I apologize for being a day late and a dollar short with the blog.
Monday - John 13:12-17, Jude 1-7; Job 21:1-21; Daniel 7-8
Tuesday - John 13:18-30; Jude 8-16; Job 21:22-34; Daniel 9
Wednesday - John 13:31-38; Jude 17-25; Job 22; Daniel 10-12
Thursday - Sunday is for catch up or review or more reflection on the passages already read. Have a great week.
Brad

Happy Wednesday! Almost one week to Thanksgiving Day. I hope you are thankful for the blessings you have received.
I hope the Lord is speaking to you through His Word. What is He saying to you? I would love for you to share with me how the Lord has been working.
As I was reading in John this week, I was reading about Mary and Martha talking to Jesus after Lazarus had died. In John 11:38 - 40, Martha is telling Jesus that it is hopeless. They can't move the stone because Lazarus already stinks.(v 39) It is amazing Jesus' response. "Didn't I tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?"
What a powerful thought that in the face of difficult times, God is getting ready to reveal His glory. I believe, I am trusting Him to move in the midst of difficult situations to show His glory. Are you believing? Are you ready to see the glory of God in your life? I hope that is your great desire.
Random thought of the day: It doesn't matter so much who you are when everyone is around if you don't live well when no one is.

Good Monday to all. Here is the reading list for this week :
Monday - John 11:38-44, I John 3:19-24; Job 15:1-16; Ezekiel 40-41
Tuesday - John 11:45-57; I John 4:1-6; Job 15:17-35; Ezekiel 42-44
Wednesday - John 12:1-11; I John 4:7-21; Job 16; Ezekiel 45-47
Thursday - John 12:12-19; I John 5:1-12; Job 17; Ezekiel 48
Friday - John 12:20-36; I John 5:13-21; Job 18; Daniel 1-2
Saturday - John 12:37-50; 2 John; Job 19; Daniel 3-4
Sunday - John 13:1-11; 3 John; Job 20; Daniel 5-6

Happy reading. Look for a post soon.
Brad

Friday is here and I hope everyone has had a productive week. I have enjoyed my time in the Word and I pray God is speaking to you as you read also. I was reading Job 11 yesterday and then 12 ad even the first part of 13 because I was fascinated by Zophar and Job's conversation. You can hear Zophar's pious response to Job's situation. He is espousing all of these attributes of God and how wrong Job is for talking to God in such a way. Zophar has not experienced any of the pain or heartache of Job and he stands on the outside judging Job for the way he is handling it. Job fires back in chapter 12 and 13 to Zophar's reasonings. Basically Job says listen, everything you have said is things I already know and in a greater and deeper way than you. You guys are no help at all. Then, in verse 5 of chapter 13 Job says, "If only you would shut up and let that be your wisdom."
For us what Job was saying is that the "Sunday School" answer is not always what is needed. What Zophar needed to do was not regurgitate all of his knowledge to Job, he needed to get down and feel Job's pain and empathize with a hurting friend. Zophar had no idea of the depth of pain and emotion Job was dealing with and his piousness was no good for Job. How often do we callously deal with others who are going through difficult times without ever trying to get a sense of where they are or what they are going through. Many times in painful situations a friend might need us to bind their wounds and ease their pain much more than they need our advice.

What great things the Lord desires to do in our lives as His followers. John 10:10 today says I have come that you may have life and have it more abundantly. More abundant than we could ever imagine! It is abundant for those who hear His voice and follow Him.(v.4) It is not for those who love the world and the things of the world. (I John 2:15-17) The love of the wrong things keeps us from experiencing God's best. I am praying for God to accomplish unexplainable moments in my life. I love the story of Jesus healing the blind man in John 9. I don't know much about this Jesus, but I do know this... I was blind but now I see! It was an unexplainable moment. I am looking for God to show up in power in my life that the only way it could be explained is by His power. Why don't we spend more time seeking God for His unexplainable moments. What burden or pain or worry are you carrying today? Trust God for an unexplainable moment in that situation. Love Him, know His voice, follow Him and do not love the world or its things. Then, we will see more and more of these moments.
Brad

I was reading a devotion this morning from David Jeremiah this morning saying exactly what has been the emphasis of our challenge in the Word. If you would like to read it, go to www.davidjeremiah.org/site/magazine.aspx?id=4408. It is going right along with the importance of being in the Word and obeying the Word. It was a confirmation in my spirit.
Brad

Good Morning all,
I should have probably posted the weekly schedule yesterday, so you could be ready for the new week. I will try to do that next week. I hope you are being blessed and encouraged through the readings. Once again, I want to remind you that you do not have to read all of the suggested readings to participate. The main goal is to get what you read into your heart and let the Lord speak to you through His Word. I would love to hear comments and insights from you as you read.
Monday - John 9:13-25, I John 1:5-10; Job 9:1-20; Ezekiel 24-26
Tuesday - John 9:26-41; I John 2:1-11; Job 9:21-35; Ezekiel 27-28
Wednesday - John 10:1-10; I John 2:12-17; Job 10; Ezekiel 29-30
Thursday - John 10:11-21; I John 2:18-23; Job 11; Ezekiel 31-32
Friday - John 10:22-42; I John 2:24-29; Job 12; Ezekiel 33-34
Saturday - John 11:1-16; I John 3:1-10; Job 13; Ezekiel 35-37
Sunday - John 11:17-37; I John 3:11-18; Job 14; Ezekiel 38-39
I look forward to hearing from you this week. Remember, the Word is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword. Get His Word into you and He will begin to transform us!
Love in the Lord,
Brad

"Then they will know that I am the Lord." As God speaks through Ezekiel He consistently uses this phrase. In the midst of pronouncing judgements on the wickedness of Israel He constantly reminds them that He is the Lord God. All of the idols of the Israelites could not compare to the Lord God. He was making that abundantly clear in His decalrations. How sad that it was made known in the midst of judgement. How great it is that we can know that He is the Lord God through His mighty work in and through us. The passages in John and 2 Peter show that we don't have to wait on God's judgement to know His awesome work, we can know it through all He desires to do in us. In 2 Peter 1:16, Peter says, "we were eyewitnesses to His majesty." How great is that?
Today, as God's children, we have a choice. Will we see the majesty of God through how He moves and works powerfully through us, or will He have to show us by His judgement because we have put other "idols" ahead of Him? Choose today to walk with Him, remove all other allegiances, and see His glory displayed in your life.
Brad
PS - you can post comments now!

I love the truths that are presented in the first few readings this week.
In John 7, Jesus encourages all who are thirsty to come to Him and drink. He promises in verse 38 that streams of living water will flow from him - that the Holy Spirit will flow out of us who are His. John 8:12, Jesus says "I am the light of the world, anyone who follows after me will NEVER walk in darkness, but have the light of life." It ties together with 2 Peters reading. In chapter 1:3-11 is a great passage of promise for living in Christ's way. Verse 3 says His divine power has given us everything required for life and godliness. What great and precious promises the Lord gives to allow us to partake in the divine nature.
Do you believe this? We must take the Word at its word. We must speak the Word into our life, to burn it upon our hearts and to allow it to have its work in us. All the promises of God are true. We must accept them and walk in them. What a wonderful promise we see in these words.
I encourage all of you to read the Word. Remember, you don't have to read all of the suggested readings, but get the Word in you so that you can be transformed, that yo0ur mind can be renewed.
Love to all,
Brad

Good Morning everyone,

I know it has been awhile since my last blog, but I am back on task! I have challenged the members of my church to be more into the revealed Word of God, the Bible, and to allow the Holy Spirit to illuminate the Word to them. In order to help all of us, beginning today I will be posting daily Scripture readings. I will be posting blogs a few times a week on the Scripture for the day. I would love for all of you to read the Scripture and post comments and insights also. If you cannot read all of the Scripture for a day, just read some of it and follow along. The main thing is to get the Word of God in you and to allow the Holy Spirit to bring that word to bear on your life and your situation. I look forward to the ride ahead. I will post the readings for the whole week.

Monday, November 2 - John 7:37-53; 2 Peter 1:1-21; Job 1; Ezekiel 1-3

Tuesday, - John 8:1-11; 2 Peter 2:1-9; Job 2; Ezekiel 4-8

Wednesday - John 8:12-20, 2 Peter 2:10-16; Job 3; Ezekiel 9-12

Thursday - John 8:21-30; 2 Peter 2:17-22; Job 4; Ezekiel 13-15

Friday - John 8:31-47; 2 Peter 3:1-9; Job 5; Ezekiel 16

Saturday - John 8:48-59; 2 Peter 3:10-18; Job 6; Ezekiel 17-19

Sunday - John 9:1-12; I John 1:1-4; Job 7; Ezekiel 20-21



There it is. Remember, if you can't read it all, focus on certain passages. If you fall behind, there will be makeup days at the end of every month. Focus on praying for the Spirit to speak to your heart through the passage. Write down what He speaks and respond to Him. As the Word moves into our life, the Lord will begin to work in mighty ways and begin to transform us acording to His will. Join the challenge with me.

Brad

This past Sunday I shared with our congregation the marks of the mission. Things that should be evident in a believer's life if they are growing in Christ. These are marks we are laying out for our people, but they are probably good marks for any Christ follower.
Here they are:
1. A growing desire to be with Jesus.
2. A growing desire to honor Him with my words, actions, thoughts, and attitudes
3. A growing desire to meet others needs.
4. A growing desire to bring others to Him.
Could you examine your life and use these as marks to see where you are in your walk? Many times as believers we live our lives with no way to know whether we are going in the right direction or not. Let me hear from you about the effectiveness of these and any ideas you might have for more.
Brad

Saw this video this morning and it resonated in my heart. Thought I would share it with you.
Brad

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGMG_PVaJoI

If you read about Jesus' life, you see time and time again where He hammered the most religious people of His day. In Luke 14, Jesus heals a man of a certain disease on the Sabbath. According to their rules, healing on the Sabbath was work, and work was against the rules, and so healing was against the rules. Jesus made the statement that if they had a son or ox fall into a well they were not going to leave him in there would they? Of course you would immediately pull them out. How dumb would it be to not have healed this man of his disease just because it was on the Sabbath. The leaders had become so rule bound, they could not do what was right! Their rules and religion had replaced a relationship with God.
I'm reading a book called The Present Future. In the book the author says, "the North American church is not spiritual enough to reach our culture." He goes on to talk about having a missional spirituality, which requires that God's people be captured by His heart for people, that our hearts be broken for what breaks His, that we rejoice in what brings Him joy.
How many of us "church folk", of which I am one, know truly what those things are?
Erwin Mcmanus tells of a breakthrough moment in His ministry where for a period of time he began to pray for God to allow him to see people the way God sees them. He goes on to say that as he prayed this prayer, he began to weep for people he would see on the street and in other places. God was giving him a picture of how He feels about the hurting and the disconnected. Will we ask God to turn our hearts in such a way that we will share His thoughts, feelings and desires?
Brad

In Luke 13:18-21 Jesus gives two parables about what the kingdom of God is like. If you read the Gospels, you know Jesus' mission is to usher in the kingdom of God here on this earth. He calls people to Himself and into the kingdom. If we know Him, we are a part of the kingdom of God and ambassadors in His kingdom.
Jesus' parable in this verse speaks about the kingdom being like a mustard seed that is planted and grows into a big tree. He also speaks of it as leaven that a woman needs into the flour. In both, Jesus is representing the expanding nature of the kingdom. The tiny seed expanded into the great tree. The leaven worked its way throughout the entire dough and causes it to rise. The natural tendency of the kingdom of God is to expand through God's work done through His servants.
How are you being used now to be a conduit for the expansion of the kingdom? Are we representing Christ and the kingdom in a way that it will expand or by not giving it much thought, are we hindering the kingdom's growth?
As I think about these questions for me I think about how difficult and messy life can be. People are hurting and hardened and hungry for genuineness. We are very good with Christian quips and phrases and cheap words that we think will allow us to be a witness, but we never get into the fray where people are hurting and lost and needy and dying. Jesus lived with the people hurting the most. He walked among those in the muck and the mire of life and He offered them new life, He offered them he kingdom. Are we willing to go beyond the cute and pithy sayings, the email chains, and the cute bumper stickers to offer the Kingdom to those who need it most? How could you be used to expand the kingdom?
To be used to expand it, you must be living in the kingdom daily. When I'm not experiencing the kingdom, its hard to lead someone to follow
Brad

I finished last post by encouraging us to think about His lovingkindness in our own life. He has shown it to me in many ways throughout my life. He allowed me to be saved at an early age as a part of a godly family. He called me into the ministry. He has given me a beautiful, awesome wife to share life with and three great children to love and care for. He has given me great friendships wherever I have been - growing up, at school in Atlanta, at seminary in Ft. Worth, my first ministry position in West Monroe, La., and now back in Macon. He has allowed me to see Him move in powerful ways at different points in my life, that some never get the opportunity to see. I could go on and on.
I read today that to whom much has been given, much is required. I have been given much, and it drives me to be faithful to Him. In I Timothy 6:20 Paul exhorted Timothy to "guard what has been entrusted to you." He has entrusted me with the Good News and entrusted me with the task of taking it to the world. His lovingkindness drives me onward. I hate when I fail Him. I only want to praise Him with my life and work.
God Bless You
Brad

"Give thanks to the Lord for He is good, For His lovingkindness is everlasting. Give thanks to the God of gods, for His lovingkindness is everlasting. Give thanks to the Lord of Lords, for His lovingkindness is everlasting. To Him who alone does great wonders, for His lovingkindness is everlasting. To Him who made the heavens with skill, for His lovingkindness is everlasting. To Him who spread out the earth above the waters, for His lovingkindness is everlasting. To Him who made the great lights, for His lovingkindness is everlasting. The sun to rule by day, for His lovingkindness is everlasting. The moon and stars to rule by night, for His lovingkindness is everlasting."
Aren't you thankful that His lovingkindness towards us is everlasting? Read the rest of Psalm 136 and be reminded even more of His provision for us. Then, think about the ways He has demonstrated His lovingkindness to you and anticipate the day when we will experience it in all its fullness. Awesome!
Have a great day!
Brad

Psalm 130 has spoken to my heart in a powerful way over the last few days. The Psalmist is calling out from a pit of despair. Can anyone relate to that today? He is understanding his own sinfulness. In verse 3 he says, "If you Lord should mark our iniquities, who could stand?" The answer he assumes is No one. No one could stand if God was to hold our iniquities against us. But God is a forgiving God, he says in verse 4. So he waits and waits expectantly for His God. Verse 7 wraps it up magnificently - "O Israel, hope in the Lord; For with the Lord there is lovingkindness, and with Him is abundant redemption." Abundant redemption, what a great two words. If not for His lovingkindness, who could stand? Without abundant redemption, we all would be hopeless.
Since this is true, as one who continually experiences His abundant redemption, how can I walk with any pride or arrogance in my heart? Knowing my state, shouldn't I walk in humility towards others who struggle and offer God's lovingkindness to them.
Lord, thank you for your undeserved redemption. Help me to share with others how they can experience it also.
Brad

I hope everyone is having a great week. I was reading yesterday in Luke 9 about the experience of Jesus and some of the disciples on the mount of transfiguration.(v. 28-36) As I was reading there were a few things that struck me about the story.
First of all, the fact that it was an amazing, unbelievable, supernatural event. Can you imagine being on that mountain with Peter, James, and John? Jesus was glowing and talking with Moses and Elijah. Peter, James, and John were the only disciples who were able to be a part of this miraculous event. What supernatural events have you encountered with Jesus? If we are walking with Him, there are times in our life when we will be overwhelmed in His presence and we will experience the supernatural working of His Spirit. Times where we will see Him work in ways we cannot explain. If we are not experiencing moments like this with Him, we are probably not walking with Him as we ought, which leads me to the next thing.
Another amazing thing in this story is verse 32 where it says Peter and his companions were overcome with sleep. Really! Jesus is glowing and talking to Moses and Elijah and the disciples are about to miss everything. How sad. Unfortunately, as Christians, many times we miss a great work of Jesus because we are out of touch and "sleepwalking" through our life. If we are not careful, we can miss a mighty move of God because we are not paying attention.
The last thing about the story that can help us is Peter's idea after they had seen a miracle. Peter said, "lets build three tabernacles." Peter wanted to stay on the mountain. He wanted to hold onto this experience. Jesus had other plans. He understood that there was still work to do at the bottom of the mountain. We have to come down from the mountain, so we can accomplish His work.
While we should be experiencing God moments in our life regularly, God does not want us to stop there. He empowers us in those times to keep going as we seek to fulfill His purpose in the life we have been given.
In Christ,
Brad

Let me begin today by saying I am excited about the future and what God has in store. I was reminded last night that sometimes when God is refining you, which can be a painful process, sometimes we forget that He is still working in power around us. We lose sight of the fact that He is doing His work in us so that He can be more glorified and do increasingly amazing things. There are seasons to God's working. It reminds me of the verse in Psalm 126:5 that says, "Those who sow in tears, will reap with songs of joy."
I was reading in Luke chapter 9 today about Jesus feeding the 5000. I was struck with Jesus' challenge to the disciples. "You give them something to eat." Here were over 5000 people in a remote place and Jesus tells them to feed the people. Its hard to hear the disciples response and not think of ourselves. "All we have is 5 loaves, 2 fishes, unless we go buy food for aaaaaallllllllll these people." Obviously the disciples mindset was planted firmly in the natural. Even though these same disciples had just been on mission for Christ and seen many healings and other miraculous works (Luke 8), they never considered in this moment that Jesus could do something amazing to get the crowd fed.
We know the result. Jesus took the loaves and fishes and fed the 5000 and had plenty left over. We are many times stuck in thinking with the natural mind. The kingdom of God can not be understood and lived in with the natural mind. We must think supernaturally. John Calvin said, "The wisdom of the flesh is always exclaiming against the mysteries of God." Our natural mind will always fight against the supernatural working of God. When Jesus leads us to a challenge or call, it will never be accomplished by trusting in our natural thinking. It will require us to think with the mind of Christ and trust Him for supernatural provision.
When we walk with Jesus' mind, we get to live the adventure. Would you join Him.
Brad

A new week is here, I hope you are ready to be used this week in a great way. God has something special He wants to do in you this week.
I have been thinking a lot about vision over the past week. I have been praying for God to give me a vision for our church Lawrence Drive. I preached yesterday and began to lay the foundation for the vision God would have us to embrace. My desire is to know God's vision. I shared five foundational precepts about what our church should look like, if we are going to go hard after God's plan.
I asked them to imagine a place:
- Where people are desperate for God, and His Spirit dwells powerfully among the members both personally and corporately.
- Where members seek out and accept God-sized challenges.
- Where members are willing to give their lives to the ministry of the Body.
- Where the members come together with a great expectation of life change happening every week.
- Where members love one another unconditionally and exhort one another to a deeper walk with Christ.
I can't wait to see how God fleshes this out so that these could be marks of our church. Wouldn't you want to be a part of a church where these things are happening?
Let me here from you.
Brad

Good Afternoon everyone. I apologize for not posting the last few days. I hope to be back on the trail going forward. I want to especially say hello to my friend Alex Johnson, who is getting these through his mom. He is in basic training for the Marines. I want you to know we are praying for you as you begin a new phase of life.
As I write this post and reflect back over recent days, I see where the Lord is working in my life. As we seek to be wholly devoted to Him, many times He has to shape and mold and cut away things in our life that are not of Him. This is not always a pleasant process, and it can be hard and frustrating and burdensome. God has a way, as we seek Him, of bringing us to the end of our self. In fact, he knows, if we are not emptied of self, we will have a hard time producing fruit that remains. You see, my desire is to have an eternal impact on this world in the years God wants to give to me here, but to do that it has to be all of Him taking all of me. It is a difficult and trying process to walk through. So many people give up on being emptied and spend their days doing good things in their own strength that will have little eternal significance.
For me, I have always been a fairly confident person in my abilities. Feeling good about these abilities, many times it is easy to do things in your own strength and think you are being used by God. While in reality, there is little lasting impact. One of the hardest things to do is to allow God to take the things you think you are good at and sanctify them for His service. God is working on these areas of my life and forcing me to trust Him through it as He allows me to see that no matter what I do, unless He is doing it through me it will not produce lasting fruit.
Empty me Lord of all myself so I can become wholly yours, a vessel of honor for good works.
Brad

Thank you so much for the responses to yesterdays blog, and I hope you will keep them coming. I am very encouraged by them and look forward to reading more of them. As we move forward I want to discuss these qualities more and look at the biblical instruction.
I've been reading Paul's letter to the church at Colossae, and he speaks to issues that have been raised by your comments. In Colossians 2, toward the end of the chapter, Paul speaks to an issue that I believe plagues the modern church. Even though these Christians had received the new life only Christ could bring, they were now once again trusting in their rules and works to be changed. Today, church has become less about the real, genuine, eternal change only Christ can bring, and more about us setting up rules to legislate behavior. Even though we have changed kingdoms, we are still focused on earthly things.
In chapter 3 Paul says, "since you have been raised up with Christ, keeping seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on the things that are on the earth." Paul then goes on to expound on what this type of life should look like in the rest of the book.
He begins from the negative side, by telling us what must be put aside. Verse 5 - consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry. These were things you once walked in, but now put aside anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth - do not lie to one another. How different would our churches look if all those who were born again would put aside these evil practices. We are in such a deep need for holiness in our churches.
Paul begins here and so it must be where we begin the discussion. We need conviction from the Holy Spirit and a radical move of genuine repentance among the believers. Our works and rules have failed to bring life change. (v23) We must call out for the Spirit of God to fall among us. It begins with cleansing.
We will continue this discussion on Monday. Let me here from you, share with others.
Brad

Thursday is here, and the weekend is almost here. For most, this is a time of the week when people are winding down and getting ready to enjoy some free time. For me, as a pastor the work week is really just heating up. The pressure to have your sermon ready for Sunday is always in front of me and it occupies your mind. Sunday is an extremely hectic day with church and meetings and other activities. It is a different look at the weekend than most people experience.
I wanted to ask for your help in this blog. I wanted to ask you the question, If you could build your ideal church, exactly the way you wanted to, what would be some key aspects of that church? When I say build, I am speaking of starting, not necessarily physically building, although that could be part of your answer. I asked this question at our Wednesday night service last night and got some interesting answers. Help me out by posting your answers in the comment section. I want to here from everyone, even if you do not go to church now. I would love to have a wide perspective.
Thanks for your input, I look forward to hearing from you.
Brad

There has been so much discussion over the course of the last few days and coverage on Michael Jackson's life. As I caught just a little of the memorial service and read many comments on Facebook, I felt compelled to blog about the whole situation.
First of all, I would say that this service is representative of the fact that we live in an extremely confused spiritual state as a society. Our world is speeding toward universalism (the belief that everyone makes it to heaven eventually) at a rapid rate. The world today encourages everyone to be tolerant of everyone else's religion and beliefs and as long as someone is sincere, that person will get to God. Even many evangelical Christians are being swept up by this belief. Everyone thinks Jesus is a good man, great teacher, prophet, or whatever. No matter the religion, most everyone thinks highly of Jesus. So there are two strong currents in our world today, people believing everyone will make it to heaven, and a relatively high regard for Jesus the man.
The problem is that these two beliefs cannot co-exist. If I have a high view of Jesus I must understand what Jesus taught and proclaimed while He walked this earth. He said, I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and no man gets to the Father but by me. (John 14:6) He also claimed that He and the Father were one. He claimed that He would die for sin, rise again, and ascend to the right hand of the Father. He made all of these declarations while He walked this earth. He came to establish a new Kingdom . He said in John 10:10 that He came to that we might have life, and have it more abundantly. The way to life is only through Him. He is the one with the power to forgive sin and to give eternal life. He and He alone made that way for us. Jesus came to seek and to save those who are lost. We are a lost humanity. The only one with the power to give life is Jesus. God made a way through His Son Jesus Christ that we could be saved, it wasn't through Buddha or Mohammed or Confucious, Joseph Smith or any other religious proponent. Jesus is alive today and and He is offering life to all who will place their trust fully in Him. As a believer I am called to love all people whether they be muslim, buddhist, or any other religion. Whether they are gay, straight, bi or any other sexual preference. Whether they are a prostitute or a pop star but in every situation I am to model the love of Jesus Christ and to speak the Gospel lovingly and boldly in hopes that the same grace that saved me from my sin, would reach into their heart, by the power of the Holy Spirit and save them into eternal life and freedom from sin. I am called to never compromise the Truth of God's word but to stand in the world and lovingly call out to whosoever will to respond to His message. The problem is that many who claim to be Christians are not living out their faith and being a reflection of Jesus as we ought.
But please do not call Jesus a good teacher or a good man or a good prophet, He has not left us that option. He is King of Kings and Lord of Lords and returning King. He is our all in all, and the reason for hope, he is our Savior and one day every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.
We as human beings have two options. We can bow our knee to Jesus now and place our faith and trust in Him and live for Him now. If I do that, I will enjoy abundant life with Him now and eternal, unbroken fellowship in Heaven with Him for all eternity. The other option we have is to live like we want to, believe what we want to, and do what we want to while we live on this earth and still one day we will bow our knee in submission to Jesus Christ. Unfortunately, if I wait to bow my knee on that day, I will be subject to God's everlasting judgement of eternal punishment in hell. We all deserve this. Thankfully, God loved us so much that He did what we could never do ourselves, and offers to all of us salvation through Jesus Christ our Lord.
As I watched the memorial today I was heartbroken to see the video that showed all of the religious symbols of our world flashing on the screen basically proclaiming that all roads lead to God. I did here a true statement in the service, one speaker said he will live forever and ever and ever. That is true for all of us. The only question is where. If I place my trust in Jesus it will be eternal joy in Heaven, if I fail to do that, only eternal torment and judgement awaits.

It is time to start another great week. I have had a wonderful weekend, mostly relaxing with the family at home. I hope each of you had a super Fourth of July weekend.
As I was reading the Word today I came across a very familiar verse in Philippians 4:8. It goes like this: "Finally brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things." What a wonderfully simple verse of instruction for us. Think good and Godly thoughts throughout your days and weeks. It is simple to understand, but it is difficult to live out. Why?
Why are we constantly giving in to negative, ungodly thoughts. Have you ever started a week with lots of excitement and joy about all of the possibilities that were coming, only to feel depressed and discouraged and demotivated by Monday night? What happened? Many times we allow our thoughts to go from the positive and Godly to the negative and ungodly very quickly. Things happen at work, the kids drive you crazy, you have a setback in your schedule, and all of the sudden negative thoughts begin to seep into our mind and we begin to slide downhill. If we allow the negative thoughts to have their way, we go from one negative to the next and we begin to spiral downward until we feel totally overwhelmed and defeated. For some people, they have been stuck in negative thought patterns for so long, every part of their life has been affected and you see it in their countenance and you hear it in their speech.
The good news is we can choose what to dwell on. We can dwell in the negative - what's wrong with us, why am I like this, why is my spouse so sorry, why are my kids troublemakers, why is my job terrible, why do bad things happen to me? Or we can choose another path in the power of the Spirit. We can choose to follow the command of Phillipians 4:8 and see our world turned around. As we dwell on the good and the Godly, it also can become a pattern in our lives. It will affect our countenance, our words, and our relationships for the good.
There is a warning. You cannot change your thinking if you are not spending time in the Word of God and in prayer. These two elements do transformational work to our "stinking thinking". Tap into the joy of living out Philippians 4:8 today and see your world changed for the glory of God.
I look forward to hearing from you!
Brad

Scripture Reading for today: Phillipians 4; Luke 6; Psalms 121,122

Galatians 5:16 says, "live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh." As I read that verse I can't help but think about what a great verse that is to live by. Its a command and a promise. Live by the Spirit, that is the command. You will not gratify the desires of the flesh, that is the promise. If this is so, why do we find it so hard to experience the power of walking in the Spirit, why are we constantly struggling with fleshly desires?
I had some insight today as I was pressure washing my house and my deck. While I was pressure washing, I noticed the places that were really dirty and took care of those immediately. What I almost missed, however, were the stains that almost matched the color of my house. Until I pressure washed over those parts, I didn't notice how truly dirty they were. It was especially true on my deck. It looked fine until I washed one section. Once I did that, I had to do the rest because of the huge difference. When I got through the deck looked much better.
What does this have to do with Galatians 5:16? Many times as we look at our lives we think we are fine because we do not have any glaring stains in our life. But most of the time we don't see the less apparent ones. Until we allow the pressure washing of the Holy Spirit into our life we live with the less obvious stains and it keeps us from walking in the Spirit.
Today, ask the Holy Spirit to shine His light into your heart so you can see it all. Then call out to Him in repentance and experience His cleansing. Then you will be able to walk in the Spirit, so you will not give in to the desires of the flesh.
Let me here from you!
In Christ,
Brad

Here we are on a new adventure. As our church gets ready to launch a new website, one of the things I wanted to do, at the suggestion of my youth pastor, is write an almost daily blog. Hopefully, this blog will allow you to see into my heart at how the Lord is working in me and it could be an encouragement to those of you who will read it. I look forward to dialoguing with you because I believe it could be a great encouragement to me to here your responses. I want you to be able to comment and share as you are touched, encouraged, intrigued, or upset by the blog posts.
My chief goal in all of this is that God would be glorified. Reaching for what lies ahead comes from one of my favorite passages in all the Bible, Philippians 3:7-21. The apostle Paul is challenging the church at Phillipi by giving a brief testimony of his life. Paul had everything going for him as a religious man.(v 4-6) After meeting Jesus though, all of his accomplishments were for nought, anything he had was rubbish compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Chirst Jesus as Lord. Paul wanted to know Christ more in every way. He was willing to give up all he had for the glory of fully knowing Christ, and attaining the prize which was laid out before him. In verse 13, Paul says he is forgetting what lies behind, and he was reaching for what lies ahead. What was it that was lying ahead? "The goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."
What this world has to offer us today is nothing in comparison to what Christ offers to us here and in the hereafter. As for me, I will reach for what lies ahead. Although I am frustrated many times by my want for the world, my deep desire and hope is that I will steadily lose my taste for this world and continually be consumed by a passion for the things above.
I hope this blog can be a blessing to you and others in the days ahead.
In Christ,
Brad