Sorry for taking so long to blog again, but it has been a really busy couple of weeks.
Pastor Chad told the story of Jesus dining with one of the Pharisees and the woman who wet His feet with her tears, dried them with her hair, and anointed them with perfume that is valued at approximately a year's wages. A year's wages! I think the average annual American income is between 30 and 40 THOUSAND dollars. Could you imagine buy 30 thousand dollars worth of perfume and pouring it over the feet of someone you have never met in your life? That is faith! Thanks Chad, loved the sermon.
What really stuck with me these past couple of days is the chronology of the life of Jesus that Chad mentioned. I have talked with some about reading the New Testament in chronological order, but that is just by the date that the books are written which is awesome when reading the letters. However, I have never thought of reading the Gospels in the same manner. I haven't been able to stop thinking about this for two days now! I have always found it confusing to try to understand Jesus' life by just reading one Gospel, then another, then another, then the last one. A lot can be forgotten in the amount time that takes, and it doesn't seem to flow as a story. Don't get me wrong...I love the Bible as it is written, but I believe that there are many ways to read it to gain more and more understanding. NOTE: If you are a new Christian, or someone who is new to studying scripture, find a mature Christian, and ask them about a reading/study plan. Don't trust everything you find in a bookstore or on the web because you can easily be led down the wrong path!
So, yesterday, I had to go to "ye olde enterwebb" (that is what it was called in the 17th century when Al Gore invented it...LOL). I Googled. I came upon a website called lifeofchrist.com where I found a list of the the Gospels in harmony with one another and a daily lesson planner to go with it. I passed this along to many of you, and if you didn't get it, email me. This morning I started reading the life of Jesus this way, and it is SOOOOO awesome! To me, it really brings out the "real dude" that Jesus was and is.
I challenge you all who don't get into the Word because it is "confusing" to try reading the life of Jesus this way. Always pray before you read the Bible, and ask the Holy Spirit to open your eyes to what He wants you to see not what you want you to see. I know that if you do this, you will be pleasantly surprised!
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Monday, August 11, 2008
What Am I Not Good At?
I am a big believer that all Christians should find out what their God-given spiritual gifts are, and serve in a way that uses those gifts. Early on in my life with Jesus, I realized that God gave me the gift to teach. Since then, He has opened doors to allow me to use this gift for his purpose. For those of you who don't know, I teach the high school students at Greenville Christian Church on Sunday mornings, and I have filled in for Pastor Chad on a couple of Wednesday nights where I preached to the adult congregation.
Recently, I read a blog by Ben Arment about understanding what we are not gifted with. Wow. I had never thought about that. We always tell people to concentrate on their gifts, but we fail to tell them to recognize what they are not good at doing. I see people who try to force themselves to be good at something when it is obvious that God did not give them that gift. I will use myself as an example:
I love to play games and stuff with our students. When healthy, I am a good participant in games and events. However, I am terrible at creative stuff. I just don't possess the creativity to put games together or come up with themes for stages. I realize this, and therefore I try to stay away from this kind of thing. I have tried in the past to force myself to come up with ideas for the stage at our Thrive service, but it did nothing but cause tons of stress in my life!
It took me a while to realize that I just wasn't gifted with creativity, and no matter what I wanted, it just wasn't what God wanted for me. I can accept that.
I think it would be beneficial for everyone out there in the blogosphere to take a look at your own gifts.
Ask yourself what you are doing that you know you are not gifted at.
Ask yourself why you are trying to do something that you are not gifted at.
Are trying to do what YOU want, or what GOD wants?
Recently, I read a blog by Ben Arment about understanding what we are not gifted with. Wow. I had never thought about that. We always tell people to concentrate on their gifts, but we fail to tell them to recognize what they are not good at doing. I see people who try to force themselves to be good at something when it is obvious that God did not give them that gift. I will use myself as an example:
I love to play games and stuff with our students. When healthy, I am a good participant in games and events. However, I am terrible at creative stuff. I just don't possess the creativity to put games together or come up with themes for stages. I realize this, and therefore I try to stay away from this kind of thing. I have tried in the past to force myself to come up with ideas for the stage at our Thrive service, but it did nothing but cause tons of stress in my life!
It took me a while to realize that I just wasn't gifted with creativity, and no matter what I wanted, it just wasn't what God wanted for me. I can accept that.
I think it would be beneficial for everyone out there in the blogosphere to take a look at your own gifts.
Ask yourself what you are doing that you know you are not gifted at.
Ask yourself why you are trying to do something that you are not gifted at.
Are trying to do what YOU want, or what GOD wants?
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