Richie mumbled it, barely audible. I knew what he was saying because I had heard it before. “I keep messing up because of the way my mom raised me.” At nineteen, he’s convinced that his life-gone-wrong is his mom’s fault.
His last six years have been a tumultuous journey of peaks and valleys. There have been jubilant “Yes!” moments as he edged toward his potential for success. Now again, it is as if some bungee cord of fate has stretched to its success limit for Richie. And almost unexplainably he is whipped back into a life of failure.
I couldn’t deny that his parenting was far from perfect. Who could argue that his environment didn’t effect his decisions? Still Richie needed to be asked: “Did your mom make you steal the gun?” In the same vein, my probing continued. For each question he conceded: “No, my mom didn’t . . .”
With personal responsibility established, I wasn’t going to drop him off in the it’s-your-fault pile. We needed to land someplace else.
“Richie, I feel terrible about the way you were raised . . . wouldn’t it be great if you could just start over again-- from the beginning,” I said. He was silent. “Richie, what you need is to be born again.”
Jesus said: “Flesh gives birth to flesh, but Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying: you must be born again.”
Richie, in your first birth you were born into a troubled environment. Mixed with your own decisions, a troubled life was birthed. Jesus is offering you the opportunity to miraculously be born again. This birth is God’s Holy Spirit birth. This birth produces Spirit life, God life inside you. This birth will change who you are.
Again-- you have a decision.
3/25/06
3/18/06
VEGAS ISN'T WORKING OUT
“Rick, I just wanted to let you know how I’m doing,” Thomas’ letter said. “Vegas isn’t working out.”
I told Thomas when he moved to Las Vegas, it would be a gamble.
Like many people, Thomas was certain; the answer to a life changing upswing was location, location, location. In the past couple of months he had been in Michigan, Arizona, and now Las Vegas. And even now he claimed again, where he lived was the problem.
He keeps thinking, “If I move to the right place, life will be good.” Maybe blessed.
God says, “You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country . . . you will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out.” God says, “Blessed, blessed, wherever you live.” Thomas’ letter ranted, “Unblessed, unblessed.”
There is an obvious distance separating God’s promise of blessing and Thomas’s proximity to the blessed location. So should he move again?
Maybe he can be your neighbor. Would that work?
Here’s something about God that you always need to remember. He won’t tell you about a blessing without telling you how to get to it. Here is God’s direction to the aforementioned blessings: “All these blessings will come upon you if you obey the LORD your God.”
Thomas confessed, “I’m struggling pretty bad spiritually.” His letter was a storybook of disobedience to God. And God has something to say about that also. “However, if you do not obey the LORD your God . . . you will be cursed in the city and cursed in the country.”
Yes, God is showing us it is location, location. . . Your Vegas isn’t working out? Then move. How? Simple. Obey God.
Then you’ll be in the best neighborhood—close to God.
I told Thomas when he moved to Las Vegas, it would be a gamble.
Like many people, Thomas was certain; the answer to a life changing upswing was location, location, location. In the past couple of months he had been in Michigan, Arizona, and now Las Vegas. And even now he claimed again, where he lived was the problem.
He keeps thinking, “If I move to the right place, life will be good.” Maybe blessed.
God says, “You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country . . . you will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out.” God says, “Blessed, blessed, wherever you live.” Thomas’ letter ranted, “Unblessed, unblessed.”
There is an obvious distance separating God’s promise of blessing and Thomas’s proximity to the blessed location. So should he move again?
Maybe he can be your neighbor. Would that work?
Here’s something about God that you always need to remember. He won’t tell you about a blessing without telling you how to get to it. Here is God’s direction to the aforementioned blessings: “All these blessings will come upon you if you obey the LORD your God.”
Thomas confessed, “I’m struggling pretty bad spiritually.” His letter was a storybook of disobedience to God. And God has something to say about that also. “However, if you do not obey the LORD your God . . . you will be cursed in the city and cursed in the country.”
Yes, God is showing us it is location, location. . . Your Vegas isn’t working out? Then move. How? Simple. Obey God.
Then you’ll be in the best neighborhood—close to God.
3/11/06
THE DREAD
There it was. The dreaded message on the computer screen: “You have just destroyed this computer; prepare to spend $1000 for a new computer.”
Well not exactly.
But you know how the something-dreaded-happened part of our brain can work. A little problem can twinge anxiety as the situation mind-wise explodes into a catastrophe.
Ann was working on a friend’s laptop computer; actually trying to help out with software installation. The process was near completion. All that was left to do was to turn off the computer and then restart it.
Then the dreaded happened. The message came on the screen: “Non-system disk or disk error. Replace and press key when ready.” Ann pressed key after key. “Error!” She tried some more of her computer tricks. “Error!”
“I was really, really worried,” Ann said. “I actually prayed.”
The Bible says, “But do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving present your requests to God.”
Now, Ann knows how to pray. Yet even for her, like most of us, when “the dreaded” hits; our brain can read: “error.” Instead of prayer we think of how we can solve the problem.
Ann said, “I knew God knew how to fix the computer.”
With hands touching the edges of the laptop computer, Ann bowed her head. “Oh God, please let this work.” Unfamiliar with her friend’s laptop computer, her left hand hit a rectangle button on the side of the computer as she prayed. This caused a floppy disk to immediately eject from the computer.
Instantly the problem was solved.
Need some dreaded problems ejected from your life?
Pray. “God in heaven, you’ve asked us to pray about everything. God I desperately need Your help . . . Oh God please let this work.”
Well not exactly.
But you know how the something-dreaded-happened part of our brain can work. A little problem can twinge anxiety as the situation mind-wise explodes into a catastrophe.
Ann was working on a friend’s laptop computer; actually trying to help out with software installation. The process was near completion. All that was left to do was to turn off the computer and then restart it.
Then the dreaded happened. The message came on the screen: “Non-system disk or disk error. Replace and press key when ready.” Ann pressed key after key. “Error!” She tried some more of her computer tricks. “Error!”
“I was really, really worried,” Ann said. “I actually prayed.”
The Bible says, “But do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving present your requests to God.”
Now, Ann knows how to pray. Yet even for her, like most of us, when “the dreaded” hits; our brain can read: “error.” Instead of prayer we think of how we can solve the problem.
Ann said, “I knew God knew how to fix the computer.”
With hands touching the edges of the laptop computer, Ann bowed her head. “Oh God, please let this work.” Unfamiliar with her friend’s laptop computer, her left hand hit a rectangle button on the side of the computer as she prayed. This caused a floppy disk to immediately eject from the computer.
Instantly the problem was solved.
Need some dreaded problems ejected from your life?
Pray. “God in heaven, you’ve asked us to pray about everything. God I desperately need Your help . . . Oh God please let this work.”
3/4/06
DO YOU THINK YOU'RE A GOOD PERSON?
I asked the lady on the phone, “Do you think you’re a good person?” Instant reply: “Of course.”
I also asked a few other people. The lady at the gas station said, “What do you think?” Well . . . I don’t know her. So I asked some people I do know. My teenage friend Curt said, “Yes” as did my work associate Clayton.
My next question to Curt and Clayton was: “Why do you think you’re a good person?” Clayton responded immediately, “I love my family.” Curt thought a little longer and then told me how he thought he achieved good-person status because he didn’t do drugs anymore.
So, how about you?
Do you think you’re a good person? Why?
Let’s compare our goodness to God’s standard-- His Ten Commandments. Have you ever lied? Have you ever stolen anything? Have you ever used God’s name in vain? Have you ever not honored your parents? Have you always kept the Sabbath holy? Have you ever coveted, jealously desired something not yours? Have you ever made an idol, a god to please yourself? Have you always put God first in your life?
Adultery? The Bible says whoever looks on a women with lust has committed adultery in his heart? How about murder? The Bible says if you even hate someone, you’ve committed murder in God’s eyes.
The Bible says, “All have sinned . . .” We know everyone has failed to keep God’s Law.
If God judges you by the Ten Commandments on the Day of Judgment, will you be innocent or guilty?
Be honest; we’re all guilty.
The Bible states: “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Why don’t you receive God’s gift today?
I also asked a few other people. The lady at the gas station said, “What do you think?” Well . . . I don’t know her. So I asked some people I do know. My teenage friend Curt said, “Yes” as did my work associate Clayton.
My next question to Curt and Clayton was: “Why do you think you’re a good person?” Clayton responded immediately, “I love my family.” Curt thought a little longer and then told me how he thought he achieved good-person status because he didn’t do drugs anymore.
So, how about you?
Do you think you’re a good person? Why?
Let’s compare our goodness to God’s standard-- His Ten Commandments. Have you ever lied? Have you ever stolen anything? Have you ever used God’s name in vain? Have you ever not honored your parents? Have you always kept the Sabbath holy? Have you ever coveted, jealously desired something not yours? Have you ever made an idol, a god to please yourself? Have you always put God first in your life?
Adultery? The Bible says whoever looks on a women with lust has committed adultery in his heart? How about murder? The Bible says if you even hate someone, you’ve committed murder in God’s eyes.
The Bible says, “All have sinned . . .” We know everyone has failed to keep God’s Law.
If God judges you by the Ten Commandments on the Day of Judgment, will you be innocent or guilty?
Be honest; we’re all guilty.
The Bible states: “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Why don’t you receive God’s gift today?
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