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God WILL Make A Way!

Posted in By Cheryl Huston 0 comments

Good morning everyone!
I pray that everyone has had a blessed week. A popular saying among Believers is 'If God brought you to it, He will bring you though it!' And that is very true. We pray all the time for God to shower down His blessings on us, but many times when we receive them, we begin to worry about how we are going to handle them. But I tell you, we don't need to worry. God will provide us with what we need to fulfil our purpose and to use the blessings He sends us.
If God blesses you to have a job, family, ministry, He will give you the strength, energy, knowledge and anything else necessary for you to do His will. All He wants from us is to believe that He is and believe that He can do it ALL!!!
So, when you ask and receive blessings, believe God will provide everything you need to go with those blessings! Don't worry about how you going do anything, God WILL make a way!
Have a blessed day everybody!
Cheryl

Perception

Posted in By Misti Runyan 0 comments

Jesus freak. Bible thumper. Holier-than-thou. HYPOCRITE.

Christians have been called these names and more by unbelievers since Christianity began. Many of the lost people in our world harbor anger against us because they recognize unresolved sin in their lives. Others hate us simply because we are. But sometimes, their dislike is justified.

Obviously, we can point to the extremists in this world and place some blame on them for tarnishing the image of Christ-followers. The "church" that has made it their goal to protest funerals of war veterans are clearly not following the teachings of The Most High. Picketers carrying signs saying, "God hates fags" seem to have never read about the boundless love God has for all His children-believer or not. However, that is not the whole story.

Christians are sinners just like non-believers. We still wrestle with God for control of our lives, and no matter how hard we try to resist, we will all continue to be sinners until the Lord brings us home. Through God's grace, we are restored to Him, and we are given Heaven as our eternal home. Sometimes, we forget to acknowledge these truths.

How many times I have heard someone describe a church they have visited as "closed-off", "uninviting",or "intimidating". This is such a sad testimony to our Lord Jesus Christ! Jesus never brushed off anyone or refused to make Himself available to those who sought Him. I truly believe that the God who made Himself man and gave up everything for us is saddened when He sees the lost turned away from establishments proclaiming to be His house.

Individually as believers, we cannot refuse to associate with the lost. That puts off an attitude of "I'm better than you." Jesus ate and stayed with corrupt men and prostitutes. Imagine what society would think of that! What Jesus did not do was allow that corruption to affect Him. He lovingly called sinners to a higher standard of behavior-He called them to follow Him.

I think we all need to look closely at our public demeanor. We need to prune out attitudes and actions that would cause unbelievers to describe us in one of the ways listed above. LOVE should permeate our lives, and should be evident in our speech, our actions, and our relationships. Take a look today at 1 Corinthians 13 and pick out some of those characteristics which may not apply to you. Ask the Lord to change your heart and give you those attitudes, so that we can fulfill The Great Commission in our homes and communities.

If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing.
Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud
or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance. vv.3-8

Iron Sharpens...

Posted in By Mike Johns 0 comments

I love the verse “as iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.”  Proverbs 27:17
Today I see it in a completely different light.  
I wonder if there is more to the verse than we are reading…   
I have always really held this verse closely as an accountability verse; we need people in our lives that sharpen us.  We need people in our lives that hold us to a higher standard.  
But does iron really sharpen iron?
My understanding is that iron really dulls iron – Is it impossible for two items of the same core strength to sharpen each other?

What if this proverb was looked at more simplistic and logical?  After all, isn’t that what the proverbs are simple yet logical observations in live?
What if it were not looked at through a positive, affirming light?
We understand that many of the proverbs are somewhat witty, if not completely satirical.  We also understand that God has a sense of humor and a unique way of pointing us back to Him.

As I understand it, we need something harder to sharpen a blade.  When I go to sharpen a kitchen knife, I do not just run to my silverware drawer and start rubbing knives together.  That would be ludicrous; I would end up with two butter knives.  I have to have a stone, a flint, a rock to rub them against to get the blade to proper sharpness.  As side note, I notice that older knives that have been sharpened are less and less of the original iron… the blade becomes smaller.  What a great picture of how we need to grow as followers of Jesus.
So – does iron sharpen iron?  No it just creates heat and creates dullness.

What if the point is the obvious, that man does not sharpen man… we need something stronger, more solid.  We need a rock or a stone to be sharpened.  Continually in scripture, God is referred to as a Rock or a Stone.  What if the point is that real growth has to come based on our contact with the Rock.  True growth is from God… it is an incredible blessing that sometimes He allows us to take part in a fellow believer’s life.

I see this in my experience with accountability and relationships.  I notice that sometimes our attempt at iron sharpening iron, to hold someone accountable, just creates heat and anger.  I am not a Hebrew scholar, but I understand, that the Hebrew word for “sharpen” refers to fierceness, anger, or heat.  I have experienced people who become angry when we attempt to hold them accountable.  This has gone to the point that I feel powerless and incredibly inept at speaking words of life into them.

What are your thoughts?

The Sin of Gossip

Posted in By Patty Kennedy 0 comments


"Brothers and sisters, do not tell evil lies about each other. If you speak against your fellow believers or judge them, you are judging and speaking against the law they follow. And when you are judging the law, you are no longer a follower of the law. You have become a judge" (James 4:11, NCV).

The context of this Scripture conveys the sort of gossip engaged in when the object of the gossip is not there to defend herself/himself. Indeed, that is the hallmark of gossip, isn't it? It wouldn't be gossip if we did it to someone's face.

Have you ever challenged a juicy bit of gossip? I try to defuse it whenever possible, and generally I ask the carrier of the tale where they heard it, and if they know it is true. This typically causes two reactions:

  1. It causes the person embarrassment because my question has made them realize they are gossiping.
  2. The person will shift blame to an ambiguous "they" (e.g., "They said they saw...etc."). Often when I ask who "they" are, the person cannot identify the culprit, leading me to believe several people may have been involved in the process.

William Barclay's commentary states that the Bible condemns few sins as unsparingly as it does gossip, for two fundamental reasons:

  1. It is a breach of the law that we are to love our neighbor as ourselves.
  2. It is an infringement of God's prerogative; the right to judge belongs to Him alone.

I could never understand why such a vicious sin is sometimes referred to as "idle gossip." There is nothing idle about it; it is a parasite that leaves one host and quickly travels to find another, all the while destroying people's reputations.

As Christians we are not only to not partake in this sin; we are to squelch it at every opportunity. If we listen to it and do not confront the offender, we are as bad as the one doing the gossiping.

The Un-Systematic God

Posted in By Nick Smith 0 comments

We often like to think of God as more of a system than a being. We see that he did something for someone else and wonder why he hasn’t done the same thing for us. We follow the same steps as that other person, do all the same things, but we get different results. But God isn’t a system.

Systems are, by their nature, flawed. Ever heard the term “it slipped between the cracks”? That’s what happens with systems; they have flaws. And unfortunately, it is often real people who slip between the cracks. We see and read about these situations in the news all the time.

But God doesn’t work that way. God specially tailors everything specifically for us. Some might feel that this isn’t fair, but fair and equal are not the same thing. In fact, scripture makes it clear that God does not treat everyone equally. (Luke 14:7-11, Matthew 5:3-12, etc.)

Isn’t it better knowing that we don’t have a system that lets people slip between the cracks, but rather we have a God, a real, all-knowing, all-present, all-powerful, benevolent being looking out for us and treating each of us as a special case?

Encourage Yourself

Posted in By Cheryl Huston 0 comments

Hello everyone!
I pray that you all have had a great weekend so far, I know I have. The other day I was listening to a preacher on TV and he was talking about being an encouragement to others. Our friend, Nick Smith, created this blog site just for that reason, so we could be an encouragement for others. But, what do you do when you need encouraging and there is no one around? Encourage yourself. We pray for others, family, friends, enemies, but sometimes we leave ourselves completely out of the mix. We need to start speaking victory over our lives. Telling ourselves that we can make it because God is on OUR side. He is all we need. He believes in us, we need to start believing in ourselves!!!
'Sometimes you have to encourage yourself. Sometimes you have to speak victory during the test. No matter how you feel, speak the words and you will be heal! Encorage yourself, speak over yourself, in the Lord!!!' -Donald Lawrence
have a very blessed day everybody!!!
Cheryl

Hurry up and slow down

Posted in By Mike Johns 0 comments

During the 1990's the speed limit in Montana was defined by words, not numbers. Drivers designated their own speed limit by what they deemed to be "reasonable and prudent."

This was it, this was the speed limit... you were supposed to drive at a rate which you thought was reasonable and prudent!

They clocked one guy going 150 miles per hour.

I laughed when reading about this, I laughed at how one could find 150 MPH as reasonable or prudent. But then I realized that was me... it is the speed limit of my life. I get to set the speed limit, no one else sets the speed limit for me. I do, and I am rushing through everything. I am racing at 150 miles per hour.

I am called to live life with Jesus, and to live the Jesus life - which is the only way to gain real life. But because of my speed I often remain disappointed, and I find myself losing life.

The problem with living live at 150 MPH is that it becomes a blur of images. We see it all go by and yet we lose the plot, the dialogue, the narrative, the story. We lose life.

Let's stop skimming across the surface of life because we are moving too fast. Let's take time to invest in our priorities. That is probably the issue is that the Jesus life is not a priority.

What is taking place of your time with Jesus today?

Proof or Presence?

Posted in By Brett T Kelley 0 comments

In a small group I'm a part of, we've been reading The Reason for God by Timothy Keller. The first part addresses common doubts about God/Christianity and the second part addresses reasons for faith. Our last discussion was over "Clues for God," and gave some arguments for the existence of God and talked about some of the arguments against his existence. Keller opens the chapter with "Though there cannot be irrefutable proof for the existence of God, many people have found strong clues for his reality..." (131). God cannot be proved to exist or not; it will have to come back to faith (Hebrews 11:6). This is not an empty or blind faith, the clues when added together can present a convincing argument. But is it really our end goal to prove his existence; why is it so important?
"For what we need to know, of course, is not just that God exists, not just that beyond the steely brightness of the stars there is a cosmic intelligence of some kind that keeps the whole show going, but that there is a God right here in the thick of our day-by-day lives who may not be writing messages about himself in the stars but in one way or another is trying to get messages through our blindness as we move around down here knee-deep in the fragrant muck and misery and marvel of the world. It is not objective proof of God's existence that we want but the experience of God's presence. That is the miracle we are really after, and that is also, I think, the miracle that we really get." (Frederick Buechner, The Magnificent Defeat, 47)
Forgive the lengthy quote, but when I first came across it, my mind latched onto it. Your thoughts?

"I am standing at the door and knocking! If anyone hears my voice and opens the door I will come into his home and share a meal with him, and he with me"

Rods, Cones, and Shades of Gray

Posted in By Nick Smith 2 comments

In training to be a pilot, I’ve been learning some really cool stuff lately. One thing I’ve recently learned about is the human eye (we learn about this because it affects how we scan for traffic in the plane). Apparently, in the back of our eyeballs, there are two types of photoreceptors that affect what we see and how we see it. These are called the rods and the cones.

The rods are located on the outside of the central visual field. They detect changes in intensity of light, but do not detect color, only shades of gray.
The cones are the photoreceptors that detect color. They are located in both the center and outside of the central visual field. They require a lot of light to operate effectively. This is why objects at night lack color.
So why does this matter for Christianity? Well, it made me think of an analogy. When you lie to someone or are dishonest, where are you usually looking? For most of us, it would be a natural reaction to avoid eye contact. And if you were trying to hide from someone, what is one thing you might do? Turn out the lights. Now, which are the photoreceptors that are on the outside and are also the only photoreceptors that work at night? The rods. And what color do the rods see? Shades of gray.
When we are lying to God or hiding from God, we’re seeing things in shades of gray. It’s our way of justifying what we are doing. After all, we want the best of both worlds. We want to keep doing whatever it is that we know deep down God doesn’t want us to do, but we also want to keep God’s favor. So there is a shade of gray. And once things appear in shades of gray, it becomes both harder to look back at God (because doing so means owning up to our sin) and easier to look away (because sin is so enticing and we don’t want to have to face God after having sinned).
We all mess up. We’ve all sinned. And seasoned Christians know how hard it can be to approach God after we’ve sinned. It is tough, but it is necessary. But the thing is, God’s joy that you came back vastly out measures his disappointment that you left. We see this clearly throughout the Bible, especially in the story of the prodigal son. One verse that I like is Micah 7:19, “[God] will again have compassion on us; [he] will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depth of the sea.”
And hey, if you’re sticking with my analogy, once you look back at God, his light will make everything appear in full color again, and that is soooo much better than shades of gray.

Is It All Worth It?

Posted in By Cheryl Huston 0 comments

Good evening everyone!
Sometimes when we are going through trials and tribulation, we wonder, is this worth it? All the pain and suffering we go through to reach our goals. In one word YES!!! It is worth everything to fulfil our Godly purpose! I liken it to getting ready for a baby to be born.You are pregnant for 40 weeks, then you go into labor, it's painful and hard,but in the end, you're smiling and happy and you have no memory of the pain.
When we are trying to give birth to our talents and gifts that God has put in us, it is going to hard at times, it may take a long time, and it will be painful. But in the end you will be smiling and happy because you will have done what God put you on this Earth to do!
So, keep on pushing, the wait, the labor, and the delivery are all worth it!!!
Have a good rest of the weekend everybody!
Cheryl

Trust

Posted in By Misti Runyan 0 comments

Life is hard. Bad things happen all the time to the best of people. There are times when we are so afraid and we feel so alone. Have you ever wanted to just scream, "Where are you, God!" I certainly have, and I know someone who did.

Job's story in the Bible is a real life story. Job had it all; riches, family, comfort, happiness. Job also had a relationship with God that he thought was strong. Then, in what must have felt like an instant, it was all gone. When the circumstances of Job's life changed for the worse, that relationship he had with God was put to the ultimate test.

Why did these things happen to Job? No reason, really. Job hadn't done anything particularly heinous to deserve such a fate. Just a little discussion between God and Satan. Seems cruel, doesn't it? I'm sure that each of us can think of some similar examples in our time: cancer, car accidents, fires-so many senseless things can cause a person's world to turn upside down.

I read in a commentary on the book of Job that for the first 37 chapters of the story of this man's life, God did not show up-even though Job called out for Him. This truth seems pivotal to how Job's experience applies to our lives. When we find ourselves in times of trouble, we call out to God. The thing is, God's timing is so different from ours that we can begin to feel like he's never going to answer. Job had given up looking to God for answers. He started trying to guess, in his own wisdom, what had caused all this bad fortune. That's exactly what we do-we wonder if we unknowingly made a bad choice (or a series of them) that led us down a path of destruction. We fear that we've been wandering away from God, and that He has given up trying to steer us in the right direction.

In the worst days of our lives, it is essential that we remember that God doesn't do that to us. God is in control of everything, and He won't let us encounter anything alone. God never told Job why He let those things happen to Him. In fact, God scolded Job for thinking he was smarter than he really was. Chapter 38 of Job reads like a parent speaking to a rebellious teenager. (Anybody ever heard this: "I brought you into this world, I can take you out!"?) Throughout this monologue, though, what God is really saying is, "Trust me. I know what I'm doing."

Turn left at the old pine tree

Posted in By Brett T Kelley 2 comments

If you are like me and lack a GPS in your car, then you have likely gotten some odd directions in order to get somewhere. Turn by turn, hills, curves, landmarks, and sometimes (if I'm lucky) street names. Over the weekend I was in St. Joseph for a friends wedding. This was only the second time I'd been in that area, so I am reliant on directions to a lot of places. People wonder at how I can get to some places with the worst directions. Part of it is being confident in being able to figure it out, but my biggest secret? I'm not afraid to turn around. Even if I had a GPS it would probably say "please make a legal U-turn" the most. When looking for someplace I don't worry about passing it if I don't know exactly where it is. Plus by exploring a little more, I learn the area a lot better.

This is how I am with driving, but often quite the opposite in life. In life I become so caught up in if this is the right thing, can I afford to do something like that, will I like that job, is this God's will? The result is that I end up stuck and make no change. It's almost like a deer in the headlights, blinded and unmoving, until thud (unless you're one to swerve). Should I be more like I am in driving and just try a bunch of different things with less thought? Not be so afraid of making a mistake? How big a part does God's will play into this?

Since it isn't resolved in my own mind, it seems only fair to leave it unresolved here. Thoughts?

Brett

A Life of Gratitude Personified

Posted in By Patty Kennedy 0 comments


I have thought a lot about 1 Thessalonians 5:18 this past week. A dear woman of faith -- the mother-in-law of my husband's brother, Dave -- passed away at the age of 96. We traveled to Nebraska to attend her funeral.

Leora was one of the most grateful people I have ever had the pleasure to know. Over the years, I have heard her daughter, Betty, and granddaughter, Catharine, share stories about Leora's faith, and how she just rolled with whatever life handed to her.

I had known Leora since I married my husband nearly 34 years ago. In all those years, I never once heard this woman utter an unkind word. I never once heard her raise her voice. I never once saw her angry. What's amazing is that several people we met at the funeral all said the very same thing.

Leora lived 1 Corinthians 13. She was patient and kind. She was not envious or boastful or proud. She did not dishonor others and was not self-seeking. She was not easily angered, and did not keep a record of wrongs. When Leora and her husband were caretakers of a Christian camp in the Kansas City area, many young people were blessed to be mentored by them.

Leora lost her husband over a decade ago, and little by little over the years, her health deteriorated. Though she couldn't see well enough any longer to work her beloved crossword puzzles or watch TV, her wonderful attitude stayed intact. When her daughter, Betty, would call and ask how she was doing, Leora never missed the chance to say how very grateful she was for all the blessings in her life.

We can all learn a lot from a woman like Leora. Personally, my own attitude received a slap up the side of the head as I listened to loved ones testify about her. Though Leora didn't talk much about it, her strong faith was evident in how she lived, which is exactly what Jesus intends for us. Words can be clanging cymbals if we have not love. Even quoting Scripture can be devoid of meaning if we are mean-spirited or disrespectful of others.

The Scripture that came to my mind as I fondly remembered Leora is Galatians 5:6: "The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love." Leora did just that -- and she did it well.

Flying Without Our Shirt Tails

Posted in By Nick Smith 0 comments

Today was a big day for me, so I’d like to share a metaphor from my day. I’m in the process of training to fly in order to eventually become a commercial airline pilot. Today I flew solo for the first time. It’s considered a milestone in pilot training and I’m pretty excited.

There is a tradition in aviation that after a student’s first solo flight, his instructor cuts off the back of his shirt. No, I am not messing with you; I’m serious. When I first learned about this tradition, I was as perplexed as you probably are now. In order to find out what the heck was behind this strange tradition, I went to my generation’s ultimate source of knowledge – Wikipedia. According to Wiki….

In American aviation lore, the traditional removal of a new pilot's shirt tail is a sign of the instructor's new confidence in his student after successful completion of the 1st solo flight. In the days of tandem trainers, the student sat in the front seat, with the instructor behind. As there were often no radios in these early days of aviation, the instructor would tug on the student pilot's shirttail to get his attention, and then yell in his ear. A successful first solo flight is an indication that the student can fly without the instructor ("instructor-less" flight). Hence, there is no longer a need for the shirt tail, and it is cut off by the (often) proud instructor, and sometimes displayed as a trophy.

The tradition made much more sense to me after the explanation. Now for the metaphor.

In today’s world, independence is a thing highly valued, and rightly so. Many of our big milestones are centered around independence: our first steps, our first time talking, getting our driver’s license, etc. The only thing we need to be careful of is taking the idea that independence is good and applying it to our relationship with God. In terms of our relationship with God, dependence is the quality to be valued. To borrow from the aviation tradition in kind of a corny way, God is trying to pull on our shirt tails to get our attention, but we aren’t listening. In fact, all too often many of us forget about our dependence on God and we’re flying without our shirt tails. Every day we need to remind ourselves who is really in control.

“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.” -- Galatians 2:20a

More Than We Can Handle

Posted in By Hammer on Anvil 0 comments

This week's guest blogger is Catharine Phillips, niece of our Tuesday blogger, Patty Kennedy. Catharine lives in Goodyear, AZ with her husband and 3-year-old son. We appreciate her willingness to contribute to Hammer on Anvil!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Most all of us have at one time or another found ourselves in extraordinarily difficult circumstances.  Whether a disaster of our own creation or one we’ve fallen into through no fault of our own, most of us have, at some point, been in a place so dark that we wonder whether we’ll ever see the light of resolution.  It is during these times of despair and discouragement that we seek comfort in the well-worn verse “God will never give us more than we can handle…”  Simple and encouraging, these words assure us that God knows our limits for stress and pain and suffering and He will never exceed our capacity to bear up under them. 

There’s only one problem.

This verse isn’t anywhere in the Bible.

It is, I’m sure, a misquote of 1 Corinthians 10:13 which reads: 
No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.
Though similar in wording there is a distinct difference in theme – Paul promises us that God will not allow us to be TEMPTED beyond what we can bear.   

I’m not so sure that this verse isn’t misquoted more than it is quoted correctly, which is unfortunate because we miss the valuable insights from Paul’s actual words when we turn it into what seems to have become it’s more “popular” incarnation.  But, before I delve further into what it DOES say, I want to discuss what it does not and why it matters.

The fact of the matter is that God does, in fact, sometimes allow us to face unspeakable tragedy, tremendous stress, and all manner of catastrophes that fall clearly into the “more than I can handle” camp.  Though some might simply consider it a matter of semantics, I think it is important to clarify that God does not give us difficulties, but he does allow them.  He allows them not because he wants us to see that we can “pull ourselves up by our bootstraps” and get through it, but because it is sometimes only through the most miserable of circumstances that he can show us the unfathomable depths of His strength and His grace.  Paul himself shares such a time in his second letter to the Corinthians.  Of the severe persecution they faced in Asia, Paul says: 
For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself.  Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. (2 Corinthians 2:8b-9, emphasis mine)
We often have to come to the end of ourselves before we are willing to fall on our knees before the Father and recognize that He alone is sovereign. 

When we feel as if we just can’t “handle it anymore” perhaps we need to stop trying to convince ourselves that we can and admit that we can’t so that we can claim the privilege of prevailing upon our loving Heavenly Father to carry us through what we cannot navigate on our own.  Only when we submit ourselves and our circumstances wholly to the Lord can He then be free to work in us and use our lives for His glory.

What DOES this verse really say, then?  I like the wording of the New Living Translation, which reads:
The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure.
When strong temptations come, as they always do, we can be assured of two things:
1)      No temptation we face is unique to us.   There have lived many before us, and will live many after us, who have faced in the past, and who will face in the future, whatever enticements lure us.
2)      GOD IS FAITHFUL!  He does not abandon us to the unbearable pressure of sin.  There is always a way out.  We will never be put in a position where we simply have no choice but to “give in” to the temptation, whatever it is.

Temptation is inevitable.  We all face it and it seems to me that sometimes the more “in-tune” I am with God and the more effort I put into knowing Him, the more I seem to be bombarded with things intended to derail me.   This is to be expected, I suppose.  When we are off doing our own self-centered things we are no danger to the enemy and there is no need to distract us from our cause – Oswald Chambers, in his devotional My Utmost for His Highest, says:  “Not to be tempted would be to be beneath contempt.”[1]  Satan won’t waste time on those who aren’t threatening his plan for things – they fall easily right into his grasp.   But when we shed our egocentricity and submit ourselves to the Father, we are of great danger to the enemy indeed. 

Chambers goes on to explain the basis for our temptation:
A man’s disposition on the inside…determines what he is tempted by on the outside.  The temptation fits the nature of the one tempted, and reveals the possibilities of the nature.
I think it is very important to understand that any enticements that come our way have no power over us unless we already have a predisposition to that behavior in the first place.  One of my closest friends doesn’t care for chocolate (I’m sure this is a significant character flaw on her part - a woman who doesn’t like chocolate???) while I, on the other hand, become nearly weak-kneed with ecstasy at the mere thought of the stuff.  That said, a giant bowl of M&M’s on her desk and one on mine does not represent the same struggle for both of us.  She can easily ignore it for weeks on end, while I’m off to find myself a pair of pants with an elastic waistband. 

People rarely, if ever, do things that are out of character for them.  When we hear ourselves saying “That’s just so unlike [him, her, them, me]” it is far more likely that we didn’t think it was like him and we didn’t want to admit it was like me, but the truth of the matter is that whatever “it” was, was actually very much in line with the worst and weakest parts of our character. We may be surprised by someone’s fall in this area or that, but it is far more likely that we either ignored the signs of weakness or that the individual worked very hard to hide them than the unlikely possibility that they didn’t exist at all.  Were I to reveal the contents of my skeleton-filled closet, some might be surprised by what they’d find, but I know (when I’m honest with myself) that even my worst behavior, though unfortunate and even perhaps embarrassing, isn’t entirely surprising because it is rooted in my own personal weaknesses, however deeply I attempt to bury them.  We must always be on our guard because the devil knows where we are vulnerable and that is ALWAYS where he will attack.  He will appeal to our ego, our insecurities, our hidden greed – wherever he finds us unprotected – or unaware – he will pounce on that spot and catch us off guard.  We should also take care to never be too critical of the fall of another believer – our own failing, though perhaps in another arena, may be just around the corner.

The arena of our temptation changes for us as we get older – for me they’ve become much more subtle as I age.  Now in my 40s, I am no longer faced with the “Do I go out with my roommate tonight or do I stay home and study for my calculus midterm…” type dilemmas.  Now they are more along the lines of choosing to spend time with God instead of with the TV remote, not saying something negative no matter how much I feel like saying it, resisting the urge for a second helping at dinner, or allowing myself to be distracted during my quiet time.   It’s not that I’m tempted by “smaller” sins, just less obvious – and perhaps more socially acceptable – ones.  Sometimes these “subtle-sins” can be even more challenging to avoid because it becomes so much easier to attempt to justify our behavior by suggesting that what we’re doing isn’t really “all that bad.”  Eating half of a cheesecake and drinking half a bottle of tequila are both really bad ideas, but I’m sure that most would admit to the half of a cheesecake long before the bottle of tequila if confessions are being made at Bible study.

We can never avoid temptation entirely, but we do have the choice to avoid the sin.  When we find ourselves face-to-face with that proverbial bowl of M&Ms, we need to claim the promise God gives us here in 1 Corinthians 10:13 – that He is faithful and that He will always provide a way out.  In that sense, it’s true – God never gives us more than we can handle.


Don't Liet him Steal Your JOY!!!

Posted in By Cheryl Huston 0 comments

Good evening everyone!
I hope you got outand enjoyed this beautiful day!
Days like today bring my such joy because I can get outside and really enjoy God's creation! Spring is on the way and He is blessing us with wonderful weather. I know some have gon through horrific storms and suffered damage and even death, but I say to you, God is in the storm. He did not leave you comfortless, the Holy Spirit is always with you to help you through the tough times.
Do not let the enemy steal your Joy! Your God gvien Joy! With all of the storms and bad weather that comes with the beautiful days like today, just remember, God created it all!!! He will come in the midst of your storm and say Peace be still and all will be calm. Trust Him and enjoy the Spring that is around you!
Don't forget to Spring forward tonight before you go to bed!
Have a very blessed evening!!!
Cheryl

Forgiveness

Posted in By Misti Runyan 0 comments

"Holding a grudge is like drinking poison and waiting for the other person to die."





When we fail to forgive people in our lives, the person who suffers the most is us. Holding a grudge is toxic to our body and soul. As we allow the hurt we have suffered to fester, our physical health deteriorates, and our every day attitude turns sour. Before we know it, our hearts are hardened; against man and God.





Jesus turned the law of retribution on its ear. The old Mosaic law said, among other things, this: If there is a man who commits adultery with another man’s wife, one who commits adultery with his friend’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death. Leviticus 20:10 Christ showed forgiveness in the face of this law.





John 8:3-11


The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him. But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground. At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” “No one, sir,” she said. “Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”





Jesus clearly gives us an example of how things are to be different with Him in our lives. If Christ has the power and is willing to pardon this clear violation of God's laws, who are we to withhold forgiveness from one another? Do not judge so that you will not be judged. Matthew 7:1 Do not judge, and you will not be judged; and do not condemn, and you will not be condemned; pardon, and you will be pardoned. Luke 6:37





Each of us is a sinner. We have trampled on the name of Christ more times than we can count. We return to old sins we have repented from. Each of us has been forgiven of our sins-past, present, and future. In the face of this magnitude of grace and mercy, how can we justify refusing to forgive those who have sinned against us?





Forgiveness is not easy. It takes prayer and humility that the world doesn't teach us. Forgiveness does not mean instant restoration of trust. It doesn't "make it all better". It IS what we are called to do, and it drives a wedge between us and God when we fail to obey.





"Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses; as we forgive those who trespass against us."

Least favorite verse #2

Posted in By Brett T Kelley 0 comments

The coolest thing about working at the Edge (high- & low-ropes challenge course) was talking people through their fear and do something they wouldn't otherwise do. This could happen on any of the elements, but the zip-lines were the two that you could actually be right behind the person listening and talking to them. Most are just hesitant, but then go on after a few moments. Others take a bit more coaxing, convincing, advising, etc. though never an actual physical push. One such occasion, a boy was on the zip line platform and I was talking to him about going. He was quite fearful and it seemed the longer he took, the more scared he got. The saddest/funniest part was when a well-meaning girl from his youth group shouted up from the ground, "Remember, 'I can do all things..." and the boy shouted "SHUT UP! Just SHUT UP!" We heard this verse quoted a lot at the Edge and elsewhere. Philippians 4:13 "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" (NKJV)

Like the previous time I talked about My least favorite verse, it is not that I hate or do not believe in the veracity of the verse, but dislike the way it is often mistakenly construed. I heard it the most when I was in high school with FCA. People would say it after they had completed a game or event successfully. At the Edge, people would use it to encourage others to try an element or work through their fear. This is closer to the meaning, but not quite. When we read the verse, we hone in on the "can do all things" when the context of the rest of Paul's letter refers to something else. In the verse just before, Paul says he has learned to be content in any and every situation. A bold statement considering he was in prison at this time. And it is in light of this that the verse gets its true power. It is not the promise of being able to do great things that is big here (though God can work wonders through us if He so chooses). The strength in this verse is knowing that no matter what the circumstances, we still have Christ strengthening us, and so we can withstand it, can still be joyful, etc.

"Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, 
though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food,
though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls,
yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior.
The Sovereign Lord is my strength..."

Real Ministry...or Histrionics?

Posted in By Patty Kennedy 0 comments


This past week something happened to a friend of mine at work, and I need to vent about it.
My friend (I'll call him Bill) works in a Christian environment, though it is not unusual for decidedly unchristian things to happen there. Recently a pastor from out of state took it upon himself to come to Bill's workplace accompanied by more than 20 of his congregants. He said God told him to come so he and his group could pray over the workplace and all the employees.
When this group came to Bill's area, they surrounded the employees and began "praying" loudly. Then some of them surrounded a young Christian man -- only 18 years old -- and for God-only-knows-what-reason, they attempted to cast a demon out of him. When their script was unsuccessful, they wondered what was wrong, and decided to try it again. The poor kid was subjected to this abuse for an hour, and didn't know how to handle it.
One of the men then came to pray for Bill. Though he knew nothing about Bill, he had the audacity to assume he was a lost soul, and began praying for his salvation. Perhaps the tattoos that adorn Bill's arms, or the fact that he's a janitor (and doesn't work with the "suits" in a higher-up position) caused him to draw this totally inaccurate conclusion.
This kind of behavior by so-called Christians is unconscionable. The 18-year-old's parents were incensed when they found out what happened, and rightly so. They work at the same Christian place as their son, and couldn't believe he was subjected to such humiliating tactics -- all while he was on the clock.
Jesus never resorted to tactics that are tantamount to vultures circling around a carcass. When He encountered evil spirits, He recognized them immediately and dismissed them with usually no more than a few words. He didn't resort to histrionics. He knew where His authority came from, and exercised it as His Father directed Him.
If we profess to follow Jesus, we need to look like Jesus. But we must guard against trying to imitate His behavior in our own flesh. If we hope to live and walk in the power of the Holy Spirit on a daily basis, we need to drink deep from the well of communion with God. We must heed Jesus' instructions in John 15:5: "If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing."

Our Imaginary Friend – Jesus

Posted in By Nick Smith 0 comments

In his book, Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis shares an intriguing argument known as the trilemma. Basically, Lewis asserts that we cannot accept Jesus as simply a great moral teacher because he did not leave that option open to us. We can either accept that he was a liar (for claiming he was God), a lunatic (for claiming and believing that he was God), or the Lord. Jesus himself left no other option open to us.

This argument certainly still holds true for many people today, but it is not the primary focus of this post. Rather, this is one example of a larger issue: that Christians and non-Christians alike often add things or subtract things from Christ’s character to the point that, in the end, he becomes little more than an imaginary friend.

There are a variety of reasons why this happens. In America, I’d argue that one of the biggest reasons is that people don’t take the time to get to know Jesus. We learn about him in Sunday school as kids and think that is sufficient to get us by. When we grow up, Jesus joins the ranks of Santa Clause and the Easter Bunny – great imaginary friends for children, but nothing more. And just as we can go to Santa for gifts at Christmas, we can go to Jesus whenever it serves our needs. But this image isn’t real. It is a forgery, a custom tailored suit made to fit who we want to be without requiring anything but lip service in return.

But this isn’t the only example of molding Christ into an imaginary friend.

At a Bible study a few months ago, our group was discussing how it’s a shame that churches don’t work together more often. It seems that we focus on our differences much more often than our similarities. This would probably be a good topic for a future post, but for now, I mention this because it was the foundation for this post. It forced me to think.

When we look at the different denominations in the church, do our similarities really outweigh our differences? Each denomination makes choices about what they believe. We would hope that these choices are solely based on the Bible and that the differences among denominations are nothing more than differences in Biblical interpretation. But this is not always the case. And even when it is the case, interpretation in itself can distort the Truth. To over-simplify my point, I could interpret that two plus two equals five, but that does not make it true. Satan’s one and only weapon is deception. Why would he only use that weapon outside the church and never within?

So my point is this. Since we know that different denominations believe different things about Jesus, at what point do those beliefs become so different from Jesus’ true character that it is no longer Jesus they are worshipping, but an imaginary friend? The Mormon church claims to be Christian, but they have vastly added to the Bible, and so added to/modified who Christ was. Are those modifications significant enough that it is no longer Christ they are following? Westboro Baptist Church claims to be Christian, but they protest at military funerals with signs saying “God Hates Fags.” Are they following the true Christ?

It’s easy to see where the line is drawn with these examples, but things get fuzzier when we look at churches that we would consider to be “normal.” I don’t claim to have an answer to the question underlined above. But I feel strongly that it is something we must consider, if for no other reason than for each of us to “examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves.” (2 Corinthians 13:5)

So the question I pose to you is this: What elements are so foundational to the character of Jesus Christ that they cannot be taken away or added to without transforming Jesus into an imaginary friend?

To Tell the Truth

Posted in By Cheryl Huston 0 comments

Good morning everyone!
It is a beuatiful day, get out and enjoy God's work.
'Some folk would rather climb a tree and tell a lie, than to stand on flat ground and tell the truth.' This was a saying of my mother's that I would often hear when watching TV with her.
But it brings up an interesting question for me, why is it so hard to tell the truth? It is because we will be embarassed if the truth comes out or it the truth to hurtful to face, so we make up a story that is less hurtful to us and others. In God's word He tells us, 'The truth shall set you free!' He already knows the truth about us, so there is no reason to lie to Him. We also know the truth about ourselves, we can try to lie to ourselves, but deep down we know. So, that leaves everybody else and most of them know the truth about us, so, why lie? It doesn't do anyone any good. You tell one lie, then you have to create another to cover the one before. and the string of lies continues.
Be free my friends, tell the truth! You will feel better and you will find that there are many around you going through similar situations and they help you. Don't be ashamed or embarassed.
Have avery blessed day everybody!
Cheryl

The definition of faith

Posted in By Misti Runyan 1 comments

"The opposite of faith is not doubt. The opposite of faith is proof." A friend of mine quoted these words (I know not from where) during a group meeting last week.


I used to think that doubt was a sin. I thought If I didn't believe in God and His promises at all times, with my whole heart, that I wasn't truly saved. As followers of Jesus, we are supposed to trust Him with everything, and not worry about anything, right? Well, maybe there is hope for us worry-warts after all.


First of all, Jesus' own disciples didn't fully understand Him. There are so many stories in the Gospels of how they struggled with envy, pride, and a me-first attitude. They disbelieved Jesus' words and doubted His power. How can we, 2000 years later and far removed from the physical person of Jesus, expect to do any better?


Then there were the recipients of His miracles. In Mark chapter 9, Jesus encounters a man whose child is possessed. Some of His disciples had attempted to exorcise the demon, but without success. The man pleads with Jesus, "If you can do anything, take pity on us and help us." " 'If you can'?" said Jesus. "Everything is possible for one who believes."
Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, "I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!" v. 22b-24



Those words are like a cry directly from my heart: 'Help me overcome my unbelief!' I look at the world around me, I experience stressful circumstances in my life, and I struggle to let go and trust God. So many of us go through this; and we think that God has abandoned us.


The Lord put me through a time of testing a couple years back. Many months went by in my life where I couldn't feel God near me. Doubts didn't just creep in; they flooded over me. I found myself praying, "God, if you really exist, reveal yourself to me." No response. The funny thing I didn't realize for the longest time was that, although I claimed to not know whether God was actually real, I was still praying to Him, still talking to Him on a daily basis. I was crying out (on a Davidic scale) to a God I doubted.


God tells us He will never leave us. When we follow Him closely and pursue His ways and purposes, our faith in that promise grows. But as we think on the fact that proof, not doubt, is the opposite of faith, we must realize that uncertainty will come over us from time to time. It is in those moments we must cry out in prayer to God: "Help me overcome my unbelief!"
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