Love?

Love is the hinge pin that makes the gospel work.  Had God not loved us enough, he would not have sent his son.  Had Jesus not loved us enough, he would not have died. 

So what do they ask of us?  Jesus commanded us in John 15;12 that we are to love others as he loved us.  Ponder that a moment.  In Matthew he commanded that we love our neighbor as ourself.  Personally I like the passage in John better.  This is not to say that one part of the Bible is better than another.  I think I just relate to it better.  In Matthew we are loving as much as we love ourselves, but in John that love is to surpass it to a love that is equal to what Jesus had for us.  Only he loved enough to give up his life for us. 

This means that we are to love our neighbors so much that we would be willing to sacrifice ourself for them. 

How can you sacrifice today for another person? 

Have you ever considered...

...what it feels like to die of starvation? To not be able to eat or drink anything? This seems like a really horrifying way to end life as we know it. Now imagine that at the end of this that you can't be sure of the reward.

Near Atlanta my Aunt lays dying just like this. She also can't speak or focus on anything. One thing she does have, though is Life in Christ.

I lay here thinking about her, and then I consider that really we are all like this in our lives. Whether we will admit it or not we spend our lives dying. From the moment we are born we start to die. Some sooner than others.

What makes the difference is that with Christ you can't really die, because in death we gain an inheritance of true life. Here in the world it seems like we are meant to suffer and die so that we can inherit eternal life with the Father.

So to my family, let us not be too saddened by her soon passing, but realize that she is really passing into true life and that we can all see her again. Thank God today that you have that assurance, and if you don't fall now to your knees and ask for it. He will save you and you will come to know true life.

Only one more day.

I sit here as this day comes to a close and realize that we have only one more day to make a difference in 2011. We have only one more day to ponder what changes we'll make for next year in 2012.  We have one more day to hug our kids, and one more day to hug our wife.  One more day to...

So what will you do with your day?  Let's have a good time, and live it for the Lord.

Extra time.

I'm sitting here reading about the tragic car accident on the interstate yesterday.  I recall how inconvenienced I felt because I had to drive ten extra miles and it took nearly thirty minutes more to get to work.  How dare they! 

Today, though, I started to realize that I have been pretty fortunate.  Yesterday two families changed forever from death, and nearly sixty more changed from injury and trauma.  All I have to deal with is a little less gas, and mild inconvenience. 

The lesson I wan to focus on is that you just never know what your day is going to hold.  Those two men certainly didn't know that they were going to wake up and head into work at four o'clock in the morning only to die thirty minutes later.  When they kissed their wife and told her good bye, they didn't know (and neither did she) that that was the last time. 

This morning I kissed my wife and told her that I would see her later.  I had no way of truly knowing if that was true.  I should be thankful that so far it still holds true, and then make sure that I take advantage of that extra time to make a difference. 

Lord, today, help me to take advantage of the extra time you have given to me.  Let me work for you.  Send me some work for your kingdom.  Amen

Just some thoughts...

I'm working out a thesis now on my own and plan to do a little writing to clarify it for myself and I'll maybe share with some others too.  It's about the enemy and how we should view him.  In Revelations 13 where the "first beast" is mentioned, he has many heads and crowns and horns.  I think think the most important truth to gleen from that is not what each head, horn, or crown is, but that they have one body on one beast. 

Our enemy may take many forms, but it is still one enemy.  How does this relate?  Regardless of what "ememy" is attacking us at this moment in time, it is really the same enemy as yesterday. 

Yesterday, my friend was attacked by the HOA.  The other day I was attacked by non-Christians at work.  The national media posted an article about how religious extremists (talking about conservative evangelical Christians) are going to basically disolve and can't go on. 

All of these things aren't physical attacks.  But as Christians we should view them as attacks none-the-less.  Our faith is being attacked at every front by some many different enemies and it can become quite confusing to try and keep track of it all.  What I'm proposing is that we stop trying to keep track of all the enemies of Christianity in the world and realize from the example given in Revelation 13 that although there are many heads, there is still just one enemy. 

This is where Satan is most successful because he comes at us from so many different angles.  And really it is still just one enemy. 

Today we need to start recognizing this.  When we do it will help us get our focus back and even help us in fulfilling our own commission from God.

First Sermon

I completed my first sermon today.  What an amazing experience.  I'll post a link here if you would like to view it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aohm8uIWz7Y&feature=youtu.be

May the Lord bless you as you watch this, like He did me.

This is a start.

I just wanted to start a blog because I am a Seminary student and wanted an easy place to store my writings and eventually any journal entries I will have. I love the Lord and want to share Him in any way I can. This is also a place where people can read wholesome content.

Feel free to comment and ask questions. I'll check and update as time permits.

In Christ,
Jake