Hammer on Anvil '

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Social media is exhausting!

There, I said it.

Jenny and I were talking last night about the some of the effects social media has had in our lives.

It is way easier to keep up with people. There was a time when someone moved away and you lost contact with that person. Maybe a random phone conversation was shared, or a letter. For the most part, people moved on.

That's not the case anymore! Moving away? No problem, just seek that person out through social media! For clarity when I say "social media" I'm referring to:

Facebook
Twitter
Instagram
Vine
Linkedin
Pinterest
Google+
Ask.fm
and others.

There..glad I cleared that up.

It is wonderful to be able to keep up with so many people. I enjoy seeing pictures of old friends or hearing about what they are doing now that I am not physically present in their lives.

However, this causes a lot of exhaustion. With social media comes a whole different world of how connected should I be with my "friends/followers?"

Everyone may not agree, but here are a few tips to help you so social media doesn't become overbearing.

You don't have to add everyone. Some people are social media addicts...Sociholics.. Socimedaholics...you get the point. If they meet you one time at that concert and happen to hear your full name, you can guarantee they will have their smart phone out and be sending a friend request before you leave the event. The good news is, you can deny that request. Your social media sites are for you, and you can add or follow who you like, not who others expect you to.

You can set up visual restrictions. Say crazy Great Uncle Clem sends you a friend request and you just can't bring yourself to deny it. The great news about Facebook is your can set up filters so you see as much or as little of what someone posts as you want. If Uncle Clem just posts pictures that say "like this or go to hell" or "President Obama is up to such and such again" and that's not what you want filling your newsfeed, you can go to your settings and never see another post from crazy Great Uncle Clem again. The great news is, he will never know, because you are still friends so no feelings will be hurt.

Happy Birthday notifications. I always get stressed out when I'm reminded of someone's birthday. I wonder "If I won't tell them happy birthday in person, am I still expected to tell them online?" Then when they post a thank you status to all those who wished them a Happy Birthday I think, "they know I didn't! This status is about me!" Chances are they don't know or care. If you won't tell them in person, don't stress out about not telling them through social media.

Please oh please don't get in comment wars. I've seen so many people trying to solve the world's problems through the comment sections of social media. These do not change the opinions of others. It only make you look petty and often ignorant. Just don't do it. Have a discussion through a one on one message with someone. Talk with a person face to face. Don't try to argue all the points through comments. It just doesn't work the way you think it will.

Social media is meant to be a tool. Use the forms of social media you have for you. Use them to update family and friends on your life. Use it to promote your blog or some project you are working on. It is there to use as you see fit. As Christians we should use it as another way to shine the light of Christ (make sure you are doing that in "real life" too though, and not just through a computer screen).

Have fun with social medias. Shine the light of Christ with them.

Don't let them bog you down.

This week at our church we have been having VBS. It is the first one that we have put on since I have been here (so it's been at least 3 years). I seriously couldn't be happier with how it is turning out.

Is it the largest VBS held in town all summer? Probably not.

Is it the most flashy VBS held here in Malden? Not even close.

But we have a great group of kids showing up every night who are having a blast.

It's more than that though.

Last night right after our closing, I saw something that melted my heart. A little girl ran right up to her dad and was so excited to share her Bible verse with him. He praised her for it and her eyes just gleamed.

I've seen other Facebook statues from parents excited their kids are coming to VBS and coming home telling their parents about the stories they learned and reciting their Bible verses.

How absolutely wonderful is it that these kids are so excited to be learning about God? If you have never helped with a VBS I would so encourage you to do it!

It makes me wonder when that joy fades. At what point in our lives do we stop being excited to learn about God? When did we stop memorizing Scripture? If you have lost the joy of seeking after God through His word, try to get that back.

If you have kids, you can work on it together. I can guarantee when you see how excited they are to be doing it, it will help you be excited as well.

So seek after God through His word and get excited about memorizing Scripture. The other thing I would say is make sure to invest in the life of a child.

It doesn't have to be a 5th grader. It doesn't have to be a 12th grader. But children of any age need to know there are adults in their life who care about them. Too many kids have one or both parents out of their lives for one reason or another. It can leave them feeling abandoned and even unimportant.

Find a kid to invest in. Encourage them on Sunday morning. Write an encouraging post on their Facebook wall in the middle of the week. Get to know them and be a beacon that shines God's light into their lives. Kids are missing out on adults who care for them with no other intent than just to love them because God first loved us.

Let's not miss out on raising up that next generation to know and love God. Parents were instructed to do just that in Deuteronomy. The responsibility is still the parents' to raise up their children right, but the church is there to help. It is not just events like VBS or camp where kids should be hearing the message of Jesus and seeing it lived out. They should be seeing that every single day.

And we can't show them, if we are not seeking after God ourselves.

Lately I've been running again. I absolutely enjoy running.

Once you get passed the achy body, being out of breath, knee injuries, people almost hitting your with their cars, heat exhaustion, freezing your lungs when it's cold out, or fighting the urge to throw up, it's really not so bad.

I encounter a problem when I start running again though. You see, in high school, I ran cross country and track. My best mile times were sub 5 mins and my best 5Ks were 17:13. I was 2 years all state and one of the best on our team. I don't say that to brag, I say that to say when I start back up now, that's what I expect.

I haven't run super consistently since high school. But when I start each time I expect myself to go out and run 6 or 7 miles at a 7 minute mile pace. I expect to have no injuries and to immediately slim down. Then I get frustrated when that is not the case.

So often, I stop for another couple months and try at it again, just to "fail" all over.

I think a lot of us treat our walk with Christ that way. We look at others and see how much time they spend in prayer or how much Bible reading they do and we get really excited. We think "Wow I can do that!" Then we jump right in and it's not as easy as we thought.

We fall asleep while praying.

We have trouble focusing on 6 chapters of Leviticus.

We miss a day here or there.

Then we think "I must not be cut out for this!" and we just stop doing it all together.

But just like exercise, we need to start out slowly. We can't go from eating potato chips every day while sitting in the office chair to running a marathon in a week. Neither can we go from not practicing spiritual disciplines to doing them all diligently right away.

Find an area of your life. Maybe it's Bible reading. Perhaps it's prayer. Maybe you feel you need to work on some of the Fruit of the Spirit. Whatever it may be, start out slow. Work on one fruit for a while til you get it down.

If we start out to quickly or expect too much, we will get frustrated and "fail." Don't do that to yourself. Growing in Christ is going to take practice and "exercise." So start working those muscles little by little.

Yesterday my wife looked at the tumblr account "Reasons My Son Is Crying." Our Facebook friends kept posting it so we finally bit and took a look.

If you haven't gone over to see it, google it. Better yet, just click here. But make sure to come back and finish this post. Thanks.

For those of you who haven't taken a look and wont google or click, let me explain (The rest of you can skip this paragraph). It's a tumblr account filled with pictures of a little boy crying and underneath each picture is a description of why he started crying. Things like "We wouldn't let him open the hotel room door and run naked through Time Square."

My wife and I laughed a lot looking through those pictures. Mostly because we have been in many of those same situations where our 2 year old cries hysterically because I wont keep switching the TV between Word World and Thomas after 2 minutes of each one.

Then as tends to happen I started thinking about lessons to write or blogs to post and those pictures came to mind. Then I thought, "Why did Jesus cry?" So here is a list of moment when Jesus cried.

When Lazarus died we are told Jesus wept. (John 11:35)

He wept over the city of Jerusalem thinking about its future destruction. (Luke 19:41)

Those are actually the only two recorded places where Jesus cries.

The first is over the loss of a friend. In the verses that follow we see that Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead. So why would He cry? I like to believe He sees the pain in Mary and Martha's faces. He feels for them. Lazarus was a friend to Jesus, and he had passed away. That is heart-wrenching.

Then when Jesus weeps over Jerusalem he is thinking of the chaos and turmoil that will be experienced in the years to come. He feels the pain of others.

I know empathy doesn't come easily to some. Jenny and I used to regularly watch Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. We would call it our weekly cry (I know...I'm painting a very manly picture of myself right about now). I feel for other people. When I see pain in their faces, it breaks my heart. And I think that's good.

I'm not telling you to cry more or even to get all touchy feely with everyone around you. But it is good to put yourself in someone else's shoes. See what they see, and sometimes try to imagine what they feel. When we slow down and take time to do that, it will provide great opportunities for us to share Jesus with them.

See, Jesus does understand what people are going through, but they don't know He does. They can't know it unless they see that care in the people around them. God uses us to show His love to others.

So look at those around you. Is there someone going through a painful situation? Instead of telling them to just suck it up and move on (Jesus could have raised Lazarus immediately but wept first) take time to put yourself in their shoes. And if the situation calls for it...cry with them.

I have 2 children. One is 2 1/2 and the other is 9 months and they are both awesome.

Its so fun for me to watch the two of them interact. Aaron can't walk yet but he wants to do everything that Noah does. He wants to be everywhere Noah happens to be. So he will crawl around after Noah. He pulls himself up to where Noah is. Sometimes he crawls on top of Noah because (I think) he literally wants to occupy the same physical space as his brother.

Noah has varying opinions on his younger brother. Sometimes he loves him to death, giving him random hugs, kissing him, or calling him to follow. Other times he believes Aaron is out to ruin his life.

He will start calling "help, help...Aaron!" We (my wife and I) rush to find out what is the matter and see that Noah is sitting on the couch and Aaron is just standing the the floor on the other side of the couch. But in Noah's mind, Aaron is out to get him or he wants to take whatever Noah has in his hand.

This made me think about our interactions with other people. I hear so often things like, "Well that person just did that to get attention." or "They don't really care about such and such, they are involved for this or that reason." We pretend we know that intentions of others.

I hear these comments a lot when it comes to our comments about politicians, but it doesn't stop there. We see someone in the neighborhood and we pass judgement.

Everyone on State or Federal assistance is out to work the system.

The guy raising his hands in worship is doing it for attention.

That mega-church doesn't care about the poor or they wouldn't have all that stuff.

All liberals want to run this country into the ground.

All conservatives want to hold this country back from being great.

And it goes on and on! We look at someone's past or even a small part of what they do and what they're involved in and immediately pass judgement about their whole lives. We decide who they are before actually getting to know them.

The Bible lets us know that Jesus could actually know what someone was thinking, or what was in their hearts. We are instructed to be like Jesus but unfortunately we will never be so like him that we can see into someone's heart.

The only way we can even get close to knowing someone's intentions is by actually getting to know them. That's what we should be doing anyway. Instead of standing in a corner and looking down our noses at people (as the Pharisees did), we should be going out and mingling with the broken, those with messed up perceptions, the sinners. We all have a need for Jesus, including them.

Instead of standing back and judging, let's get our hands dirty and mingle. Its a lot harder to make up intentions for somebody when you are showing them love through words and action.

I heard someone say recently, "If we don't have a good A/C working in the sanctuary people may come for a couple weeks but then they will stop coming." That one comment has been on my mind a lot since hearing it a few weeks ago.

What does that say about our faithfulness to Christ? The Church is the bride of Christ. He loves the Church so much that He died for her. So for Christians to say, "I love Jesus but I hate the Church," it doesn't make sense. If you told me you hated my wife I would terminate our friendship.

The angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”-Luke 2: 10-12

When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. John 19:30

This Sunday, I will have the wonderful privilege of singing praise to my Lord in my church. As I have prepared for this event, I struggled, as always is the case, with choosing the right piece. I want my choice to have meaning for me personally, but also to translate for the congregation who will witness. 

Throughout the Christmas season, I have fought to keep my eyes where they belong: on Jesus. Being bombarded with the cultural version of the holiday on TV, radio, and nearly everywhere I go makes it difficult to focus. There has never been less of a struggle to buy into the commercialization of Jesus's birth, but it's challenging to find peace with all the noise.

As I have walked through this time, I once again have returned to the idea that Jesus is not only important in December. He's not only important on that one weekend in the spring. He is the most important thing ever-every day of the year. My whole life is about Him. When I fail to remember that, all aspects of my life are negatively affected. 

My choice of music for this Sunday is a reflection of that truth. It's my reminder to myself not to let go of the wonder I experience when I think of all the miraculous things about Jesus. Here are a few of the lyrics; I hope they serve as a reminder to you as well.

Happy Boxing Day everyone.

No, I'm not Canadian, although we did get a whole bunch of snow last night so I feel like I'm from a bit further north.

I've never really known what Boxing Day is, except that it comes the day after Christmas every single year. It is like Christmas's little brother that is just a little bit off. People acknowledge he's there, but they don't really give him any attention.

Just like with our uncertainty about Boxing Day, there seems to often be uncertainty about what to do after Christmas is over.

Do we leave the tree up til New Years or tear it down immediately?
How much time needs to pass before I can send my gift back and buy something I really wanted.
Is that fruit cake staring at me?

In all seriousness though, we often go right back to living exactly as we always have. We don't let the message of Christmas really change us all over again.

Christmas is not the only time of year where people are in need. People are going to be seeking shelters, food, and help with finances long after you put way your Christmas tree and soup kitchen ladle.

Our preacher has said several times this Christmas season, "Christmas without Easter is just a story about some baby born in a stable."

But that's not the story! The Christ came to this world, saved us from our sins and an eternity away from God, and He did it all because He loves us!

Make it a point to share that love with others. Seek out those in need and find ways to help them. Jesus' heart didn't break just one time a year for the hurting, and He didn't limit his service to that one time. He was always helping others who needed Him.

Let's do the same.

You may or may not know this about me (I can't remember if I have mentioned it before) but I am kind of a nerd.

I know, I know. You are sitting back thinking "What?! I've read some of this guy's posts and they are so well thought out and straight forward. He seemed like such a normal guy.

Well I am...or at least I think I am. But I'm also a nerd.

I am so very excited to go see The Hobbit in theaters. I won't be one of those guys who see it opening day, or maybe even opening week, but I will see it.

I am also very excited to see the new Superman movie which is coming out in June. My wife and I watched the trailer for it yesterday and she said, "That looks pretty good." Then she looked over at me and saw my reaction and said "Don't cry." As I said...very excited.

Thinking through the emotions I feel about these movies and other nerdy things, makes me think about other stuff that captures my attention. Then I wonder if I display the same level of excitement for real events as I do for the land of the make believe.

The Word became flesh. Jesus "did not consider equality with God something to be grasped but made Himself nothing, taking on the very nature of a servant being made in human likeness." (Philippians 2:7) Do you understand what I'm saying?!

God....became man.
God... made Himself a little lower than the angels (Heb 2:9)
God...loves us enough to die for us!

This is absolutely huge. I'm talking going outside, running around and making a fool of yourself huge.

In the Old Testament when the Ark of the Covenant was brought back in to the city, David danced around and made a fool of himself because he was so excited. His wife was embarrassed by his actions, but he didn't care. He wanted everyone to know his excitement!

People go to movies dressed as characters from the LOTR, Star Wars, or any superhero movie to show their excitement and devotion to these fake people.

I'm not saying that we should go around making a fool of ourselves. But maybe we should keep in mind that "the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing." (1 Cor 1:18).

Those outside of Christ are going to find our excitement foolish and maybe even down right stupid.

But our God came to this earth and has offered us salvation. Remember that as we continue in our Christmas season.


That is something to show some excitement for.

Let's see, Thanksgiving it tomorrow, Black Friday is just two days away, and Twinkies are on their way out. There are really plenty of topics to pick from for this week's post.

I'm going to run with Israel though. To preface this, I am not going to be taking a stand on how our nation should be responding to the continued tension and war between Israel and Palestine. All of this talk about Israel did create a nice conversation between my wife and I though.

It ended the the conclusion that we are so glad Israel is no longer the only people who receive God's blessings.

I am grateful beyond words (look at that Thanksgiving made it in this post after all) to God for opening the door for Salvation to this lowly Gentile boy.

You see... I'm not Jewish. I have no Jewish heritage at all, which means, according to the Old Testament way of living, I was not worthy. I was not a part of God's chosen people. The nation of Israel was sacrificing to the One True God and living for Him (except when they weren't, which we find a lot of in our Bibles) while my ancestors were living pagan lives.

The only way for my ancestors to be "saved" would have been to become an Israelite. They would have had to abandon their people and adopted the Israelite way of life. Everyone else was unclean. Israelites did not talk to, touch, or look at Gentiles (anyone who was not an Israelite). We were outcasts.

Then Jesus came. He changed everything! He opened up the wedding feast for us. In Matthew 22:1-10 Jesus tells of a King giving a wedding feast. He sends his servants out to bring all the people who were invited. They decided not to come and some of them even killed the servants. The King was outraged and ended up offering the invitation to those who at one time were not invited.

That's me! At one time I was on the outside and overlooked. But the people God had chosen rejected His Son. They killed Him. They killed the people who followed Him. Paul (who wrote more books of the New Testament than any other author) spent his days preaching to those on the outside...the Gentiles.

As Christians, we are God's chosen people. What I am about to say often causes disagreement, but I'm running with it. Israel is no longer God's chosen people. They do not get a free pass into heaven just for being Jewish. Jews need Jesus just as much as anyone else on this planet.

Christians are not God's chosen. We are the "nation" blessed by God. No, we are not a nation in the way the world thinks of it. We do not have a specific plot of land to call our own, but none-the-less we are a people group of one mind and one heart focused on the Savior.

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;¹⁰ for you once were not a people, but now you are the people of God; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. (1 Peter 2:9-10

 That verse was said to us! How wonderful!! It is good news that God chose those who were once on the outside to now be His people. It is amazing to be offered Salvation and to have a connection with God that was unheard of before Jesus came.

This news cannot be kept a secret! Sometimes we act just like the Israelites did in the Old Testament. They were not out to convert everyone and to share God's news. Many times Christians do not go out of their way to share the wonderful news of Jesus either. We just sit in our pews (or chairs) and act content to know Jesus but not share it with anyone.

People need to know that God desires them! He desires them so much that they are now welcome into His Kingdom. What great news!

I have a two year old son.

28 “But what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, ‘Son, go work today in the vineyard.’ 29 And he answered, ‘I will not’; but afterward he regretted it and went. 30 The man came to the second and said the same thing; and he answered, ‘I will, sir’; but he did not go. 31 Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly I say to you that the tax collectors and prostitutes will get into the kingdom of God before you. 32 For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him; but the tax collectors and prostitutes did believe him; and you, seeing this, did not even feel remorse afterward so as to believe him.

God has called us to a new life in Christ. As Christians we are no longer to live in the sinful ways we lived before. And good works may not be able to save us, we are saved to do good works. There is just no getting around it.

We cannot sit idly by and think to ourselves "well I accepted Christ as my Savior, now I can live however I want." God is asking us to go into the fields and help with the harvest. According to Jesus "the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few." We must go!

One son tried to look good in just words but he is not the son here who was praised. Both sons did the opposite of what they said they would do, but the first actually did the will of the Father.

What is God calling you to do today? Do not put it off until tomorrow. There are people in your life right now who need to know the love of Christ. There are those who need forgiveness, hope, salvation, or even a friend. Stop plugging your ears to shut out the voice of the Father. Instead, listen to his voice and follow his commands.

We are promised blessing for following. We are told to love because He first loved us. Show that love today, by the living out of your faith. Go work in the field.

I have found myself sucked into a new show this Fall. It is called Revolution. I'm a sucker for adventure, and the whole idea of all the power going off and civilization as we know it being redefined absolutely has me on the edge of my seat.

In this week's episode we found out that one of the main characters was one of the founders of the Monroe Militia (the military run, self-proclaimed government and salvation for all). Years prior he had realized his mistake and turned away from that life. He saw the monster he helped make and refused to live that way anymore.

After finding this out, some of the other characters still treated him like he was a terrible person. My wife and I were confused. We kept telling the TV (don't pretend you don't do this) that he was a changed man!

Chances are, you have been on one side or the other of this kind of situation. Either there has been someone in your life who used to live one way and now they don't but you have difficulty seeing passed their past. Or, you have changed and someone else has difficulty seeing you as anything but who you used to be.

It is really easy for us to listen to the voices, either from others of our own, that tell us the mistakes we have made in the past define who we are now. Too often I have talked with others who have said things like, "I wish I didn't live this way but that is just who I am I guess."

We too easily listen to the lie that tells us we are worthless because of the mistake we have made. This is not the message of Christ! 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!" We are more than the sum of our mistakes.

We must start living differently and believe that we are no longer who we were before. The woman who had lived in sin believed this. This belief is what led her to wash the feet of Jesus. She didn't continue living in her sin, even though that is exactly what everyone expected her to do. Instead, she went to Jesus, weeping because of the person she had been, but decided to serve Christ. 

Leave the old life in the past where it belongs. You no longer live like that. You are a new creation.

Something that sounds a little cheesy but actually works is telling yourself everyday you are who you want to be. Let me give you an example. If I weigh 210 lbs (still being the modest 5'6 I am) but I have made the goal of running a 5K in under 30 minutes and I want to lose 50 lbs then I need to start telling myself, "I am a runner." I need to change my entire mindset. "I am a healthy person." This is not so I can live in some delusional state, but so I can begin living the life of a runner or healthy person. It is the same way with our walk with Christ.

I am a new creation.

I have been saved by grace.

I am no longer a slave to sin.

I am a godly example to my wife and kids.

I am a Youth Minister who is in the Word for my spiritual growth daily.

By telling myself these things, it is easier for me to believe them and to actually live them out. I am not the person I used to be, and that person does not define who I am today. My identity comes from Christ and today I live for Him.

Depending on when you get up, either something great will be happening this morning or it has already happened. If you have kids in school, chances are, you were up before. If you are a college student and do not have classes til this afternoon, then you may have missed it. What is it I am talking about?

There are some days when I'm reading my Bible when I just don't comprehend what I'm reading until later. It seems like I go throughout my day and then all of a sudden a passage comes back to me. It's like God grabs me on the shoulder, turns me around and says "Check this out!"

Today was one of those days. I was reading a devotional. It wasn't centered on the words Jesus said to Nathanael in John 1 but it included that story. Here, let's read the passage:

This past week I had the privilege of preaching at Stokelan Drive Christian Church where I serve as the Student Minister. I always enjoy being able to get up and present God's word in that way.

My sermon was out of the Old Testament books of Ezra and Nehemiah. These two books are tucked nicely away in the Old Testament and sometimes I overlook them. But as I was studying up for the sermon, I found so many amazing applications. I was blown away.

If you don't know, the books of Ezra and Nehemiah, although found before the middle of the Old Testament, they take place at the end chronologically. The people of Israel had not heeded the warnings of God to turn from their wicked ways. They mocked and ridiculed God's prophets and finally God had the nations of Israel and Judah taken over.

The people lived in exile for 70 years and then God had the Persian Kind, Cyrus, send the Jews back to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple. It was a time of celebration for the Jews and they began their journey and started rebuilding.

You see, the most important thing was not the houses for families to live in. The most important wasn't even a wall to protect the city. The most important thing for the Jews to rebuild was the temple. This was where they would encounter and worship God.

The temple was the place where God would reside, and God wanted to be with His people.

People are hypocrites. Chances are, you know more people than you can count who often say one thing and turn around doing what they claim is wrong.

At times I the smallest things stick out to me in the Word.