What Message....?

What if, in your testimony about who Jesus Christ is in your life, you were not able to use words.  What if, to witness to someone, you couldn't talk.  Would your life reflect that of being Jesus' Disciple? I want to make something abundantly clear:  Dante (myself), Lance and Gary have one major theme in common - we are all sinners saved by grace.  Nothing that we can say or do will change that.  We cannot earn our way to heaven any more than we could raise ourselves from the dead.  Now that we got that part out of the way, I was struck by this video from one of my former Pastors (Jeff Klein from Walk the Way).  He is a man and a pastor that communicates so well.  As a matter of fact, when I first joined my church back in 2004, he was the teaching Pastor.

Jeff has a way with you the listener.  He has a way of making you realize that he's been where you are.  He understands what you are going through.  He just happens to be a gifted speaker because he makes you feel relevant and you know that he really does care about you and your spiritual walk.

James 1:27 tells us, "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."  If you are saved and know Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, then you know, through Scripture, that we are promised gifts of the Holy Spirit.  Some of us have gifts of giving, of administration, of hospitality...the point is to ask yourself this question:  What does God want us to do?

Don't be a goat:

Matthew 25:31-46

The Sheep and the Goats

³¹ “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. ³² All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. ³³ He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. ³⁴ “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.³⁵ For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, ³⁶ I needed clothes and you clothed me,I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ ³⁷ “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? ³⁸ When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? ³⁹ When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ ⁴⁰ “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ ⁴¹ “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. ⁴² For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, ⁴³ I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’ ⁴⁴ “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’ ⁴⁵ “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’ ⁴⁶ “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

Let's not strive to be goats, but instead witnesses to and for Jesus.

Blessing in 2013,

Dante

The Legacy Dad Parenting Map - Revised

I've revised the Legacy Dad Parenting Map to include all stages of child/parenthood and specific goals and resources you can use.

Testing your faith...

This week has been both trying and testing for me, that is, emotionally stressful.  I have found myself in a long trial.  With accountability in my life, I was told that it would be prudent for me to stand the test and hold my integrity (more about this in another post).  I have also been contacted by brothers (and sisters) that have prayer concerns:  One is in home hospice with terminal cancer; another brother is asking for prayers as his wife is diagnosed with a type of cancer that can be treated, but can also be very serious.  Another brother is asking for prayers for his marriage. There are clearly a lot of trials and tribulations that are in each of our lives daily.  I know that I have talked about this before, but through these trials I am reminded of 3 and 4 years ago with my wife and I as we were faced with very serious health issues on her life (back to back years around this time of the year).  There was a point that I could have lost her and that humbled me greatly to lean not on my own understanding, but on God!  The book of Job was very near and dear to my heart and helped me through this time along with many prayers from people who love me!

This week, I prayed everyday for my spiritual brother and his wife.  I prayed with him and another brother this week and we prayed as a group of men after our men's bible study.  There is power in prayer.  There is power in the redeeming power of Jesus Christ.  This brother has come a long way in his faith.  He has grown tremendously.  He is serving in many ways and he is growing with his wife even more through serving.  He gets it!  It is not about us and what we can get, but it is about God and what he gives us (Spiritual gifts) to serve and to love one another.  His world is wrecked right now, as mine was with my wife in the hospital 3 and 4 years ago, but he holds not to his own understanding, but he holds to biblical truth!  He is a man who loves God and will finish well!

This week, I also visited my spiritual brother who is in home hospice and read Scripture to him (Psalms 91) and prayed with him.  If you met this man, you would see spiritual maturity and a humility of a righteous man.  He said to me that he was not afraid to die.  He was looking forward to his heavenly home.  The one thing that did sadden him, greatly, was that he would be leaving and terribly missing his loved ones (both biological and spiritual family).  He is a man of God and a man who loves like Jesus loves.  Believe it or not, it made me proud to know this man, who could look at death's face and show no fear knowing that our Savior Jesus Christ conquered death.  Now that is a life insurance policy that we should all strive to keep with fear and trembling in our daily walks.

In James 1, we read, "Testing of Your Faith, ² Count it all joy, my brothers,^[b] when you meet trials of various kinds, ³ for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. ⁴ And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. ⁵ If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. ⁶ But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. ⁷ For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; ⁸ he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. ⁹ Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation, ¹⁰ and the rich in his humiliation, because like a flower of the grass^[c] he will pass away. ¹¹ For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits. ¹² Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. ¹³ Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. ¹⁴ But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. ¹⁵ Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.  ¹⁶ Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. ¹⁷ Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.^{[d] 18} Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures."

This Thursday and Friday my kids participated in a winter choir and orchestra concert for 3 performances.  After seeing this for four years, I was humbled by this performance.  The kids (from all ages) sang songs through our journey, our spiritual walk.  Three of my favorites were the Books of the Bible, Hallelujah Chorus and the song at the beginning of this entry.  In all of your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight.

When I die, there are two songs that my wife and kids know that I want played at my funeral:  1) It is well (click on this for the song) and 2) Blessed be your name (lyrics below by Matt Redman):

Blessed Be Your NameIn the land that is plentifulWhere Your streams of abundance flowBlessed be Your name

Blessed Be Your nameWhen I'm found in the desert placeThough I walk through the wildernessBlessed Be Your name

Every blessing You pour outI'll turn back to praiseWhen the darkness closes in, LordStill I will say

Blessed be the name of the LordBlessed be Your nameBlessed be the name of the LordBlessed be Your glorious name

Blessed be Your nameWhen the sun's shining down on meWhen the world's 'all as it should be'Blessed be Your name

Blessed be Your nameOn the road marked with sufferingThough there's pain in the offeringBlessed be Your name

Every blessing You pour outI'll turn back to praiseWhen the darkness closes in, LordStill I will say

Blessed be the name of the LordBlessed be Your nameBlessed be the name of the LordBlessed be Your glorious name

Blessed be the name of the LordBlessed be Your nameBlessed be the name of the LordBlessed be Your glorious name

You give and take awayYou give and take awayMy heart will choose to sayLord, blessed be Your name

Finish well, trust and obey.

Thoughts?Dante

Forgiveness

for·give·ness  

1. act of forgiving; state of being forgiven.

2. disposition or willingness to forgive.

REFERENCE FOR TODAY's POST:

Ephesians 4:32

Colossians 3:12-14

Proverbs 19:11

We live in a broken world.  We live in a world today that destroys characters and integrity before one even has a chance to defend.  Between agendas, ideologies that are not of God's and wrath and anger between men and women, it is hardly a place for transformation and reformation.  However, when you read scripture on the story of God's love for us - Genesis through Revelation we find that God's way is counter-cyclical to man's ways, simply said, God's ways are not man's ways.  We are sinful, He is not, we are broken, He is Holy and perfect, we have baggage and bondage, He can free us from all of that.

I honestly can not sit here and tell you, the reader, that if you have been wronged, violated, victimized and abused, that you can simply just "get over it" and to move on!  That would be an impossible task!  As we cannot save ourselves from eternal damnation, we cannot fix ourselves either, or the brokenness.  However, I can confidently say this through Scripture:  Let go and Let God.  Whether you are a victim or the transgressor, there are two options:  1) hold on to the anger and the bitterness and the brokenness or 2) ask God to help you to either forgive the transgressor or to forgive you of your sins and not only accept that God will forgive you (through his son Jesus) and to repent and no longer keep on sinning.

Now before you chastise me and say how can God forgive that person for what he's done or she has done or what they haven't done and maybe they have just abandoned us or stopped loving us or hurt us in a way that seems like it can never be forgiven - think about this - the Bible tells us that the law of Moses (the Commandments) were set to condemn the sinner, that is, if we are guilty of one of the commandments, then we are guilty of them all!  Jesus did not come to replace the law, but to fulfill it.  What I am trying to say is that WE ARE ALL SINNERS!  I am not making excuses for the transgressor or the wrongdoer, if they don't repent and they have unforgiven sin, that is Jesus is not their Savior, then they have punishment coming to them.  But who are we to judge?  There is only one worthy:  Jesus Christ!  There is only one able to forgive:  Jesus Christ!  And there is only one willing to die for our sins (that is, he died and rose again):  Jesus Christ!

What happens when we don't forgive that person(s) for what they have done.  Does that do any good for our souls?  The Scripture that I referenced above gives us a way to begin this path = the path of Forgiveness.  Scripture tells us (doesn't ask us) to forgive as the Lord has forgiven us!  I cannot show you how to love the unlovable or to reach the unreachable.  But with God, there is nothing impossible.  Ask him today to show you the impossible.  Ask him to help you to clear the bitterness and to set a prisoner free.  The prisoner is you.  The prisoner is you because of the pain and anguish and suffering that you have put yourself through and maybe, just maybe others that try to love you because you cannot trust because of the pain caused by you (to you).  Do you see what I am trying to say?  Forgive as God has forgiven you.  To love as God loves you.

As we put on Jesus Christ, others will see less of us and more of him.  The gifts that our promised to us through his Holy Spirit will be unlocked and we will be transformed through Sanctification by the Blood of Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit.  Remember this:  God loves you!  He suffered for you and took the pain of sin from you!  All you have to do is let go and let God.

Where do you go from here?  How do you start this process?  What if the person that I need to forgive has died or is in prison or cannot be found or reached to forgive?  The answer begins at prayer.  Pray right now and ask God to show you the way.  To give you the wisdom and discernment to both forgive and to protect you from the unlovable and unreachable.

Thoughts?

Blessing in 2013,

Dante