Jesus

My daughter is a mission field

/ Mike Farley / Leave a comment

I just finished reading Mark Oestreicher’s book Youth Ministry 3.0, and yes I know it is old news but guess what I don’t care. I buy my books from the used book store and I figure if the information is any good it should still be relevant. Everyone is always like “hey did you read that new book by blah blah” and I’m all like “hey have you heard of this guy Watchman Nee? I’d like him to sign my book.”

Anyway that has nothing to do with anything. I just want to take a minute of your time and tell you why you should read or not read this book (Youth Ministry 3.0). I think the information is good, I think the messages on the sides of the pages are helpful, and I think that by and large you can put into practice a lot of the things in the book even if you are not in youth ministry.

Read If:

You are willing to change

You are willing to grow

You desire to see maturity in your life and the life of your students

You are somewhat tired of coming up with a new and exciting game for youth every week

 

Don’t Read If:

You love being the Messiah

You really enjoy being the Rock Star of the church

You think that numbers equal fruit

You are dyslexic

Everyone has a different major take away from reading a book and my major number one takeaway from reading this book was missions. If a kid is allowing you in their life then understand you are a visitor not a resident. Think back to your own childhood / adolescence. You might have let some adults in but not all the way in. If they got too close you changed the rules so they could not longer be close. It is the same nowadays only worse (I think). So if we are going to minister to youth we need to understand we do not have all the info most of the time. Most of the time they only give us what they want us to have and if we take to much they lose interest.

Music is a great example because it is always changing. My daughter was really into Adele for a while. She would sing it in the shower and on her karaoke machine. She would ask me to play it while we drove somewhere it was all she listened to. However once I started to listening to it on my own she no longer had interest. I had taken something she liked and made it my own so she could no longer have it. I had accidentally stolen part of her identity. It was an honest mistake but a mistake nonetheless. Now she has moved on and is trying to find something new but won’t let me know what it is. Now of course I do know because she does not use headphones so I hear almost everything. But she is guarding that part of herself.

What I learned (or was reminded of) is even though she is my daughter she is a mission field to me and if she lets me in on something I need to be careful not to take her things on as my own. I think to some extend and this is just a hunch that some of the problems we see youth facing today are in a way our fault as leaders for taking what they like as our own. They are into this so we put it in church, or watch it, or pin it, or post it, or whatever. So the only response they have is to go somewhere we are not willing to go. This way they have their own person-ness (just made that word up).

I am in no way suggesting we should not know what they are into, but we do not necessarily have to embrace everything they like after all we are the adults maybe we should learn what we like by now. Maybe instead of conforming to their culture we just need to know about so we can lead them out of the dangerous stuff.

I know the videos she watches because I go through her devices. I have learned what / who Miranda Sings is and we have spoken about some of her videos. We know what she listens to and my wife has spoken with her about some song choices. But I have also decided that I need to let her have some things so that she will not try and go to an extreme just to be unique.

My daughter is a mission field, and if I am to help her grow and learn what it is to follow Christ then I need to learn about her, study her, and find out what makes her tick. But like being a missionary that does not mean I become a native but instead I choose to be an ambassador to her. Are the other youths I lead any different?

Just a thought,

Mike

Does the TV count as company?

/ Mike Farley / Leave a comment

Does the TV count as company? Does a book? What about a video game? FaceBook? I could go on and on, but I think the point is made. In case it wasn’t do the things we give our attention to count as company (that’s better)?

I think they do because they are created to take our attention and pull us into that world. You generally watch a show or movie and “escape” into it. You become connected to the characters and stories. You are saddened when they die, or lose their love. You rejoice when they win. When Captain America is being all awesome you feel good and maybe your arms start twitching like mine do (as if I am beating the bad guy). If we were not connected to them we would not spend our time with them we would just change the channel or grab a different book.

So my new question is this; What kind of company do you keep? 1 Cor 15:33 says “Do not be deceived: “Evil company corrupts good habits.”” So does the company you keep corrupt your good habits? If you are like a lot of people you can look at that verse and think “almost all my friends go to church” or “I only hang with people who are decent” or whatever. But if the TV and Book company you keep at home is not good then you don’t actually keep good company.

Now don’t think I am shooting down anything in particular. I have no idea what show or book you are thinking about right now but I am willing to bet that most of you are thinking about something. Just know that whatever you are thinking about right now is for you to continue thinking about. Maybe it is not something you do now but did before. Just take that to prayer.

One other thought on how evil company corrupts good habits and this really got me thinking.

I was at a store yesterday and there was this loud mouth kid (early 20s maybe) talking about the last time he got arrested and f this and f that. I mean he was really putting on a show for these other kids. I know him because I was him. I could hear the forcing in his voice trying to sound like I don’t care but I could hear the hurt in his voice. Anyway his actions started to rub off on the lady standing next to me. She started saying things that just did not seem to flow out her mouth naturally. She was letting the company around her influence her language and actions. I left the store realizing the awesome power and responsibility (Spiderman influence) we have and how we have to use it carefully.

None of us are above letting the company around us change our habits either. Galatians says a little yeast works the whole loaf. Do not deceive yourself and think that only “weak” and immature” people deal with that type of stuff. Pride precedes the fall.

Just a thought,

Mike

Small sentence big implication!

/ Mike Farley / 2 Comments

There are a few verses in the Bible that stand out. Not that other verses are not important but some change the way you view everything.

Luke 10:27 “You shall love the LORD your God with all: your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.”

This is a simple statement however the implications are huge and require some explaining and examples.

Love God:

Before we can even begin to look at the ways we are to love God we have to understand that we cannot on our own accord love Him. Our attempts at loving God fall short and our attempts at living a righteous life are but filthy rags. We can only love God because He first loved us. God is good and in His goodness He saved us from our sins by sending His only son to save us. It is by placing our trust in the finished work of the Cross that we can then love God. The twist to the story however is that now we can love God but require His love in us to then love Him properly. We must constantly receive from Him to give our love to Him. I believe that Colossians 3:3 shows this well that we cannot think of our love to God as separate from our being in Him. We love Him because we are in Christ who is in the Father. The implications of this are of course that the love we give to God is really His own love back to Him. Desiring to always be in Him.

With all your heart:

The word for heart that is used is more than emotion and feelings. It does encompass this but it is for your mental, moral i.e rational and emotional. We are called to love God with our thoughts, and to bring every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. We are to think about the LORD, and to be engaged with His heart. We are to seek His heart and then put ours in alignment with His. We are to not let our feelings and emotions control us. This is done through Prayer.

With all your soul:

Loving God with all your soul is to give Him your whole inner being. A dog can love it’s master, it can come when it is called, it can respect that you feed it, but it has no soul so it cannot love fully. God does not desire that we come when called. God desires that we desire Him. We are to long for Him like a deer pants for water my soul pants for God, we are to thirst for Him. This is done through Worship.

With all your strength:

The love we give to God from our strength is by loving with all the ability we have to love with. We are to love God by doing what we are able to do. This is not done to gain merit or earn salvation but instead we do works because we are saved by Grace. Our love for God is shown in what we do, not done to be loved. Loving God with our strength is to love Him through Service.

With all your mind:

To love God with your mind is to love Him with all your understanding. I love God more now than I did when I first gave my life to Him, but my love for Him was no less real than it is now. Now I simply understand more so I can love Him more. The more I learn of Him and the more I seek Him the more I love Him. The more I transform my mind by His word and see what He has done the more I am able to love Him. My daughter loves me more today than she did 5 years ago only because she understands me more now. The more we study the more we have ability to love Him. This is done through Reading the Bible.

Love your neighbour as yourself:

This is done by living in Grace and Truth. Jesus came full of Grace and Truth and we should live the same way. Some churches are big on Truth and some are big on Grace but what would happen if we were big on Grace and Truth. What if we looked to Jesus as our example and said go and sin no more. What if we offered to others the same grace we need. What would happen if we told the truth we desire to hear.

The local church is to be an extension of Jesus. We are to be His hands and feet. We are to love the unloved, to care for widows and orphans, to offer mercy to those who need it. There is a time for discipline and we must use it when needed but we must not be to quick to reach for it. We must be ministers of reconciliation.

As a church we need to have opportunities for people to serve. We need to have opportunities for people to come to Jesus. We should also be active in the community. We cannot expect to have people come to us unless we have first demonstrated that we will go to them. Jesus spent His time going to the people who needed to hear and receive the Word. We should be a force in the communities we are placed in.

We should also be looking to train up the next generation for service. We should be actively looking for those who have a call on their life and equipping them for service. If someone wants to be a pastor or missionary or doctor or lawyer or nurse or mechanic we should be showing them that they can be whatever they are called to be for Christ. Ministry happens everyday in a variety of ways and we should be showing that to the next generation so they can be a force for Jesus as well.

Just a thought,

Mike

What is love?

/ Mike Farley / 1 Comment

I think it is safe to say that we as a culture are obsessed with love or at least the idea of love. We listen to songs about it, watch movies about it, read books about it. We think about how we can better love ourselves, love our spouses, love our children, and love others. Selling love has become a multi-billion industry in it’s multiple forms. Those who don’t have it long for it, and those who have it try to figure out how to hold on to it or find it in new ways.

Often times when we lose the feeling of love we turn to new things in an attempt to get that feeling back often times with failure and sin as a result. There are those who have mastered the craft of the illusion of love. People who have studied the feeling of love and like a painter are able to create it. But like a painting it is only a two dimensional and lacks depth. We have taken a great and wonderful thing and made it trivial and cheap. We treat love like a drug and or a solve it all. All the while we tend to only seek love for our benefit.

The story in Hosea is a beautiful love story filled with tragedy and joy, tears, and rejoicing. Hosea is a story of a man who deeply loves his unfaithful wife, and it is also the story of how the children of Israel have left their first love. But it is also a story of you and I.  A story written some almost three thousand years ago that today still speaks true. It is all a story that today is an all too common scenario. A story that at the time it was written was scandalous, but today makes the for good television. It is story of a fall from grace and an undeserving return to glory.

I think the thing that makes the story of Hosea, and Gomer so great is that Gomer thought she knew what love was. She thought she had an understanding of what love was, and sadly it is the same misunderstanding that many of us have. But she learned what love truly was and is not because of her seeking but because of her husbands seeking of her.

Hosea 2:5 says “For their mother has played the harlot; She who conceived them has behaved shamefully for she said I will go after my lovers, who gave me my bread and my water, my wool and my linen, my oil and my drink.”

Gomer the wife of Hosea decided that her husband was not enough for her, more to the point she decided he was not the provider she needed. She had desires for more that he did not provide. She wanted things more than she wanted her husband and family. She loved other things more. Notice she refers to the providers of these things as her lovers who gave me.. It was the things she wanted more than her husband. She desired these things and these many men more than Hosea. This was not a marriage on the rocks. Not a marriage where her husband did not love her. It is very clear from the text that Hosea loved his wife dearly. She and she alone was the one with issue.

In the same way we too leave God for other lovers. Maybe it is not full leaving maybe it is just a little something on the side. You hold a little back from offering so you can get that shirt, or watch, or rims. You skip fellowship so you can have a little more time to play that game, or get caught up on work, or finally spend some quality time with NetFlix. It is not leaving just a little flirting. You have not cheated on your girl it’s just a work wife because it’s fun. It is just a little harmless fun.

But a little this and a little that make a lot of something.

We look for things that will give us the thing we want; the feeling of love. When we see something that might be it or even lead to it we follow it. We chase love and the idea of love relentlessly all the while not realizing that a relentless love is chasing us.

Don’t get me wrong love is not a bad thing I love love. The problem is our understanding of love. The problem is that we sometimes love the wrong things and don’t understand what love is. We love tacos, cookies, and Jesus. As if these three things are the same.

We chase things that are not love as if they were. We long for what we do not have all the while completely missing the thing in front of us. A big part of the problem if not the whole problem is we do not understand what love is.

Here is three examples of misunderstanding what love is.

So it’s gonna be forever, or it’s gonna go down in flames, you can tell me when it’s over if the high was worth the pain, Got a long list of ex-lovers, they’ll tell you I’m insane, cause you know I love the players and you love the game. – Taylor Swift.

Oh won’t you stay with me, cause you’re all I need. This ain’t love it’s clear to see but darling stay with me. – Sam Smith

Well you only need the light when it’s burning low, Only miss the sun when it starts to snow, Only know you love her when you let her go. – Passenger

You have a song about talking about love as a temporary passion, one that wants love knowing it does not have it, and one that says you only know you have love when it is gone.

Love as defined by Webster’s dictionary is a feeling of strong or constant affection for a person and the strong affection felt by people who have a romantic relationship. This is nice but easy to fall in and out of. This is just an affection it is no more than a stong like, and I can stop liking something or someone pretty quick. We have turned love into a feeling. A strong feeling but a feeling nonetheless. We love out of our desire, needs, and wants. We love when there is something in it for us.

God does not command that we really like our neighbor. Jesus does not say in Luke 10:27 you should really like the LORD your God. No it says you should LOVE the LORD your God.  The love being used here in the Greek means to wish well to, take pleasure in, long for; denotes the love of reason, esteem. It is so much more than like or strong like. Biblical love is crazy dedication.

So how does the Bible define love. After all if we are going to talk about Biblical love we should define it.

1 Corinthians 13:

Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing.

Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away.

When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.

And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

If I had to sum it up I would say the Bible define love as a selfless devotion to others that is ready and willing to go the distance.

There was a man a few years back named Kamal Saleem who was a part of something called Culture Jihad. It is a branch of jihad that instead of guns and swords to attack the flesh they instead choose to attack the mind. He moved himself to America to begin to reshape America for Islam. Long story short he was in a horrible accident one day on his way to recruit some young men. He was thrown from his car and broke his neck in two places. He was found by some christians who called 911. He was brought to a christian hospital where all of his bills where paid and treatment was set up for him. He knew they were all the same people he wanted to destroy (christians). They put him in an apartment after he was released from the hospital, and even bought him a car. One day he realized that these same people he wanted to destroy loved him without condition and he decided to take his life because of his confusion but he heard a voice call him by name and tell him to cry out to God. He did and God answered. This man now has a large ministry dedicated to seeing people find freedom in Christ.

Back to Luke 10 Jesus then goes on to talk about loving your neighbor as yourself and tells the story of the good Samaritan. A man who had no reason whatsoever to love the beaten and battered Jew. Let me ask you this and I understand that no one wants to hear this and I do not want to say it. If a member of rival sports team was beaten and battered would you help? If it was the one who your spouse cheated on you with would you still be willing to help? What if it was the person who got you wrongly fired? What if it was a member of ISIS or Al Quada? If you are walking down Main St and someone was bruised bloody and dying would it matter who they are before you help them?

We have to love, we have to choose love. We have Jesus as our example of what love does. We look to Him and see how love responds. Not living out of feelings no matter how strong.

We go back to our love story in Hosea 2:14-16 “Therefore behold, I will allure her, will bring her back into the wilderness, and speak comfort to her. I will give her vineyards from there, and the Valley of Achor as a door of hope; she shall sing there as in the days of her youth. As in the day when she came up from the land of Egypt. And it shall be in that day, says the LORD that you will call me My Husband (Ishi – husband, mighty man, him that is, great) and no longer call me My master (Baali – My master, captain, chief man, have to do.)”

That parallel between two words is like an obligation and a choice. It is like the difference between the old ball and chain, and my wife.

We look and see that even before we get cleaned up God is calling us to Him. We did not get to get right before we could get right with God. It says in Romans that while we still sinners Christ died for us. He did it out of love. God is love and whoever lives in love, lives in God (1 John 4:16).

The whole point of what I am saying is this. God loves you and loved you before you were worth loving and He says we are to love as well. We are to love God and love our neighbor. We are to live in love. We are to love the brethren and being willing to lay ourselves down for them. We are to love others and show them a more excellent way. We are to be known for our love. I say it again we are to be about the business of love.

We are to love our children when they don’t ask for it. We are to  love our spouses when they are being difficult. We love our parents when they are being crazy. We are to love our pastors when they seem to require much from us. Love is not a feeling but an action. We must be about the business of love, because it is the business God is in.

In looking at Hosea and Gomer again. Love is worth it. Love wins. Hosea buys back his wife at a great price. A price higher than any of her false lovers would be willing to pay. A price that was above and beyond what any slave was worth. Hosea paid this price because she was no slave but his bride.

We need to first understand that God is love. We can hear that and not understand it. Read 1 Cor 13:4-8a again but this time replace Love with God. God suffers long and is kind; God does not envy; God does not parade Himself, He is not puffed up; He does not behave rudely; He does not seek His own, He thinks no evil. he does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in truth.

Jesus went to and died on a cross for a Bride. He purchased you back with His own blood He bought back as His bride. He paid a price that no one else was willing to pay. No false lover came to your rescue, no tempter ever thought to secure you. Jesus laid down His life to redeem you. Hosea purchased his wife with things that perish because his love while great had an end. 1 Peter 1:18-19 says:

“Knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by traditions from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as a lamb without blemish and without spot.”

Jesus purchased His bride with things that do not perish because His love does not end. That starts to build a pretty good picture.

Later read it again but put yourself in there you will quickly see where you need to work on things. You will have a hard time saying certain things. Your voice might even crack a little when you read words you know are not true about yourself. Read them anyway. Then ask God to help you become those things.

Just a thought,

Mike

I am not a reject!

/ Mike Farley / 6 Comments

So at this point I have sent out probably 2 dozen or so emails for youth pastor positions from Saipan to Oregon with most having cricket responses, but some rejections are starting to roll in. This is not fun, and it is not how I expected it to go (I am typically the constant optimist). To be honest I started to feel like a reject and sit in self pity. Then God and my daughter spoke up.

We were doing a Bible study last night and going through 1 John and my daughter asked if lying was a sin. Simple question so I fought the urge to give a dissertation and said yes. She then asked if that meant she was no longer a Christian because she sinned. My wife and I then explained to her that just like mommy and daddy love you and you are our daughter regardless of mistakes and actions God loves you even when you mess up. This was good enough for her. But it started something in me.

This morning I started thinking about that again. I felt like God was reminding that just like a lie does not mean you stop being His child a rejection does not make you a reject. We can (ok I can) take things to a place they do not need to go. It is hard when you get so many no answers or just a no. You can start to feel like no one wants you, and that you will never succeed. You do not want to not feel this way but without some encouragement you will.

Enter Colossians 1:27b and 3:3. These are two of my favorite verses ever. So much so I made 1:27b the WiFi password for a time so when the kids would have friends over they would have to memorize Scripture to use the internet. God can say so much using so little words. I am reminded that my place is in Him, and my work for Him.

So today I am back at (not just sending emails later) but refreshed in my mind and spirit. Reminded that I am a child of the King, and loved dearly. Sure there are many more well qualified candidates out there, sure a lot of them already have a degree and have been on staff for some time now. But there is one thing they are not, and that is me.

 

Just a thought,

Mike

Colossians 1:27b – Christ in you, the hope of glory

Colossians 3:3 – For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God

God in a box

/ Mike Farley / 1 Comment

I have the song Listerine from Bush stuck in my head. You know the one they use in the mouth wash commercials “Listerine, Listerine, don’t let a day go by without using Listerine.” It’s a catchy tune I am just surprised it was done by a rock band.

OK OK OK yes yes I know the song is not Listerine, but that is what I keep thinking. I suppose it is because Glycerine makes no sense whatsoever. So I have to then change everything to make it make sense to my brain.

I think we do that with Jesus a lot. There are a few pictures that get floated around about Him because it is hard to make sense of it (fully God, fully man). Sometimes He is looked at as just floating around the Earth during His ministry time. Glowing halo, white robe just floating over the Earth. Sometimes He is seen as just mean. He said things like hate your mother and father, and I brought a sword, and do not do this or that. I’m talking about table flipping Jesus. Sometimes He is just a misunderstood Rabbi. He was a great guy, taught some good stuff, but didn’t want to pay taxes so they killed Him.

There are plenty of other bad ideas too, but these are my favorites. None of them true but none of them completely false either. I mean Jesus was glowing white and majestic (Matthew 17), He got mad and flipped tables (Matthew 21), and He taught some great things (All the Bible). So again not all the ideas are all wrong just not all right either. There is a little truth in some peoples ideas of Jesus but not a lot of truth

We should not approach Jesus with an idea of who He is and then try and fit Him in that box. The people of Jesus’s day missed seeing Him as the Messiah because He did not fit in their box. I hope we don’t miss Jesus in our day because He won’t get in the box. I hope instead we come to Him and say teach me who you are.

When we do that things get crazy. When we approach Jesus with an attitude of submission and desire to see Him, He shows up. He starts showing us stuff about loving our neighbor, and what it means to be the least of these. Stuff about how we are loved by God. Things about how we can be better husbands, wives, sons, and daughters. When we come to Jesus and say show me who you are, instead of saying Jesus get in the box stuff happens.

Just a thought,

Mike

Fish don’t climb trees

/ Mike Farley / 3 Comments

“Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.”

This is a quote that is sometimes attributed to Albert Einstein some believe he said, some do not, some could care less (me). The important thing is not did Albert say it but does it carry any weight. I think it does

I have been reading some articles on small town youth groups/ministries and I am seeing a recurring theme; namely do not compare them to city youth groups/ministries. The problem is we decide what a successful youth ministry should be and then we try and fit people in that box but sadly the box is not shaped right. I am not going to go into what makes a good city or town youth ministry because it depends on the town. I would be falling into the same trap. Instead I want to quickly give my opinion on how we should judge a successful youth ministry.

VH1 used to (they still could I don’t watch anymore) do a show called Where Are They. It was cool because you got to see where people where at after the hype was over. Some stayed in the industry in different ways, some just left the glitz and glamour and went back to where they came from, and some are sadly no longer with us. I think a successful youth ministry is one where they now work somewhere in the industry. What I mean by that is they are still productive and faithful members of the community. They still go to church (maybe even helping the youth) they did not float away when the party ended. They were trained to remain. Sure maybe they showed up for the party but they stayed to meet the guest of honor.

We should not be so quick to judge based on party size because honestly Jesus said that is a wide road. We should be judging on buy-in. I am not saying a crowd is a bad thing but if they are just visiting and leaving then have we done our job to make disciples?

Just a thought,

Mike

Smelly Faces

/ Mike Farley / Leave a comment

Yesterday was the my wifes first full day back from her missions trip to Haiti.  I had been prepping for her return by doing some reading on how to help them cope with being back in the States, getting ready to just listen, ramping my self up to assure her to take her time not to rush and share what she is not ready for.  I was ready for this.  I knew my strengths and weaknesses but I was ready, or so I thought.

Something that was missing in the articles and advice was something that hit me hard, and kept on hitting.  My wife had a smelly face.  No she did not need a shower because this smell could not be washed off.  It wasn’t just her face though.  All over her she just smelled.  She smelled like Jesus.  I was not ready for it either.  She started with telling some stories, and then showing some pictures.  That was all fine and well, but something started to hit me.  The more she spoke the more it filled the air.  Then she did something that just filled the house with the smell she started putting some stuff away and I do not think her feet hit the ground.  She simply float around the house.  Singing and praising God.

I have seen my wife in a wedding dress, and in pregnancy (the two most common stages of glowing) and neither of these glows could match this one.  It was hard to look at.

See in 2 Corinthians 2:15 is says

“For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing.”  

It means that people should be able to smell God on you.  You should stink with so much Jesus that people either hold their nose around you or smell you like a fresh cake to be blunt you should stink.

While 2 Corinthians 3:18 says

“But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.”

Which just means when people look at us they should see something different.  It is a little harder to explain but think of it like the glow of love.  People look at you and just know there is something there, something different.

Well my wife came back from Haiti fully polished and pungent, and I did not expect it.  I did not expect that her mere presence would make me feel like Peter when he told Jesus to go away because he was a sinful man, or when the leper broke custom and approached Jesus for healing.  I am not saying my wife is the Messiah but I am saying she has Jesus all over her.  It broke me some to be honest.  I knew in an instant that I need to do exactly what God says and exactly how He says it even though I am still not sure what He is saying.

The hard part now is trying to stop the world from trying to cover up the smell on my wife.

Just a thought,

Mike

That Blows my mind

/ Mike Farley / 3 Comments

So I have never technically been late to pick my daughter up from the bus but there have been times when it was pretty close.  I mean look down and go OH CRAP!  I have been late for work once or twice but not often.  I usually miss the right time to say something nice to someone.  I also have a slight tendency to dominate a conversation.  That last one has nothing to do with this article but I thought it best to admit that.

I have these issues and others because I am a little self centered, and a whole lot human.  God however does not have these issues.  He has this amazing ability to be right on time and right on track all the time.  I want to drop three basic theology words on you.

  • Omnipresent
  • Omniscient
  • Omnipotent

Let’s break these words down.  Omni means all.  Present means relating to now or current.  Scient refers to knowing (think science), or aware.  Potent means strength or effective.  When you add it all you get the following statements about God.

  • God is Always Present (or Always Current and that will preach).
  • God is All Knowing (or Always Aware and that will preach).
  • God is All Powerful (or All Effective and that will preach).

I am reading through the Gospel of Matthew right now and I noticed in the first chapter there are 4 fulfilled prophecies regarding the Christ.  It’s like watching a movie huge explosion or when it starts with the main character dying.  You’re like WOW where can it go from here.  That is chapter one in Matthew.  I mean there are like 300-400 prophecies pertaining to Jesus and you get 4 in chapter one of Matthew.  Then there are another 4 in chapter two.  It’s like woe hold on let me get back in my seat first please.

God can do that because He knows everything, is everywhere, and can do everything.  Try and think about not having time.  Go ahead I’ll wait.  Ok done?  I bet you couldn’t.  I know I can’t.  We were created in time so we have that limit.  Try and remember what it was like to be born.  Go ahead I’ll wait again.  Done?  Did you?  No you couldn’t because you have a limited memory and limited knowledge.  Try and pick up the house.  You can’t do that either.

Now I want you to try and think about this.  God exists outside of time.  To Him there is no yesterday or tomorrow, but instead everything is current.  He sees your birth and death at the same time.  I mean it boggles the mind to try and comprehend but He our yesterday and tomorrow are His now.  WOW!  That blows my mind.  What blows my mind even more is God sees me failing and falling short 10 years from now.  He sees it as if it is happening right now, and yet He loves me the same anyway.  That is just amazing.

Now think about this; If the same God who sees everything, and was able to prove the coming of Christ ahead of time can then make it happen can’t He also take care of you.  One of the most amazing things I read in Scripture is when Jesus talks about the sparrows and hairs on your head in Matthew chapter 10.

Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will.  But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.  Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.

What Jesus is saying here is actually very profound.  He is saying that the all knowing, all seeing, all powerful God knows you personally so don’t worry.  Again I say WOW!  How can I possibly worry about tomorrow when I know that God says it is in His hands.  My fear is just that I will lose the false sense of control and power I think I have.  I think that tomorrow is in my hands but it is not.  I have no more control over tomorrow then I do control over yesterday.  I mean sure there are things I can and need to do but ultimately it is not in my hands.

We have a saying in my family when life gets all jacked up; Who’s hands?  It is about trusting that God is in control and when He is in control we can relax.  Our job is just to walk out His will.

Right now I am struggling with direction (par for the course).  There is something I want to do but see no way to do it.  I am torn as to if it is my will or His.  If it is His I should and will trust that He knows what He is doing.  If it is me then well lets not go there.  So what do I do?  I trust that the one who knows everything, is everywhere, and can do all things loves me and knows my name.  I trust that if I ask Him then He will tell me when the time is right.

Just a thought,

Mike