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.
Monday, March 31, 2008
Thursday, March 27, 2008
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!
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!
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
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!
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!
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
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.
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.
Saturday, March 1, 2008
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.
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.
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