He requires.

Romans 6 Prayer

Romans 6 formatted as a prayer by my pastor Steve Trevino:

We know and believe
That we have been baptized into Christ Jesus
Since we have been buried into His death
Just as He was raised by the glory of the Father
We too can walk in a newness of life

We know that our old self
Has been crucified with Him
So that we would no longer
Be enslaved to sin

So now we consider ourselves
Dead unto sin and alive unto God
We present ourselves to You
And our members as instruments of righteousness

We now bear the fruit
Of sanctification unto life
For the wages of sin is death
But the free gift of God
Is eternal life in Christ Jesus
AMEN.

Graduation Day

Hard to believe that I am already the father of a graduating son. Yet here I am, 31-years old and extremely proud of my Kindergarten graduate. Aiden and his classmates had a neat ceremony this week where the kids received a certificate of completion for the year with up to 8 official-looking stickers shining on the sides according to their year-round achievements. Aiden had 6. Not bad at all. In fact he was the ONLY child in his class to receive the Excellence in Reading sticker. That little dude can read! He also received the Science sticker to which upon announcement his teacher noted that all in his class, even herself, were more educated on the Solar System because of is knowledge. Nice. I'd like to take credit for this at this point being that I introduced him to "My Very Eager Mother Just Served Us Noodle Pie". I'd like to take credit, but he has surpassed me in understanding the atmosphere's of each planet! What a nerd...I love it!

When the ceremony was over, I sat and knew I had to do something to commemorate the moment. I ran and picked him up and swung him around, both of us laughing. I stopped spinning and just hugged him close. Then I whispered in his ear, "You know, the next time you graduate I won't be able to swing you around and hold you like this." He pulled his face off of my shoulder and looked at me with a sad look on his face. Then he lovingly replied, "Then I'm not going any further then Fifth Grade." Just when I think I got it all figured out, my 5-year old son shows me just how simple life and love should be.

Here's to you Bubba. You are the smartest, funniest, best-looking little dude I have ever met. I'm proud to be your daddy no matter what happens in life. I was never and never will be worthy of the gift from God that you are. But I am blessed that I have been given the task of leading you to knowing the Father who will never fail you if you only place your trust in Him.

Congratulations my beautiful baby boy! First Grade - HERE COMES AIDEN!!!

Bloggin Ain't Easy - The Wave Pool

It's been how long since my last post? Yeeesh....

Life happens fast. I should write that down somewhere and sell it to an insurance company to use as a slogan. BRILLIANT!

Seriously. The last month and a half has gone by terribly quick. I have a new job, my son is almost out of school for summer vacation. My wife is all over the place trying to keep things running smoothly. And my daughter....well, she's just stinky precious...I love you Babydoll.

The good news in all the chaos - God is still God!

Breeann and I took the kids to the wave pool this past saturday and I got more than I bargained for at $3.00 a person admission.

When I first mentioned the idea, the kids could care less. When we got there, the pool was all they could think about. Before I finished rubbing in the last bit of sunscreen on Aiden, he was chest deep in the calm waters. I quickly followed behind. To our surprise, he made himself quite at home in the pool without floaties. He jumped about, splashed and enjoyed the stillness; daddy not far behind. See even though the waters were calm at the moment, I knew it was just a matter of time before the chaos broke loose. And that's when it happened. The bell rang loud, the kids all screamed with glee, and Aiden freaked. Before he could make it to where I was, the first wave splashed hard against his back. Then another. This time his head went under the water. I quickly and calmly grabbed him and pulled him up to my chest. He caught his breath and it took just a few minutes for him to recover and build his confidence up enough to get back in.

But once he did, it was back to fun times. The process started with him holding my hand, and I took delight in his trusting me. It was awesome to know he needed me that close. But there was another side of me at work. I also desired to see him venture out further on his own but still mindful of my being close. Eventually, he did. I felt honored to see him bold and fearless in both calm and crashing waves. I remained close but took joy in seeing him having so much fun in the water. Every time that bell rang, he would look to me and make sure I was close and then off he went. There were times however that he would run out into the water and lose sight of where I was. Those were the most dangerous moments for him regardless as to whether he knew it or not. So I would stay in the back ground but always mindful of where he was and his state of safety. Breeann would say to me, "he's getting pretty far out there." and I'd say, "yup" but I wouldn't get any closer or let him know I was there. Then when the waves came crashing in, he would look frantically for me and I was right there. Obviously, I would never let him drown but he needed to figure out through the chaotic movement of the waters that he should always be mindful of just how close or how far he had gotten from me. I loved watching him make the most of his time in the water without me having to hold his hand, but I also wanted him to remember that he needed me close by.

No matter how chaotic things get, God is right there with us. Standing behind us watching, loving, enjoying who we are becoming because we have acknowledged him as our Lord and Savior. God knows that at anytime, the waves of life are going to begin crashing in and He allows us to remain in the water to endure thus allowing his Spirit to produce faith by reminding us that no matter how rough it gets, He is close by ready to pluck us from the water before we drown. The more experiences with the hardships of life we have, the more we realize how weak we are. And the weaker that we can admit we are, the more room we can give God to work in and through us. God loves us and wants the best for us even if our circumstances scare us, hurt us, or kill us. It doesn't matter the outcome. God is in control. He is the author and the finisher of our faith. He never starts on a negative and he never ends on a negative. We must trust Him. He's our daddy in the water, always smiling when we splash around, always ready to save us when we're in over our heads, and always desiring that we remember and acknowledge just how much we need Him there with us and in us.

I truly love my God. Lord, you are the best father anyone could ever know. I don't want another day here in the water to go by without having told you just how much I love you. And even then, my love for you is nothing compared to your love for me.

Ok...I gotta back into the water now!!!

4-Letter Word

Hebrews 12:2-4 (NIV)
2Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. 4In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.

Wow...think of how many lessons and principles can be extrapolated from this small chunk of scripture. My mind is racing! I'm going to try to focus and make this as brief as I can for the sake of my newly reformed ways of blogging. Let's focus in on verse 4.

How many Christians do we know who are struggling with sin? How many times have we struggled with sin? How can this be? Weren't we saved and delivered from the ignominy of sin altogether when we accepted the redeeming glory of the Cross? Why do so many Christians still struggle with sin then? The problem is found in a simple 4-letter word - with.

The scriptures states that we should struggle against sin, not with it. Why is this so important? What's in this 4-letter word? "With" is defined as: accompanied by; in some particular relation to; characterized by or having. In understanding what the word "with" implies, it becomes clear why Christians shouldn't struggle with sin.

When we accept the gift of grace, we proclaim a breaking of ties with sin, we denounced our relationship with sin, and we come to the realization that we are no longer characterized by sin. We are dead and it is Christ who lives through us! Our lives are now characterized by Christ. For this reason, we have been called to struggle against sin; to be in opposition of and in resistance to sin. Which brings us to the second half of the verse – the importance of resistance.

I dare to say that no one you have ever known has ever resisted anything to the point of shedding blood for it. And yet this is the level of resistance that is expected of us, if need be, when it comes to our struggle against sin. The truth is that we may never have to push resistance to such a severe degree. Most of us need to merely turn our eyes away from the half-naked woman on the billboard or go about or business when casual conversation turns into murmuring. But we must allow our willingness to resist to develop through the Holy Spirit.

God can only grow us through the testing of our faith. And as Dr. Edwin Louis Cole points out in, “The Power of Potential”, all testing is based on resistance. Whatever you give into in life grows stronger, while what you resist grows weaker. YOU MUST RESIST SIN! The Word says to flee its very appearance. Run away if need be. You must make the decision to have no association with sin.

"Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the Devil and he will flee from you" James 4:7 It's time to stop struggling with sin, and start struggling against it. It's through the struggle against sin, total submission to God, that the character of Christ can be developed in our lives.

IN GOD WE TRUST

"The motto IN GOD WE TRUST was placed on United States coins largely because of the increased religious sentiment existing during the Civil War. Secretary of the Treasury Salmon P. Chase received many appeals from devout persons throughout the country, urging that the United States recognize the Deity on United States coins. From Treasury Department records, it appears that the first such appeal came in a letter dated November 13, 1861. It was written to Secretary Chase by Rev. M. R. Watkinson, Minister of the Gospel from Ridleyville, Pennsylvania, and read:

Dear Sir: You are about to submit your annual report to the Congress respecting the affairs of the national finances.

One fact touching our currency has hitherto been seriously overlooked. I mean the recognition of the Almighty God in some form on our coins.

You are probably a Christian. What if our Republic were not shattered beyond reconstruction? Would not the antiquaries of succeeding centuries rightly reason from our past that we were a heathen nation? What I propose is that instead of the goddess of liberty we shall have next inside the 13 stars a ring inscribed with the words PERPETUAL UNION; within the ring the allseeing eye, crowned with a halo; beneath this eye the American flag, bearing in its field stars equal to the number of the States united; in the folds of the bars the words GOD, LIBERTY, LAW.

This would make a beautiful coin, to which no possible citizen could object. This would relieve us from the ignominy of heathenism. This would place us openly under the Divine protection we have personally claimed. From my hearth I have felt our national shame in disowning God as not the least of our present national disasters.

To you first I address a subject that must be agitated."

Read the full story.

The irony of the Rev. M.R. Watkinson's suggestion is that what was once meant for the acknowledgment of The Almighty has become an overlooked statement imprinted on the very thing that most people find themselves placing their trust in - the almighty dollar.

The state of our economy is at the top of the list of platforms for this coming election's presidential hopefuls. The falling U.S. dollar is a concern for all those involved in global trade. The fear of America being picked apart by countries to whom we are in debt weighs heavy on the back part of the minds of every hard-working American.

The American Dream is fast becoming nothing more than a fantasy to a nation who's people are individually in debt up to their eyeballs. We're wasting our lives at jobs we don't like to pay for things we don't really need. Materialism will only last a lifetime and is never worth the sacrifices we make to gain the money to sustain it's hold on us.

Money is just a concept. Purchasing goods and services with pieces of paper and metal is merely an idea that we place faith into. If we're not careful, chasing money becomes its own religion with money itself as our god and materialism as the lifestyle of worship to this god. Money is a god who's value always changes. But Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever (Heb 13:8).

If every bill and coin disappeared from my pocket and bank account today, my trust would remain in Christ. If tomorrow there was no food in my house or no roof over my family's head, my trust would still remain in Christ. My job is not my source. My paycheck is not my source. God is my source for all.

No matter what sort of financial need you might be in as you read this, God's desire to meet your need remains the same. No matter how bleak the situation may seem, God knows what he is doing. Trust Him enough to let Him do what He needs to do through your circumstance.

Although the value of the U.S. dollar may not be the same as it was in 1861, always remember that God is as worthy of our national motto today as he was then - IN GOD WE TRUST.

Clog vs. Blog

I was listening to a sports talk show one time and the host kept referring to his blog as a "clog". I was intrigued. I wasn't sure whether it was a blog on wooden shoes or how to deal with slow draining sinks. Turns out that he just calls his blog a clog because his pieces are long, in depth, and more like a column than a typical blog. A column/blog...a CLOG. Brilliant!

I realize that I am more of a clogger than a blogger. I enjoy writing out long and in depth pieces that allow me to share personal revelation. But the truth is, as I become more involved with live ministry, it can be hard to find time to sit at my pc and type out all the things that cross my mind during the day as 3-point sermons.

I would like to take this post to dedicate myself to being a blogger. There are way too many things that effect my life on a day-to-day basis to be too focused on writing out only the long stuff. My name is Abel, and I want to be an interweb blogger...(that sounds frickin' ridiculous)

Thanks to everyone who visits and comments. You guys are the entire reason I do this. God bless.

My New #1

I have a new #1 on my list of fellow bloggers and website recommendations - My lovely wife:

Unfinished thoughts....

Baby, you'll always been #1 in my heart...next to Jesus (that's Spanish for Jesus). But you get #1 on my list because you refer directly to me...and how cool I am...and how good-looking I am...ok, I don't think you have actually said any of these things, but I can tell you're thinking it as you write...AND THAT"S WHAT MATTERS!

I'm proud of you Bree. Welcome to the bloggity-blogosphere!

The Glorious Unseen

Tonight the Stars Speak by The Glorious Unseen

Beginning to end the best worship/prayer-time album I've had the recent pleasure of hearing.

GO BUY THE CD!

Check out some of the tracks: The Glorious Unseen

New post below this one...sorry to all who have been on me about not posting in so long!

He Gives and Takes Away (Fullness Through Emptiness)

Long version of my response to a great post on Paul Cole's Blog.
Read Paul's blog 'It's PRE not POST!'.

My Extended Comment:
Great point Paul. One of the biggest mistakes that a Christian can make is believing that Christianity is on the decline simply because main stream media is bias to a dominant world view. If we aren’t careful we will become discouraged by viewing Christianity in today’s world as non-influential and irrelevant. As believers, we cannot mix our ideas of where society and the church are headed with the truth of God's desire to draw us closer to Him and to each other. The anointing of God is more powerful today than it was 4000 years ago. Christ is more alive today than he was 2000 years ago. There are more believers in more countries today then there were 100 years ago. We serve a progressive God. The proof is in His patterns.

I agree with the idea of a circular pattern of “God’s giving and taking away”. Only it ministers to me in a slightly different order: He gives -> then the expanding takes place -> and finally he takes away only to come full circle to giving again, but to a greater capacity than each time before. The best illustration I can think of to support this view is in the preparation for competitive food eating. Months before the competition, the contestant drinks large amounts of water in short periods of time; increasing the amount and shortening the time as the training moves along. This stretches the stomach to a much greater capacity in a shorter amount of time. As the training moves on, water is replaced with solid foods. You can see where I’m going. The giving is the consumption of the water or food, the expansion takes place to train for greater capacity to contain, and then the taking away occurs naturally…we’ll leave it at that. Next time that the giving occurs, there is a greater capacity to hold the food or drink.
As the competitive food eaters train, they stretch their insides so that less pain might occur and so that the demanding conditions are healthier overall. The training leads to the day of the event, when the contestants push themselves to the very edge. Minutes into the event, painlessness and health are nowhere to be found. You’ll see all involved sweating, shaking, gasping, groaning, and even doubling over in pain as the final seconds close in. No matter how hard they trained and stretched, for the sake of victory they endure unimaginable amounts of pain and discomfort. The pain will eventually subside but the glory of being champion will stay with the competitor for a life-time.

Genesis 12:1-3, God establishes his covenant with Abraham to be made a great nation, that his name would forever be great and that he would be blessed, and that the whole earth would be blessed through him. None of these things happened within Abraham’s lifetime. In fact, the last part of the deal did not begin until Jesus was born out of the same blood-line almost 2000 years later. The Israelites went through countless circles of gaining, expanding, and suffering loss. But if they hadn’t endured this long period of stretching and expanding their capacity to receive God’s promise, Christ would have never come to endure the suffering of the Cross. And it was through Christ’s loss of earthly life, that he gained all authority in heaven and on earth (Matt 28:18), making us the recipients of an expanded anointing (John 14:12-14), making us a blessed people through being reconciled to the Father and thus fulfilling the covenant between God and Abraham.

Of course, with our having received the gift of unbroken fellowship with God comes the inevitable next phases of the circle – expansion and taking-away. James 1:2-4 says, “Consider it pure joy whenever you face trials of many kinds because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”

This is most definitely the “Pre-Christian” Era. The best days are ahead for those who stand on the Rock. Let’s remember to not focus on what we’re going through, but what we’re going to. I’m happy to be 31-years young and on fire for God. I can only imagine everything that God is preparing to pour out on His people in my lifetime. Here’s to the best years of glory-to-glory being ahead of us!

A Relationship with Jesus? (Part 3)

THE BOSS
I enjoy working for my boss. I know a lot of guys who can’t stand the person or people they work for. But I’ll be quite honest; my boss is a neat guy. We have a relationship that allows us to joke with each other and have fun when it’s appropriate to do so. But I know that when it’s time to handle business, I better be on the ball. If my boss says to me, “I want you to go see this customer today and tell him that his price for this product is going up”, I better go that day and take care of what he’s asked. My boss knows me well enough to know that when he wants something handled, I’ll go out and take care of it. And I believe this is why we have a great working relationship with a growing minor in personal matters.

Likewise, if I decided one day to just stop doing what it was I was supposed to do; If I just lost my mind for a week and decided I wasn’t going to handle my responsibilities, it wouldn’t take long for my boss to find out about it. He’d have every customer on the north side of Houston calling him directly to find out what was going on. On that day, my boss would know exactly who to get a hold of to find out what the problem was. He would not hesitate to speed-dial me and set me straight.

As his employee, I am an extension of who he is. If I look bad, he looks bad. And if he looks really bad, I look really unemployed! I know my place and I know my relationship with my boss. It’s business first and then a personal relationship second. He is the much needed authority in my life as far as my career is concerned. If I don’t appropriate my relationship with him, I’m out of a job. Fortunately for the both of us, I continue to work hard and remain faithful, accessible, and teachable to him. I have a profound respect for my boss’ authority in my life.

Matthew 7:21-23 says, "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'

There are going to be many on that day who will honestly believe that they had a close and personal relationship with Jesus. There will be those who think because they simply acknowledged him as “Lord” that Jesus knows who they are. There will be those who prophesied in His very name and will still get blank stares. There will be those who on Earth, had faith enough to cast out demons and perform miracles just like Jesus did and his name and Jesus will scratch his head as if to say, “…awkarrrrd…” And then He’ll say, “I’m really sorry. I don’t believe we’ve ever met. I wish we had. I’m sorry.” How can this be possible? I believe the answer lies in submission to God’s will…or lack thereof.

You see my boss knows me. If someone were to ask him if he knew Abel Villarreal, I have no doubt that he would say he knew me well. Without a willingness to submit to my boss’ authority and my taking up of the responsibilities associated with my position under him, I mean nothing to his department. I’m just some overpaid warm body on the company’s payroll. If on the day my boss calls me into his office and tells me that it’s time for a review and I’ve done nothing to merit my position with the company, my attempts to not get fired are going to sound a lot like Matthew 7:21-23.

And my boss will warn me before the review begins, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Manager, manager' will keep their employment status, but only he who does what is expected by the owner and CEO of the company. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Manager, manager’ did we not hype-up the products to prospective buyers, and for the sake of the company sell cases of products and bring new customers?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you unemployed!'”

Dr. Edwin Louis Cole wrote, “You cannot compensate by sacrifice what you lose through disobedience.” There will be many who try old tricks on the Day of Judgment. They’ll try to bargain through sacrifice to avoid the flames. “How about if I give myself to the flames of Hell for half a millennia and then come to be with you for the other half Lord?” I’m just being silly, but believe me there will be those who are going to plea for their souls and sadly, it will be too late. If my boss were to fire me for not doing my job, do you suppose I could get it back if I swore to work 80 hours a week rather than 40? I don’t think so. God takes disobedience seriously.

If God says to do a thing, you better do it. If He has instructed you to not do a thing, don’t do it. If He says not to hang around certain people, you’d better stay away. As the immediate authority in my son’s life, I teach him the importance of obedience on a daily basis it seems. I explain it very simply as, “obedience brings blessings, disobedience brings curses.” He understands blessings as rewards and protection from Mommy and Daddy. He feels curses in the form of taking away of privileges and the reddening of his backside. I feel that more importantly than any other lesson in life, he must understand this principle – obedience to authority is God’s way of protecting his people. It’s also the way to ensure that on the day we meet our Jesus face-to-face, rather than turn us away to eternal damnation, He’ll embrace us and lovingly say, “well done good and faithful servant!”

When we are committed to live completely submitted to the truth that it is no longer we that live but Christ who lives in us, we will seek to do that which Jesus did – the will of His Heavenly Father. Christ did not struggle with disobedience to authority. He took pleasure in his relationship of submission to God. He could not have lived the life that He lived without a complete dependence on God as his master and direct authority. When we live submitted to Christ, we don’t need to worry about the latest Christian catch-phrase bringing others into understanding the call to live for God. When people see that we no longer live our lives for ourselves they will take notice of the difference in us. And when they ask, “what is that?”, we can readily say, “let me show you a Bible scripture that forever changed my life.” On that day we can proudly show them Jesus.

A Relationship with Jesus? (Part 2)

THE ROOMMATE
There’s an old saying here in Texas that goes, “Everybody wants to go to Heaven, but nobody wants to die.” Everyone wants the benefits without the sacrifice. Everyone wants to have the fruit without taking time to nurture and care for the tree. It’s the reason why people go broke trying to get rich quick. It’s the reason why so many people find themselves up to their eye-balls in credit card debt. It’s the reason why sexual impurity runs so rampant in our culture.

In his book, Sexual Integrity, Dr. Edwin Louis Cole writes of relationships, “Living together is involvement; being married is commitment”. He was speaking to the epidemic of men allowing not only themselves, but the woman they live with to partake in what I call the sin of cohabitation - wanting the benefits of being married without the sacred commitment of being married.

If we aren’t careful with the way we approach our relationship with our Lord and Savior, we merely allow Him to cohabitate rather than allow Him to take His place as the supreme authority, head-priest, and chief decision-maker in our lives. Without understanding that God has called us to submit to his authority, we will make the mistake of thinking we are simply partners in life; that we have an angelic roommate in Jesus.

When I was 20-years old, a good friend and I went out and bought our independence at the price of a shared apartment. It was a good time in my life. We had a great living relationship. We never had any real roommate issues with each other. But there were certainly times when each of us felt that the other could be pulling a little more weight around the apartment in the area of grocery shopping. The only problem with bringing up the point was that because we were both only friends and roommates, neither one of us could expect the other to do those extra things that we thought he should do.

There was no commitment to food inventory in our relationship. Our agreement of cohabitation ran as deep as “have your half of the rent together by the first of the month.” That was it. Yet we both had expectations of each other that exceeded our level of commitment. So consequently, we faced the occasional arguement over who was to blame for seasons of cereal with no milk, bologna with no bread. I spent more money and time on Jack in the Box in that period in my life than at any other. There were definite times of frustration for the both of us when it came time to eat around our apartment.

Christians spend a lot of time frustrated with a Christ who doesn’t bless them with the job they wanted or the car they thought they needed. Christians lose faith when loved-ones die of cancer and their spouses divorce them to be with another person; Christians who had a close and personal relationship with Jesus. The problem is that we have a higher expectation of who it is God should be than level of commitment to allowing God to be who it is He needs to be. God is not a roommate or chum. We are to live in complete surrender to who He is and accept the grace and mercy He sheds on our lives as our protector, provider, and master. We must believe that His role in our lives is to be one of sovereign authority. It’s in appropriation of God being seated on the high throne of our lives that we will see every circumstance, no matter how desperate, as nothing less than an opportunity for Christ to be revealed. It’s in the application of this truth that we will begin to see Jesus manifest Himself as our provider, counselor, and friend.

CMN Newsletter 2-25-08

Brother
A discouraged, depressed and desperate woman with no children, no hope and no future was addressed in a passage of scripture from Isaiah 54:1-4. In the midst of her despair and pain, the prophet said “Get up in faith! Start moving into the destiny you can only see in faith! Get ready, here it comes!” The prophet said she must INCREASE HER CAPACITY for a miracle!

What is your capacity? God is not concerned with how large our bank account is, the size of our church, or the number of letters after our names from our education—He wants us to have a LARGE IMPACT in culture!

IMPACT IS ABOUT ‘CAPACITY’...
“Begin to sing!” the Lord tells us today from this ancient text—“You’re about to give birth, and you’ll have more children than anyone else! Enlarge your place!”

FAITH sings about the coming blessings of God! Faith believes. Faith has HOPE. Faith enlarges its space—shows evidence of expectation! Faith listens to the Word! Faith expects God to act. “Expectation is the atmosphere for miracles.”

God changed Abram, “the father of many,” to Abraham, “the father of nations”—even though he was not yet the father of “many” or “any”! God said, “Abraham, your prosperity is on the way, now start to call yourself by that name!”—Every time Abraham said his name he spoke faith over his life, though he had not seen it yet!

ARE YOU DARING AND RADICAL ENOUGH TO CALL YOURSELF WHAT YOU SEE YOUR DESTINY AS? “WORLDCHANGER”—“HISTORYMAKER”—“A MAN OF IMPACT”

Jesus told the disciples go to Jerusalem and do not leave “until you have the Promise.” They were to be ‘filled’ with power from the Holy Spirit...Filled—not immersed, covered, shrouded with—FILLED!

SOLOMON asked for wisdom...GOD GAVE HIM WISDOM AND KNOWLEDGEAND LARGENESS OF HEART—God said in essence, “Solomon, to do what I need you to do, you must get larger, bigger...”

Being “filled” is directly related to our capacity...OUR CAPACITY MUST INCREASE TO FULFILL OUR DESTINY.

LARGER PEOPLE...LARGER IMPACT!

Two ways stretch the size of our capacity:
INTIMACY—Time with the Father: practicing His presence, prayer, Word, time with the brethren, worship, meditation on the Word.
ADVERSITY—James said, ‘Count it all joy’ when we encounter problems (James 1) because he knew the result of adversity would increase strength, largeness of heart, capacity in the inner man.

We cannot allow little voices of doubt, nagging defeat from the past, inferiority (measuring ourselves by others), comments from unbelievers or anything else stop us. God said it would not be by our own strength and human spirit, but that it would be “NOT BY MIGHT, NOR BY POWER—BUT, BY MY SPIRIT SAYS THE LORD!” (Zech 4)

Stretching is not easy, but it doesn’t break us. We become malleable and easily molded into Christlikeness through our intimacy with him. We are shaped and our characters are formed as we step out of our prayer closet and overcome adversity.

Let’s not resist being stretched—let’s get large as men who are sent into the world to make IMPACT!

INCREASED CAPACITY, INCREASED IMPACT!

Grace/peace
Paul L. Cole
PresidentCMN Worldwide

A Relationship with Jesus? (Part 1)

THE PHRASE
I was at a restaurant having lunch a few weeks back with a few of my co-workers when one of them, a feisty devout Catholic, asked the rest of us charismatic crazies what our stance was on the salvation issue. You know the topic. You’ve probably been suckered into the same conversation at some time – “do you believe in once-saved-always-saved?” (I can hear the moans and groans as I type) I’ve wised up recently to stay away from this conversation when it’s possible. Too often these talks wind-up in hurt feelings, damaged relationships, and most regrettably – a splintered gospel.

As I sat quietly and let my Protestant brethren tackle the answer, I prayed to myself and simply listened to the debate. At some point someone told our Catholic co-worker that “Christianity isn’t about religion, it’s about a personal relationship with Jesus Christ”. A personal relationship with Jesus Christ? My full-gospel buddies in the Lord, I ask you – how many times have we either heard or uttered that sentence? Why do we believe that these words alone will lead others into understanding our earthly and eternal purpose? I believe that at one time this statement held significant meaning, but without extremely careful follow-up conversation, it’s simply a bastardized phrase that no longer holds the power that we thought it once did. Yet still, without thought, we say it and say it and hope that someone will hear it and suddenly find themselves in hot-pursuit of a “relationship” with our Lord.

Please don’t misunderstand me, I commend my co-worker for what she was trying to convey. I’m not knocking her for saying it. In fact, I probably used the same phrase in talking to someone else the day before. But for the first time, on this particular day, I heard how little this phrase helps someone, saved or unsaved, understand what kind of life we have been called to in Christ.

Although I completely agree that we have been called to a personal relationship with Jesus, there is an even bigger chunk of this very truth that the American church has been surgically removing from the equation – the type of relationship it is we have been called to with Jesus. We have been called to a relationship of submission to Christ. It is the removal of this key component of the gospel that has caused an epidemic of powerless Christianity.

As passionate followers of Jesus, we want nothing more than to see others desire to seek after God with the same level of reckless abandon that He has worked into our hearts through our experiences with Him. We search for the right things to say to get them on the "fast-track" to the same Jesus we know. We want to be able to explain to our loved-ones with a witty one-liner approach what being a Christian is all about. The truth is there are no one-liners that we can come up with that will magically illustrate what it means to live a God-pleasing life. But because we want everyone to feel good about the decision to follow Christ, we use these words and unknowingly hide the gospel of submission behind the fluff of friendship with the Almighty.

So we say things like, “Don’t worry about religion. Religion is bad! It’s about having a close and personal relationship with Jesus!” Then we follow-up with , “You just have to ask Jesus to live in your heart, and pray to Him every now and then and try to read your Bible when you get a chance, and love Him and know that He loves you…that’s it!” The biggest problem with this vague approach to truth is that it creates a life aware of Jesus, not a life hidden in Him. It produces the gospel of cheap grace, not a gospel of complete self-denial.

I’m not against one-liners for the sake of causing conversation or interest in Christianity. In fact, there’s a really great book that I know of that is filled with just over 30,000 effective “ice-breakers”. It’s called the Holy Bible and I highly recommend it to everyone. And just to prove that I completely support a quick way to sum-up what it is you believe as a Christian; what it all boils down to, I’ll give you the one verse that I believe works best for striking-up conversation and stirring-up intrigue while vividly illustrating what it means to live a God-pleasing life:

“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” Galatians 2:20 (NIV)

CMN Newsletter 2-13-08

I am going to post these as I get them. If you are a Christian man and are not currently receiving these newsletters, let me encourage you to visit CMN Worldwide’s website and sign up! I recently had the privilege of attending CMN’s 30th anniversary event – Lion’s Roar ’07 in Dallas, TX. What an honor to be associated with greatness for God in the form of the global Christian men’s movement. Paul Cole is running full-sprint with the vision his father, Dr. Edwin Louis Cole, had for all men around the world. The men of our church are in continual prayer for Paul and all he is doing for the sake of the Kingdom. We love you Paul. Keep doin' work!

The newsletter circulates via electronic-mail to men all over the world. There were only a few pictures featured on the newsletter. I was excited when I realized that there, sandwiched between a photo of Robert Barriger (leader of the largest church in South America) and Paul Cole (President of CMN Worldwide) was a shot of me and my good friend, Andrew, getting-down in some hard-core prayer at the Lion's Roar '07 conference. Awesomness...
-av

Brother -
Confusion breeds mediocrity...our culture is confused on the definition of manhood. That one issue is deeply and negatively affecting all areas of culture.

Today I’m in Peru...at Robert Barriger’s massive conference “Corazon” (which means ‘heart’). We are meeting with dozens of leaders from the nations of South and Central America—we are in an amazing season of exponential growth!

Pastor Jimmy Cornejo told me this story...of the first 20 men they commissioned in Ecuador just 4 years ago, 12 have launched churches—7 are strong, active leaders in his church in Cuenca...awesome!

These are the reports we are hearing every day from all over the world...Uganda, Indonesia, Germany, Ukraine, New Zealand...

Pastors are leading the charge to take their nations...discipling men, building the church...changing culture!

WE ARE CHALLENGING/CONFRONTING THE CONFUSION OF THE CULTURE!

You and I know that to set culture on the right course, we must impress the men of this generation with the message that “Manhood and Christlikeness are Synonymous.

When men don’t know where they are headed, they slow down...when men don’t know the essence of manhood, they back off—living lives safely secure in mediocrity...

Mediocre manhood is the dragging riptide of our culture...Mediocre men are immature men—irresponsible, unteachable, painfully selfish.

The demasculination of our churches has led to a feminization of the discipling process that does not attract strong men...To keep up ‘numbers’ we end up training pastors to cater to the mediocrity of men...intimidated by strong men and not wanting to ‘rock the boat’...

Let’s do more than rock the boat! Let’s blow up the boat!

Mediocrity enslaves men in the sin of substitution.

Mediocre men want:
authority without accountability
position without the price
power without the process
the applause of men rather than the presence of God

In 1 Kings 14 the enemy stole the gold shields from the temple—symbolic of God’s authority, presence and power...

Unbelieving, confused Israelites replaced the gold with brass shields...symbolic of the strength of man...THE SIN OF SUBSTITUTION...

Our church culture and culture in general is in a state of confusion. We substitute:
humanity for divinity
works for faith
talent for anointing
respectability for righteousness
tolerance for love
Fathers substitute toys for time.
Husbands substitute money for affection.
Pastors substitute personality for character.

We must rescue men from the morass of mediocrity, clearing the cobwebs of confusion...bold in our message, strong in our presentation, sure in our faith.

Let’s lead a men’s movement of powerful, humble servant leaders.
The world needs your confident faith...the world needs your message.
The world needs your Jesus!
We can change the world!
Let’s do it—one man at a time!

Paul L. Cole
President
CMN Worldwide

Mission Impossible

"Did Jesus choose to die for our atonement, or was he commanded by God to die for us?" This question came up recently as I had coffee with two of my co-workers. I knew what I believed to be true but was unsure of how to answer. I promised them I would get back to them on the matter soon. Later that night, after seeking the Lord in prayer and seeking His wisdom in the Word, I wrote this:

If you Google search enough you’ll find arguments for both sides. I personally feel that reading too deeply into the meaning of what is sometimes obvious scripture can wind-up being more of a hindrance to a believer’s walk with Christ than a release of revelation. What we seek to prove through humanistic rationalization usually becomes a basis for argument rather than an understanding of truth. My rule of thumb for reading scripture is to take my understanding from spiritual discernment first and literal understanding second. I once heard a pastor say, “On the day of judgment, I would rather be guilty of taking God’s Word too literally than not literally enough!”

These are the words of Christ himself:
"I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me — just as the Father knows me and I know the Father — and I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd. The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life — only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father." (John 10:14-18, NIV)

If you are familiar with the movie or old-school TV show Mission Impossible, you undoubtedly know the secret agent, Ethan Hunt…coolest character name of all time. Ethan Hunt is not a secret agent by order, he is an elite government agent who is willing and capable of doing the toughest and most dangerous jobs for the sake of national security or offensive-strike against terrorist organizations. His missions are presented to him as “…if you choose to accept”. He is not obligated to accept the mission. It’s not a command from his authority to risk his life. He accepts the mission only after having heard the objectives, directives, and possible risks. If he agrees, then off he goes - parachuting from a high-altitude plane into the jungles of some far-away country hoping to successfully complete his mission and make it back alive.

Like Ethan Hunt, Jesus Christ also accepted a seemingly impossible mission – reconcile all of humanity back into perfect fellowship with God the Father. Jesus’ mission was presented to Him as “…if you choose to accept”. The word says, “no one takes [my life] from me, but I lay it down of my own accord”. Jesus understood the objectives, directives, and risks involved. He knew that at the end of this mission, he would have to suffer horrific torture and experience the violent sting of death. Knowing these details, he still accepted the mission.

No mission this big can be improvised, and so it required directives, lest the mission be compromised. The “command” Jesus received from his Father were the careful instructions on how He would need to live and when and how He would need to die in order to successfully complete the mission.

While on his missions, Ethan Hunt would usually need access cards to special rooms and pass codes to hack enemy intelligence, so these were granted to him by his commanding authority. Likewise, God granted Christ the authority to both give up His life and more importantly, take it back up.

So with all the pieces in place , Christ entered the world as a baby, lived a God-pleasing life, and died a criminal’s death. Praise be to God that death on a cross was not the final objective. We know that on the third day after Christ’s death, he rose again! Jesus’ resurrection has freed us from death and now we can live eternally in fellowship with God and with the One who chose to accept a mission that for anyone else, would have been impossible.

God Bless Evolution!

Recently, actor Matthew McConaughey, of such movies as Sahara and We are Marshall, announced on his website his excitement over learning that he and his girlfriend, Camila Alves, are expecting a child. He wrote the following:

"We are stoked and wowed by this miracle of creation and this gift from God, and so excited for the adventure that will come in raising this child, being mother and a father, and shepherding him or her through this life.”

“Wish us the best, keep us in your prayers, and God bless evolution. Thanks for being fans of me and my work and now this new and miraculous chapter in my life, as me and Camila and our child do our best to just keep living.”

No matter your creed, race, or religion; A-list celebrity or indigenous tribesman - there is no denying the miracle of birth. I don’t know who or what Matthew McConaughey confesses to be “God” in his life, but he is undoubtedly experiencing the same joy that the only true Living God felt the moment He created you and me. I believe that the joy of new life is one given to us by God and is right up there with the joys that we should be experiencing daily knowing that Christ lives through us despite our sinful past and that our spouses live with us despite our present imperfections!

We should all be “stoked and wowed” by the every-day adventure of raising a family. There is no greater calling in life! As family men, we have all been called to be the shepherds of our homes. We are the ministers, pastors, and head-priests to our wives and children. As parents, we have been called to lead our families into a better understanding of God. As believers, we have been commissioned to make disciples of nations. But how do we know if we are properly equipped to tackle the awesome adventure of family ministry or ministry to the unsaved? Theologian, Matthew McConaughey eludes to the answer – evolution!

One definition of evolution is, a gradual process in which something changes into a different and usually more complex or better form. As a Christian, I must confess – I believe in evolution. I’m not talking about Darwin’s theory of evolution or natural selection. I’m talking about the need for professing Christians to change and become something more than we are today so that we can truly live and ensure an even better tomorrow for our families and for those whom we love and influence. I’m talking about a God-directed spiritual evolution. It’s an evolution that begins with a flesh-driven sinner and matures to a Spirit-filled believer. We become a different, more complex and better form only when we have disappeared and Christ is revealed through us.

Romans 12:2 reads: “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” (NIV)

If we are not experiencing a continual transformation in the way that we walk, talk, act, and think, odds are that we are not allowing the spiritual evolution that God designed for us, through the completed work of the Cross, to take place in our lives. My pastor coined this process as “progressive realization”. Progressive realization is the Holy Spirit impressing His righteousness upon our hearts by allowing us to see the areas of our lives that we have yet to surrender and submit to His will. We must be obedient to the call of not just changing, but exchanging our will for His. As Christ-led leaders, we need to be setting the example through our lifestyle. It is, after all, through example that we assume the kind of leadership that Christ has directed us to - servant leadership. Our families and loved ones will only respond to the need for change when we first acknowledge and respond to the need for change within ourselves.

It’s through the evidence of change in our lives that others will understand God’s perfect will and perfect love for their lives. We must break out of the pattern that this world sets and adopt the pattern that Christ lived and has laid out in the Word. It’s time to recongize the need for the continual exchange of our will for His. It’s time to become something better; not just for ourselves but for the lost, weary, and broken. It’s time to become Christ to the world around us. God bless evolution!

Of Rats and Men

This is the essay that started me back on the path to writing. I was in prayer when the image of a rat eating poison came to my mind. Through obedience to the Holy Spirit, I got up from my knees and sat down at my computer to type this out:


Am I the only one fascinated with how rat poison works? I find it quite interesting. Rats instinctively will eat just a tiny portion of their chosen meal and wait to see if it makes them sick, if they don’t feel sick within moments of the sampling, they proceed with the feast. So the rat, in need of nourishment, wanders into a home and finds the poison, hoping it will satisfy his ever-existing hunger. Even to a desperate scavenger, the deadly pellet can’t be the most appetizing thing he has ever laid his beady eyes on, but it’s something…and in his search to fill his belly, it’s certainly better than nothing! He tastes it, and when he does not immediately feel the adverse effects, he assumes it can’t be bad for him and continues to eat what will more than likely end up being his last meal. After the poison is devoured, he licks his nasty little rat fingers and moves along in his life’s journey of satisfying his unquenchable appetite. Little does he know that in just a few minutes of eating this particular dinner, an unseen chemical reaction will begin to take place at his very core.

The chief chemical used in most modern raticides is warfarin. This chemical works by clotting the blood, restricting blood flow and as a result causes the rodent to experience extreme thirst. In his new pursuit of quenching his thirst, the rat leaves the comforts of the human’s home in search of water to drink, thinking that the water will make his ill feeling go away. The harsh reality is, at this point, there is not enough water in the world that can save the rat’s life. The rat will die because his choice of food for the day, which seemed to be the answer for that hunger that lived in him, only lead him to thirst for another dead-end solution for his need to survive.

As Christians, we have been called to more than just survive. We have a much greater calling on our life than to just find our next temporary fix. We were not created to go from hunger-to-hunger or thirst-to-thirst. We were created to live from “glory-to-glory”. Yet time and time again, we see Christians in hot-pursuit of all the ‘stuff’ in this world that readily offers a solution to those hungers that live inside of us. We want to nibble at the subtle offerings of this life and see if it makes us sick right away. And when we don’t see or feel the effects right away, we assume it can’t be bad and eventually find ourselves immersed in a lifestyle that was never intended for us.

Matthew 6:33 says, “Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you.” Our purpose in life is two-fold: to seek after that which pleases our Father in Heaven through a pursuit of eternal significance (the Kingdom of God), and strive for the character of God in every area of our lives, thus fulfilling our earthly purpose (His righteousness). Then all the other things that are needed in this life…and yes, even those things which we desire (the stuff) will be added to us, according to His will for our lives. Too often, as Christians, we find ourselves part of the “rat race” and find that we’re running harder and faster than ever before in pursuit of the things of this life. God has created us with a wonderful desire to want more out of life. This was in hopes that we would one day discover that this driving force, in us all, was placed there so that we would come to know Him more. But so many Christians have mistaken this divinely appointed desire for something else. It’s an error of mere degrees, in which we don’t put our trust in God, but rather in the blessings of God.

When our focus is on the blessings of God and not God himself, we find ourselves headlong in the sin of idolatry. When we plant the seed of idolatry in our core, we also gain a thirst to water that seed by continuing the pursuit of things rather than the pursuit of God. Before we even know what happened, we become like the unbelieving world; running full-speed, aimlessly through life trying to satisfy the unquenchable thirst for bigger houses, better paying jobs, and nicer cars. We wind up another contestant in the always tiring, never-ending “rat-race”. We completely lose sight of God Himself being the answer to all of our hungers and thirsts in life; the simple truth of Matthew 6:33. Psalms 107:8-9 says it this way, “Let them give thanks to the Lord for His unfailing love and His wonderful deeds for men, for He satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things.” God longs to satisfy our needs. He takes pleasure in doing so. When we make Him the focus of our Christian walk, He cares for us in ways we can not fathom. He is the source for all we’ll ever need.

When we chose to follow after Christ, and trust God with our sin-dead lives, we turned our back on that old life of fending for ourselves. We are now in fellowship with the Almighty who owns everything in the universe and gives freely to those who live to know Him. God has invited us to feast at His table and enjoy the best of all He has to give. Jesus said, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry and he who believes in me will never be thirsty” (John 6:35). A rat’s life is no life for a Christian. We have no business blindly taste-testing the things of this world. When we do so, we put God’s will for our lives on the line. And if we’re too careless, we could risk our very lives. All we’ll ever need, in this life and the next, is found in Him. Christians, it’s time to put our faith and trust for provision back on the Lord. Once we have done that, we can get back to our true purpose in life – seeking His eternal Kingdom and pursuing His ever-blessed righteousness.

"LET'S GET IT ON!"

First, let me thank you for visiting this blog. My prayer is that anyone who reads these pages will be inspired to seek out for themselves who God is, what He demands from us, and all that He desires for us. Secondly, this blog belongs to Christ. I have merely been given the task to maintain this little corner of the blogosphere for Him. It is truly an honor and a privilege. Thirdly, I’d like to thank my pastor and friend since the days of He-Man action figures, Steve Trevino, for encouraging me to write consistently and playing a role in the decision to start this thing…I really needed to stop blogging his blog (see – any ridiculously long “comment” on Steve’s blog). I love you man. I’m glad that we have not only begun to rebuild a friendship but also established a relation of discipleship. I’m proud to call you my pastor and spiritual leader.


Most guys know that the term “tap-out” comes from the wonderful world of combat sports or what is more popularly known these days as mixed martial arts. Tapping-out is simply a term for when a fighter taps the mat with a hand to signify to their opponent and/or referee that they have chosen to yield to the opponent during a match, resulting in an immediate loss of the match. A tap-out is usually the only choice a fighter might have if he has been caught by a submission move, or a move in combat sports that limits movement or the ability to breathe and almost always causes an extreme amount of pain or discomfort and in some cases broken bones and torn muscles.


As I watched a UFC highlight show one night, I was prompted by the Spirit…and Big John McCarthy…to a deeper truth behind the reality of the submission move. As Christians, we have all been called to a relationship of complete submission to God’s will for our lives. There are those Chritians who don’t have an understanding of this yet and those who do. For those Christians that do understand the importance of submission to Christ, there are two more categories – those who have tapped-out and begun the process of progressively realizing God’s will for their lives and those who are still lying flat on their backs, experiencing pain and discomfort because of their unwillingness to embrace the completed work of the Cross. Realizing God’s will for our life and being fully committed and completely submitted to it is the key to unlocking everything we will ever need to walk a purposeful Christian life.


This blog is more than just letters and words floating in the vastness of the information super highway. It’s more than just a means for me to get God-inspired thought onto a forum. This is your chance to share what God is doing in your life through the decision to live in complete submission to Him. I encourage you to leave comments and in doing so, sharing in the ministry of this blog. Feel free to email me directly should you ever have any concerns or questions - abelsfault05@hotmail.com.
God bless you guys.


So having said all that, in the words of the great BJM, “LET’S GET IT ON!”