Enough Complaining....

I've noticed that the past several posts I've made on this blog have been very harsh, very angry, and very pointed.  I've lashed out at the world like a man scorned.  But I can only wallow in my own bitterness for so long before it starts to eat at me.  Its normal to be angry when one sees things that one knows simply should not be.  But to continue to rage against the world and never take the time to change it -- that suggests that one would prefer to be angry than to be satisfied.

This past Sunday I attended a joint Spanish-English service at Journey Baptist Church, where two Hispanic churches from the surrounding area came and worshiped with their Anglo brothers and sisters.  The pastor from the Mount Vernon congregation said two things that struck me: (1) "If I can't use the gifts that God has given me for His glory, I am a miserable person," and (2) "when I became disgusted with the complacency of the people in my church, my pastor said that I was looking at man too much.  I needed to look at God more."

Well, that's where I am right now.  I see churches as a whole trading their desire to seek after the Lord with a desire to stay in the black.  No one wants to be effective anymore--we all just want to be big and well known.  (No, being big and well known does not equal effective, and being well known for how much of a butt hole you are about your beliefs is not being effective either).  And I've made clear my frustrations about that being the trend.  But after Sunday, I feel like the Lord is telling me that it's time to do something about it.  Rather than sit on my butt and become bitter about how the world is, I need to get up, use my gifts, and be the change that I want to see.  I need to look at man less and look at God more.

One of the things I enjoyed most about my time in vocational ministry was teaching.  And while I am thankful for the opportunity I have now to focus on my own relationship with Christ and to focus on being the husband and father I'm supposed to be, I do miss the chance to present Scripture in a practical way that (hopefully) helps to improve the lives of others.  Maybe the reason I'm harboring such bitterness is because I'm looking at man too much, and I instead need to look at God more.  Maybe I need to exercise my gifts to make the world better instead of waiting for it to get better on its own.

I've got some ideas in the works on exactly how I can do that.  I'm also trying to keep my eyes forward to what God wants me to do once I move to Shreveport.  I don't see much out there that I honestly feel like I could buy into with everything, but I don't want to sit and be stagnant either.  The only solution I see is to go out and create that which I wish existed.  I'm still working on how to do that, but the Lord is showing me what I need to see with each step.

Keep Soaring,

B

Is Osteen better at Christianity than we are?

Joel Osteen Turns the Other Cheek on Internet Hoax:

Interesting that he responded this way to the big hoax.  Because when I first heard about it, I read it on the Facebook of someone who posted the article with the words "I'm not surprised."  I read the comments that came after them.  Some were informing others that this was in fact a hoax.  One or two mentioned concern of Joel Osteen's spiritual well-being.  But most ranted on and on about how what he preaches isn't actually the Gospel.  Someone even said that "he can't leave the faith if he never was a part of it to begin with."

Now, I don't claim to know the mind of God.  But let's think for a second what would happen if this happened while Jesus was actually on the earth.  Someone who claims to be Jesus's biggest fan suddenly has a crisis of faith, even turning away from it.  How would Jesus respond?  Well, we don't really have to guess.  Because, you see, that's exactly Peter's story.  He claimed to be Jesus's biggest fan (Matthew 26:33), even though he didn't really understand completely what Jesus was here for (Matthew 16:23).  But he did have a crisis of faith, to the point of turning his back on Christ (Luke 22:54-62).  And Jesus, although completely justified in condemning Peter, instead chooses to restore him (John 21:15-17).

So here we have Joel Osteen, a man who claims to be one of Jesus's biggest fans, and there are quite a few things that many people believe him to be wrong on when it comes to Christ.  If he did have a crisis of faith and renounce his belief in God, how should we as followers of Christ respond? Do we, like the Savior we claim to follow, try our best to restore this man to his faith in the Lord, even if we think he's confused on what Scripture teaches?

Or do we post a link on Facebook with a smug remark about how he never was really a follower to start with?

The sad thing is, for those people who were tricked by this hoax and "weren't surprised" that Osteen seemingly left the faith, his response to the whole situation modeled Christ to the world better than any of their comments did.

Not trying to start a fight.  I just want to be sure that we take out the planks in our own eyes before we start noticing specks in the eyes of others.

Keep Soaring,

Branson

All I can Say

This song has been in my head all morning.  I hope it blesses you.

"All I Can Say" by David Crowder

Lord I'm tiredSo tired from walkingAnd Lord I'm so aloneAnd Lord the darkIs creeping inCreeping upTo swallow meI think I'll stopRest here a while
Chorus:And this is all that I can say right nowAnd this is all that I can giveAnd this is all that I can say right nowAnd this is all that I can give, that's my everything
Lord didn't You see me cry'n?And didn't You hear me call Your name?Wasn't it You I gave my heart to?I wish You'd rememberWhere you sat it down
Chorus:And this is all that I can say right now, i know it's not much.But this is all that I can give, yeah that's my everything.This is all that I can say right now [right now], i know it's not much.But this is all that I can give, yeah that's my everything.
Bridge:I didn't notice You were standing hereI didn't know thatThat was You holding meI didn't notice You were cry'n tooI didn't know thatThat was You washing my feet
And this is allThis is all that I can say right now, oh i know its not much.But this is all that I can give, yeah that's my everything.This is all that I can say right now [right now], i know it's not much.But this is all that I can give, yeah that's my everything.This is all that I can say right now, oh i know it's not much.But this is all that I can give, yeah that's my everything..yeah that's my everything..yeah that's my everything..everything...