Sunday, September 24, 2006

Are You Playing Games?

An interesting question, don’t you think? Not too long ago I received a voicemail from a man who claimed to be a Christian and who thought he was living in a way pleasing to God. He was a leader in his church. The voicemail began with the phrase (paraphrasing), “It appears that you’re playing games with me.” I knew it had to be a lie because the only games I was playing at the time were Solitaire and FreeCell on my computer. The message went on with threats and more nonsense. I have it stored in my media archives right now ready to make available to the public sometime.

A few weeks ago I was playing a game with some friends (don’t panic! Just a board game) and got to thinking about that message. How a person who obviously had no idea what he was talking about would start making accusations and threats with no facts, no evidence, no anything. To me, it showed a lack of spiritual maturity that needed to be worked on in his life. As I began to think more about that, I got to thinking about all of the people who call themselves Christians but in fact, do not live as a Christian should.

Which brings me back to the title question, Are you playing games? A more detailed question would be, Are you playing games with God?

You see, in today’s society, a church-going born-again Christian can get away with a lot. You can use profane language, you can smoke (even on a church campus), you can make threats toward people, you can even say you’re a Christian but go the opposite direction on your morals and values as made popular today. As you do these things (known as sins), you use excuses to yourself that make what you’re doing against God and others just fine.

But God knows everything and He won’t let you get away with anything. Do you remember Psalm 139? It’s one of the best chapters in the Bible revealing how intimate God knows you and me. For a Christian who follows God’s Word, it’s one of the greatest comforts we’re given. To one who is adapting God’s Word to their sinful actions, it’s a nightmare. Part of the chapter reads, “Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence?” Guess what, no where! The Bible here even says that God knows what we’re going to say before we even say it! This means that God knows when you’re playing games with Him before you even do it.

The lesson here is simple. Stop playing games in life. Live how the Bible says to live. Love how the Bible says to love. David (Old Testament) several times in His life played games with God, sinned, and regretted it. However, God knew that David was seeking Him and He heard David repent and admit his failings and sins toward God and man. Because of this, God even called David a man after His own heart.

Isn’t that what we should be striving for? A person after God’s own heart? Start today. Forget the talking the talk – it’s cheap. Begin walking the walk, weekly, daily, every minute whether awake or asleep.

When you begin doing this, your guilt will be erased, the excuses you make trying to fit the Bible into your thinking will melt away, and one day when you see Jesus face to face, you’ll hear the words we all long to hear, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

In His Grip!


Monday, September 11, 2006

Remembering 9/11

Five years ago today, everything changed. I had set the alarm on my television to wake me up for college and the first images I saw were a plane hitting the World Trade Center. Not being very awake, I thought it was a commercial for some new movie. I quickly realized that it was much more than a movie; it was real life in its worst form. Not much later, I watched as both towers fell on themselves and 3,000 plus people died because of terrorists. Our country was now at war.

I remember getting out of the car at college and making the long walk to the classroom looking up into the sky and not seeing a single plane pass by. Our instructor cancelled class that day and I went into the school library where I saw the news on their televisions. Another student passed by me who had not heard what had happened. I tried to explain to him but it was hard to get the words out.

I watched the news almost constantly for weeks after that. Everything had changed. Television, the airports, people going to churches, the Congress all standing together singing “God Bless America.”

A sign was draped over a nearby building days after the attack in New York that read “We Will Never Forget.” And I haven’t. I’ll never forget the planes crashing into the towers, watching as they crumbled to the ground, seeing people running in blackness to get away from the huge wall of dust, hearing that the Pentagon had been hit, and later finding out that heroes (the first of the War of Terror) had crashed a plane into the ground in Pennsylvania.

I was walking outside after church a few years ago and a lady stopped me to speak. She said that she had purchased one of my CD’s at a concert I had done and she and her husband were driving across the country back to Arizona on September 11, 2001. They had seen the pictures and heard the stories and were deeply hit by the reports as we all were. She said they put in one of my CD’s and listened to the songs for encouragement that day to know we still serve a heavenly Father who is watching over us and taking care of us. She was in tears as she related how the music helped them through the long journey back home.

You see, my ministry is not about me. It’s not even about this blog or the website or the music. It’s about serving a Savior that we can all turn to in our best days and worst. It’s about encouragement for the hurting soul and joy for worshiping the Lord.

I don’t care if you’re a Baptist, Lutheran, Methodist, Pentecostal, or some other denomination. What matters is that you know that you’ve asked Jesus Christ into your heart and life and that you are living life through Him and His Word, the Bible.

No one knows when we’re going to die. But I have heard the statistics show that one out of every one person now dies! Let 9/11 be a reminder to give your entire life over to Christ; not to a church or a group or pastor, but to the only One who knows when you’ll be leaving this earth for the eternal portion of your life.

If you’re not sure if you’ve called upon Jesus’ name to be saved or you want to know more, I encourage you to go the link below and to get saved. It will the best decision you will ever make. The only ETERNAL decision. And remember that those who are born-again Christians are always

In His Grip!