Un-com-for-t-able

If you haven't already listened to the daily devo I posted today, check it out. It goes with what I'm gonna discuss. It's called Sheep vs. Goats.
On Tuesdays and Thursdays at our church we give out food boxes. Often times the front office will be crammed full of people. All in need, looking to be helped. This is simply part of what we do. Anyway, today as people came in it struck me the discomfort felt when approached by the needy. You know what I'm talking about, the feeling you get in you stomach when a guy with "will work for food" comes up to your car at a stop light. Or how about the one that always catches you at the gas station needing $5 cause his car ran out of gas a few miles back. The homeless guy downtown that asks for a few bucks. Most feel a little uncomfortable when faced with "the needy". Maybe we're uncomfortable with the poor. Maybe even irritated by the request. Set back by someone invading our zone of comfort. Breaking into our personal airspace with there need. A need we did not create, a need we didn't make happen...and why should we be responsible for it.
Well, well, well!!!
Is this you? Do you in someway feel these very same feelings? Don't worry you are not alone. Many of us feel this way to some degree. But what should we do about it?
I'm glad you asked!
I think we should take a look at what Jesus had to say about it. In the story of the sheep and the goats the sheep get to enter into rest and the goats get to enter into hell. Whats the difference? The difference is what they did and didn't do. Sheep feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, clothe the naked, visit the prisoner, set free the captive. Now let's contrast that with Matt.7 when many will come in that day and say Lord, Lord, and Jesus will say,"Depart from me I never knew you". Then they answer him saying, "Didn't we cast out demons and heal the sick in your name". Basically it's like this, it doesn't matter what kinda healing or deliverance ministry you have, if you're not in love with HIM and showing that love to people. I mean low, down, and dirty showing the love. I mean you, you, you... Not sending someone or sending some money, but you getting down and feeding, clothing, setting free. If you're not then I hope you are paid up on your fire insurance cause baby, your gonna need it.
That's about all for now.

Love ya

PJ

Total Eclipse Of Your Heart

Each of us at one point in our life or another have heard the story of creation. You know the whole in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth... We see the spirit hovering over the face of the deep. Hovering over the nothingness, some translations even say chaos. That's what the Spirit of God did for us; came and hovered over our deep places, over the chaos... Then God said let there be light and there was light. We opened our heart to Jesus and the light of God came and illuminated every dark place.
We see on the fourth day God creating the sun, moon and stars. In our day to day life there are three major players to life as we know it, the sun, the moon and our very own earth. The moon was made to reflect the light of the sun. There are some nights we see the moon, other nights we can't. Some nights there's a lunar eclipse. That's when the world cast a shadow on the moon. How many times in our own life does the world cast its shadow, when we are to be a reflection of the greater light. Our heart becomes totally eclipsed because we've sat too long in the shadow of this world.
Today step out of the worlds shadow, reflect the light that has been illuminated in your heart to others.

Love ya,

PJ

P.S. Hit the launch sermons tab, then daily devotions to hear the podcast.

A Tale of Two Lions #2

Pt.2
...First only warm brown eyes in the tall golden grass, eyes that almost glowed, and did not blink staring deep into the heart of the fearful child. If Na’fi had not been so gripped with fear he would have seen that the beast was majestic in size and color. He was really a very beautiful lion. Both lion and child eyes locked. Then in a moment the lion’s attention was diverted to something behind the young boy. In an instant his look went from warm and glowing to that of fight. Eyes keen and focused, locked on something beyond where young Na’fi stood. Full of questions, should he flee or fight, should he keep looking at the oncoming beast or turn to see whatever had captured the great lion’s attention. After what seemed like hours but in reality it was only a few moments, Na’fi began to turn. Slowly, slowly he turned. After turning the full ninety degrees but not moving his feet, Na’fi saw a much smaller lion, scrawnier. His mane and fur all much darker, his face and look much harder. Eyes as black as the darkest night, eyes that looked not at the larger lion but looked straight into the heart of fear of the young child. The lion seem to feed off of this fear, wielding a strength in destruction, stealing the very life from the boy. Frozen in fear, breath slow and heavy, pins and needles covered every inch of the young boy’s body. Suddenly there came the same deafening roar, shaking the very ground beneath, causing even the trees and the grass to take notice. It seemed for even a moment that the mountains bowed down. Shaken from the trance young Na’fi turned once again to face the great golden lion. As their eyes locked a feeling of overwhelming comfort came over the boy, a sense of strength began to fill his heart. Staring into one another’s eyes the lion seemed to say “focus on me, don’t turn away”. Just as this was happening the other lion began to come into Na’fi’s peripheral vision, circling him, snarling and growling, doing all he could do to take the attention of the boy off the greater lion. Circling over and over again, lunging as if to attack but only testing the young boy’s resolves and focus. Then finally as if unable to take anymore, consumed with hatred, rage and blood lust, the black beast crouched prepared to leap at the small and easy prey. Just before the kill the evil man-eating beast looked to the great lion with defiance and almost smirked then said I’m taking yet another. Then focusing on his prey he pounced. With a flash the great golden lion dove in between feast and foe. With his mighty right paw he lay waste to his enemy. Na’fi eyes wide still staring unmoved as the great lion stood over his prey. From the bushes came the village hunters with shouts and clicks with high-pitched screams. Hurling spears at the already defeated man-eater, spear after spear piercing the dead lion’s flesh. Na’fi’s father in one swoop tossed his son onto his back and safety. In the midst of all the commotion the great lion with his golden mane and beautiful brown eyes had disappeared into the tall savanna grass unseen by the villagers.
Later when telling the story around the fire the village men would exaggerate the part they played in the execution of the great man-eating beast. But Na’fi knew the truth, the truth that out there somewhere was a lion looking over him. Na’fi now grown still walks across the savanna and when he looks hard enough sees those wonderful brown eyes watching over him.
The End

Love ya

PJ
PS. You can also check this out at the daily devotion site with commentary.

A Tale of Two Lions Pt.1

A Tale Of Two Lions
Young Na’fi was only four when one day he ventured out of the village. His mother, father and older sister had all assumed purhaps that some one else was watching young Na’fi. Each busy about their daily tasks, young Ni’era, Na’fi’s older sister was twelve and it was her job to see the family had drinking water. So she was down in the center of town where there was an old lever pump that missionaries had put in long before she was born. She pumped and pumped that old lever pump filling up the five gallon bucket that she would carry on her head on the return walk home. Sa’bel, Na’fi’s mother was behind the house tending to the laundry. Hunched and squatted over a large metal bowl, she scrubbed the laundry by hand with her bar of lie soap. Galbo, Na’fi’s father had been in the jungle for two days. He and five other men from the village had gone out to the jungle when the roar of the lion had begun. Sa’bel had told both her children not to fear the night before, but both Na’fi and Ni’era could see the fear in their mother’s eyes.
The roar of the Lion the night before was a tell tale sign that a man-eater was somewhere lurking in the not so distant tree line. Their father was out there too. The danger was very, very real for both the villagers and especially to the men on the hunt.
Other than the men of the village being gone this day had begun like most others. There where chores that needed to be done, the work that was at hand. Amongst the busyness of the day Na’fi was not being watched. As the day progressed Na’fi adventured farther and farther from the village. Before long the adventures brought him to the tree line and Na’fi was a hunter as his father was. With a broken tree branch for a spear he cleared the other side of the tree line into an open savannah. It was so vast, so big, a whole new world on the other side of the tree line. There was a path cutting through the center of the savannah reaching to the distant mountains. The mountains where so large and looming gray in contrast to the warm brown of the savannah, their peaks reaching to the clouds.
There Na’fi stood between the jungle and savannah with the mountains as the backdrop. A thunderous roar came from the high grass just thirty or forty yards away. The roar was so loud it caused Na’fi to jump uncontrollably, then freeze, unable to move as the shadowy figure began moving toward him.

Love's Chain Reaction

So many of us are not really burning balls of passion on a continual basis for our Lord and Savior. Oh sure we get hot, and sometimes we get cold and usually we ride the fence in the middle. Not because we want to, but because it’s just so easy to settle for mediocrity. There are just so many things that have the ability to alter our focus off our Father. It’s ok to keep these things in our peripheral vision but there is only room for one on the throne of our heart. The one that keeps our attention and keeps our focus is the one for which we will burn. The one for which we burn is the one for which we act. Action, action, action! Faith without it is dead, love without it is dead, life without it is dead.
Rev. 2 calls the church at Ephesus to return to her first love, to repent and remember from the heights she had fallen. Today let us remember, let us retrain our focus, our attention, our passion… Our ACTION!!!

Love ya

PJ

First Love

The past days we’ve been talking about the action of love. This morning I awoke considering the depth of God’s love for me. The habitation He created in just six days, the sun, moon, stars, majestic mountains and I could literally go on and on. I stand in awe of all He has made. Then as an encore He formed man and blow the breath of life into him. They would walk in the cool of the day together. As we so often do, man fell. But God in all His love didn’t leave us, oh no. He came to our rescue, by sending His own Son. This Son died a terrible death, a death of extraordinary pain and anguish. All out of Love. There is no mountain that would not be crossed no sea too far… Our Father crossed the span of all man’s sin out of love. WOW!!!
Perhaps this is why Jesus said the first command is to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, and strength. What kind of love can man have to compare with the type of love shown to us? None zero. That is why the first command is that we love Him; it is through this intimacy with our Father that we learn, Love. If we are ever to really learn to love that love must first be poured into us. This real love only has one source.
As we read the other day about Paul’s insane life: the hardship, beatings, shipwrecks and the list goes on and on. Why would a man undertake all these pains and junk? One reason he had been taught how to really love and was willing to die for and did die for the one he loved. STOP. Question. How can we really say we would die for our faith if we don’t even pay our tithe? How can we say we would take persecution if we can’t even show up to church on time? I realize this isn’t you but if it were I would question your honesty. How about we put our words into action. Let’s just try to show God how much we love Him. Not with lip service this time but with action. Perhaps if we looked just a little closer we would see that love is like faith and without action it is dead.

Love ya

PJ

That's How I Want To Love

New Daily Devotion up today.

Listen to the podcast here
or download it here.

Paul's Love

Hey everyone... Good morning
Just posted a new podcast, check it out. Just hit the launch sermons.
It's a continuation on Paul's love. A love of action not just words.
That's how I wanna love today.

Love ya

PJ

Listen to the podcast here
or download it here.

Paul is the man

Wow!!! As I read our daily Bible reading, I am once again reading Paul's boasting. It's insane!!! Even Paul says,"I am speaking as a fool". Then he goes on this rampage of the many exploits he'd encountered. "I've worked harder, been in prison more, been beaten with rods, stoned, shipwrecked"... The list goes on and on! I really suggest you check it out its in II Cor. 11 towards the end of the chapter. As I read his words, I couldn't help but think of the letter I wrote to you yesterday. You remember, I spoke of being in love and how there's nothing you wouldn't do for the one your in love with. Man, all of us say we love Jesus like that, but I don't know any of us with a resume like that. That's the life, the love of a man crazy about Jesus. Not just a man that spoke words of love, but a man that made it happen.
The story of the stewards really makes a good point. There where three guys all given different amounts of money. Two of them went out and made something happen. In a place where there was nothing they produced something. No excuses, they did what had to be done to produce the results. Many talk about there love, but I think love is like faith, that is where there is no action it's dead. Stinky, dead love.
I think of all the words I've spoken to God, that where nothing but gas, a lot of hot air. Do I mean them? Yes! Are they passionate? Yes! But I want my words to be more than words, more than feelings. I want them to be my action, I want them to tell the story of my life. I want that story to be a love story filled with adventure and action. Not just hot air!!!

Love ya

PJ

Giving

I sat today considering the Lord and our ability to give to Him. It is true that in the book of Job it says, “Who has given to the Lord that He might repay.” It is true that God is so large, so big and so awesome that all things are yours. Still He has given us stewardship over the things in our life. We should do all things as unto the Lord, we should give as unto the Lord and live as unto the Lord. Jesus is our Lord, the figure of absolute authority, the ultimate, the utmost. As such we should give to Him. He is also our husband and we His bride. As this He is to be the love of our life. I remember when I first started dating my wife. WOW!!! If I could reach the moon I would have given it to her. No river, no mountain, no ocean could keep me away. All I had I would give. It’s that way today. One funny thing about it is, if I didn’t have what she desired then I would find a way to get it for her. If I didn’t have the money, I would get the money, then get it for her. Like most guys that are crazy in love, there are few things that I wouldn’t do to give to my wife. God is just that crazy in love with you. The question is, are we that in love with Him. How far are you going to give to God?

Love Ya

PJ

Listen to an awesome testimony here or download it here.

Where Is God?

Well sure the easy answer is that God is everywhere. Of course He’s everywhere, everyone knows that. Oh I agree a great many of us know it with our heads but in our hearts, yes with our hearts and our actions we don’t believe. I’ll give you an example. The last time you sinned, I mean the last time you sinned big. Oh I don’t know what it was or were you where. But we have all sinned big. Can you remember the last time you sinned and it was a biggie. Well what if Jesus had been standing there in the flesh, looking at you with His eyes of love, nail holes in His hands. Come on, He would not have had to say a word, you and I both would have dropped the sin and run from it as fast as we could. Let me stop right there and say this is not a word on you and the ugliness of your sin. It is on the other hand a word on which you truly believe and don’t believe. I would like us to get to the place where we really, really believe God is everywhere. Not because I want us to be overcome with condemnation.

You see once we come to the true knowledge that God is everywhere. Then no matter where you are, whether in your car or at work, whether at home or school. Once we come to the realization that there is a loving, wonderful and awesome Father that is always there, always watching, always caring, always longing for a relationship. Waiting for you to believe, that He’s right there waiting for you to believe.

Love ya

PJ