Not every story has a happy ending and the story of Ananias and Sapphira is one such story. Their story is a warning for all believers to take God very seriously and the message is as powerful today as it was when this grim story took place. This is the grim tale of Ananias and Sapphira. Video done by DanStevers.com

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In Psalms 119:11, David says; “Thy word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against thee.” The Apostle John makes it clear in I John 1:8, that we all, even believers, can commit sin; “If we claim to be sinless, we are only fooling ourselves and refusing to accept the truth.” Sin is a failure to live according to the truth.

Ignorance of the truth is not an excuse as far as God is concerned. All of us possess at least one Bible, the repository of God’s truth. Each of us is expected to read and study our Bibles and discover God’s truth for ourselves. We cannot live on somebody else’s knowledge; it must reside in our own head and heart.

But, what is truth? In John 18:37 Jesus said; “To this end was I born, and for this cause I came into the world, that I should bear witness of the truth.” Again, in John 8:32, He said; “And you (His followers) will have knowledge of what is true, and that truth will make you free.”

Jesus came to tell us what was true about God, and about Himself. This knowledge sets us free from the penalty of sin, will keep us safe from the power of sin, and will, one day, deliver us from the presence of sin.

Have you, like David, hid God’s Word in your heart? Have you developed a plan whereby you can spend time daily reading and studying the Bible? As you read and study, you need to be praying that the Holy Spirit would open the eyes of your understanding and help you to be obedient to what you learn about God and about yourself.

In I Peter 2:2, he urges us to; “Desire the pure milk of the word, so that you may thrive upon it, for your soul’s sake.” Let God’s Word be like food for your spirit and soul just like meat and potatoes are food for your body. Let God’s Word say what it means, and not what you want it to say.

God’s Word is your best defense against the devil’s temptations; you can quote it to him or use it against him. Peter says our adversary is like a prowling lion, seeking to devour us. James says, resist him (with God’s Word) and he will flee from you.

Follow the admonition of 2 Timothy 2:15; “Give due diligence to obtain God’s approval as one who bears no shame. Giving yourselves to accurately know the Bible, the Word of God.”

Put forth your best defense, the whole armor of God, which includes the truth for your belt. Reference: Ephesians 6:13-18.

“The fear of the LORD teaches a man wisdom, and humility comes before honor” (Proverbs 15:33).

I learned a valuable lesson in humility yesterday. “When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom” (Proverbs 11:2). God sure knocked that one into my head! Yesterday brought peace and a release of what I was carrying in my heart.

“Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience” (Colossians 3:12)

I don’t think I ever really understood what is means to be humble in my faith. To truly understand, I had to understand humility is needed in order to obtian peace. Think about it, humility dissipates anger, heals old wounds, and allows seeing the worth of other people. Humility means putting God and other people ahead of our own selfish interests. Humility comes with the knowledge that God’s creation as a whole transcends our own narrow interests. As with other aspects of wisdom, humility will gain us much more than we sacrifice.

Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.

Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.

Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.

Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God. (KJV, Matthew 5:5-9)

If we wish to be loved, we must first give love. If we wish to be respected, we must respect all persons, even those we despise. If we wish to be fulfilled in our lives, we must share generously with others. Arrogant words inflame prejudice and hatred, but humble speech soothes. Words make or break human relationships. The words we say or write have tremendous power for good or evil. We should be as careful with our words as we would be with any other “weapon.” “A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. The tongue of the wise commends knowledge, but the mouth of the fool gushes folly” (Proverbs 15:1-2)

Over 50% of the church websites I see look like they were made 20 years ago, are poorly designed, disjointed and the content is out of date.  Now if you are one of the few churches or ministries who has a contemporary website, that is easy to navigate, logically planed out and is current… Congratulations, you are almost there, but there are a few more steps that need to be taken before you are done if you want to communicate effectively.

Most churches with a good website effectively broadcasting information about themselves out to the public, but that does not mean they are communicating successfully.  The church has a history of broadcasting information about themselves to the community.  During the 1980’s people would send out mailers, take out ads in local publications, put up billboards, take out radio ads and insert announcements in the bulletin.  The 1990’s was pretty much the same, except now churches were broadcasting their information over the web.  That was great for then, the problem is the 90’s were ten years ago and churches are still broadcasting.

Today people are looking for more interaction between themselves and the church; they are looking for to have conversation, not be blasted with information.  Look at the exploding growth of Twitter and Facebook, if Facebook where a country it would be the third largest country in the world.  In one day Facebook get more interactive hits than Google Search, YouTube and Google mail combined.  It is all about the conversation.  I am happy to see a lot of churches have Facebook pages and Twitter accounts, but rarely do I see any interaction on them.  Here are a few recommendations to develop interaction over the internet:

1. Start a Blog! Post current devotionals that relate to the community. Do you need some ideas? Just look through this website for a plethora of topics.
2. Get a twitter account. Twitter is growing by leaps and bounds at 1000’s of a percent
3. Link the Twitter account and the Facebook account
4. Post your most recent blog on Twitter and Facebook
5. Post links to other people’s blog and ask for people to respond
6. Post on these accounts weekly discussion that relate with the next sermon, ask questions that go with the small group study, post upcoming events and ask your followers to invite Facebook friends.
7. Get and iPhone and film parts of the weekend message and post them on Youtube.
8. Post a link of the video on Facebook and Twitter
9. Post the video on your website
10. Respond to people on Twitter and Facebook and enjoy the conversation

By doing these very simple tactics you will greatly increase your web and community presence. The best part is everything mentioned above is FREE. To learn more about Twitter click here.

To be really cutting edge sign up and join on foursquare. People on Foursquare get points for visiting certain locations and the person who goes to a certain location and checks in the most at the location, become the Mayor of that location. Every time someone checks into these locations, it will post this information on that persons Twitter and Facebook account. This type of interaction has several advantages. To understand Foursquare more and how to use it, read 7 Effective Ways to Use Foursquare.

Remember social media is about the conversation, not broadcasting information. Have fun and enjoy the discussion.

“Ah! dear friend, you little know the possibilities which are in you.”
Charles H. Spurgeon

If God asked you to be a missionary and to leave your home with little money and fly to South America when you spoke little Spanish, would you go? That is exactly what God asked untrained 19 year old Bruce Olson to do in 1959. Bruce tells an amazing story about how he landed in Venezuela and set out into the jungle to meet the Barí people. His efforts lead to him being shot with an arrow, getting very ill and being distrusted by the local people, but it later turned to him connecting with the locals and leading whole tribes to Christ. All because Bruce did what God called him to do.

This reminds me of when Andrew met Jesus for the first time and what his first response was. (John 1:35-42) Andrew is hanging out with John the Baptist the day after john had Baptized Jesus. “When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, ‘Look, the Lamb of God!” John 1:36. Andrew was very excited when he heard this.  The promised Messiah, revealed in over 300 Old Testament scriptures such as Isaiah 7:14, had arrived. Andrew knew that this day, this man was very significant. His response here is great. “The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ).” John 1:41.

You might be asking, “Who is Andrew?” Here are a few facts about him.

• He is Peter’s brother
• His name means “Manley” (probably born with hair on his chest)
• He was a Fisherman, outdoorsman, and a common laborer
• He would have been on the crew of Discovery’s Deadliest Catch
• He was a quiet man
• He is only mentioned twelve times in the bible with four of the times being grouped with other people

While few know much about Andrew, his life was lived leading others to Jesus. Andrew led Peter to Jesus, but he didn’t stop there. Later in John 12 a group of Greeks want to meet Jesus and went to Philip who was unsure what to do. Philip then went to Andrew who immediately led them all to meet Jesus. For him it was a no brainer. Everyone needed to know Jesus! While people like Andrew and Bruce serve to inspire us, very few of us follow their lead.

A few years ago the Lilly Endowment did a survey of 300,000 worshippers in 2,200 churches over 8 different denominations. They found that ¾ of churchgoers came because someone invited them to church. However, 54 percent of them have not invited anyone to church in the last year. Lifeway did a poll a couple of years ago and found that 67% of Americans would me more than willing to visit a church is they were invited by a family member and 56% of Americans would go if a friend invited them, but less than half the church invites people to church and I can guarantee that even less people talk about their relationship with Christ with people outside of the church.

The problem is that most church goers see telling people about Jesus a religious exercise, a chore, a responsibility and a duty. It is not that we don’t love Jesus; it’s that we don’t realize the eternal significance. Jesus tells us that “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6. We forget that if the people we love don’t love Jesus, they’re not going to heaven. This is not about the church reaching out, about you reaching out. Being a witness for Christ is not an option. Being a witness is what we are before what we do.

This week I encourage you to do these five things:

1. Ask God, through prayer, to show you the world through His eyes
2. Look for the invisible people who the world has forgotten
3. Do the unexpected and show compassion to those who need Chirst
4. Choose to love those around you with abandonment
5. Share Jesus. You must use words with your actions!

If you don’t know what to tell them then say this, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and are separated from God for eternity, but God so loved the world he gave His one and only begotten son, who ever believes in him and accepts him as their savior, will not die and go to hell but have ever lasting life with God in heaven.”

Now Go.

In reality, the worship of God is nowhere defined in scripture (Vines New Testament Dictionary) From the many references to worship that are found in scripture, we may broadly regard it as the deep acknowledgment of God, of His name, His attributes, His ways, and His claims, all of which are to be derived solely from His Word. It may be manifested in outward praise and thanksgiving, but is best observed in the outward conduct which results from this acknowledgment. From this we can see that what we do for 30 minutes on Sunday mornings in our “Worship Service” is only the tip of the iceberg in regards to our 24/7 worship of God.

True worship is allowing God to be the Lord of your life. It is letting the Holy Spirit and the Holy Bible determine how we walk before the Lord. Romans 12:1 “I APPEAL to you therefore, brethren, and beg of you in view of [all] the mercies of God, to make a decisive dedication of your bodies [presenting all your members and faculties] as a living sacrifice, holy (devoted, consecrated) and well pleasing to God, which is your reasonable (rational, intelligent) service and spiritual worship.” (Refer to Romans 11 regarding His mercies.)

While God may take pleasure in our songs of praise and thanksgiving, of greater concern to Him is that our lives are no longer ‘conformed to this world’, but that we are being transformed by the complete change that has come over our minds, by it’s new ideals and it’s new attitude’, so as to find and follow God’s will; that is, what is good, well-pleasing to Him and perfect.’ Romans 12:2

This is not to say that what we do on Sunday morning is unimportant. In obedience to God’s Word, the Church gathers to corporately worship God with songs of praise and thanksgiving. We need to learn the significance of lifting our hands, bowing our heads, or, in recognition of the presence, power, or mighty works of God, to acknowledge Him with our hearts. It is in this fashion that we declare ourselves to be ‘the people of God.’

Let us learn both how to worship God corporately and how to worship Him daily through obedience to His Word.

Did you notice the dollar sign in the word surrender? It was not a typo, I put it there on purpose. I believe that the Bible teaches that the greatest hindrance to our complete surrender to God and His ways, has to do with how we regard money. Did you know that Jesus talked more about our use of money than any other  subject? It was He who taught Paul the truth found in I Timothy 6:10; “For loving money is a root from which every kind of evil springs.” When John warned us about loving the world in I John 2:16, he said, “Everything that the world affords, all that panders to the appetites, or entices the eyes, all the glamor of its life, these do not come from the Father, but is of the world.” All of these things require money.

Now, money, in and of itself, is not evil. Being wealthy is not evil. Wealth, when used for the furtherance of God’s Kingdom, becomes desirable. Jesus only condemned the love of and the misuse of wealth. Paul tells us in Titus 2:11, 12, that God’s grace has come, (Jesus), “…disciplining us, in order that, denying ourselves of ungodliness and worldly covets, we should live a life of temperance, honesty, and godliness day after day.” We should always strive for godliness in temperance and honesty, in regards to money.

There is that carnal nature within us which causes us to seek for self gratification.  Without God and the teachings of His Word, that nature will cause us to seek wealth, in order that we might possess things which we feel will make us happy. But God’s Spirit within us reveals God’s truth to us. There are two things you can do with truth, you can ignore it, and suffer the consequences, or you can obey it and enjoy the blessings of God.

Paul sums it up in I Timothy 6:5-8, where he says that”… men of corrupt minds, teach that gain is godliness, from such withdraw yourselves. But godliness with contentment is great gain. For after all, we didn’t bring any money with us when we came into the world and we can’t carry away a single penny when we die. If we have food and clothing we will be satisfied. But those who have a desire for wealth expose themselves to temptation.”

The Devil will destroy you if you fail to acknowledge God’s truth regarding the use of money. Don’t give him a foothold! Let’s practice responsible stewardship with the money God has enabled us to earn. Remember Matthew 6:33 “Set your heart on God’s Kingdom and His approval.” When you do this your daily needs will be supplied by God.

Religion and Science have been at war for centuries or at least that is what Dan Brown would want you to believe in his book Angles and Demons.   This modern myth has been perpetuated to such a huge degree that most of our society, including Christians, believe this to be true, however that is far from the truth.

The idea that Christianity and Science have always been at odds was introduced in the late 19th century England by Thomas Huxley and a small group of individuals who called themselves the X-Club.  Through journals and readers it was their desire to overthrow the dominance of Christianity in science.  As secularists, they knew they needed to replace one religion with another and thus they began the process by developing the idea that Christianity and Science have been at odds throughout history.   This modern myth has only grown since then and now includes the idea that scientist have been imprisoned and tortured for their beliefs.   This idea is further perpetuated by of main stream media (someone has to be a bad guy) in books and movies like Angles and Demons, but history as a whole does not support this view.

Look at the lives of Copernicus, Tycho Brahe, Johannes Kepler, Galileo Galilei and Isaac Newton.  All of these men where strong Christians who felt that it was because of their faith that it lead them to discover more about God’s wonders.  This is supported by French physicist Pierre Duhem when he demonstrated that the roots of modern science was in the writing of medieval scientists and that the term “Parson Naturalist”, a group of 19th Century parsons who saw the study of science as an extension of their religious work, was very common in the late 1500’s into 1800’s.

Alfred North Whitehead points out that Christianity encouraged science for the following reasons: 1. Faith in the possibility of science being orderly rather than lawless. 2. The Bible teaches that nature is real (not true of all religions). 3. Nature is a great value and worth of study. 4.The dignity of work.  5. Kepler said that he was called of God to pursue science and that this was a “good gift.” 6. Nature is good – not a god. 7. No real scientific breakthrough is a possible until man can face the natural world unafraid. 8. The world must be regarded as a place where events occur in a reliable predictable fashion.  Now, one might point out Galileo and say, “look there is proof that Christianity and Science have always been at war.”  Therefore, let’s take a look at Galileo.

Here are some interesting facts about Galileo:  At the time of his life the Reformation and the Counter Reformation were in full effect.  The Catholic Church was afraid of losing more people and really clamped down on new ideas.  When Galileo made his points some in the Catholic Church were afraid that he was trying to subvert their authority.  However, not all Catholic’s felt this way and moved into stand beside him.  Despite the popular modern myth, Galileo was never put in a prison and certainly was never tortured or harmed in any way and at his worst was forced to live in a large villa under house arrest where he lived comfortably and had many visitors.   While this was indeed wrong for the Catholic Church, this is about as bad as it gets for the scientist.

Here is an interesting point, Copernicus is the first one to really put forth  the Copernican Revolution and entertained the idea of the heliocentric model in 1508 and later published it in 1543 in “De Revolutionbus orium coelestium libri vi” just before his death.   This model was introduced to Johann Widmanstetter and in 1533 he explained Copernicus’ heliocentric model to the Pope. The Pope was very pleased, so much that he gave Widmanstetter a gift.  This was long before Galileo.  Never-the-less, Copernicus choose not to publish his works till 1543 just before his death.

Despite historical facts, the modern myths like the church taught us that the earth was flat or scientist and religion had been at war are completely false.  While there have been isolated events like Galileo and the Catholic Church, on the most part historically scientist have not been tortured or imprisoned because of what they have taught or believed.  Actually is quite the opposite, Christianity encouraged scientific research and most of our historical western scientist have been devout Christians.  I encourage everyone to look at the facts, without the blinders of modern myth, and rediscover the riches that Christianity contributed to scientific thinking.

Much of what I written here can be found in books like:

• Faith, Form, and Time by Kurt Wise
• Copernicus’ Secret by Jack Repcheck
• The Soul of Science, Christian Faith and Natural Philosophy by Nancy Pearcey  and Charles Thaxton
• Galileo on the world systems: a new abridged translation and guide by Galileo Galilei, translated by  Maurice A. Finocchiaro.
• Creation And Change: Genesis 1.1-2.4 in the Light of Changing Scientific Paradigms by Douglass Kelly

“The Truth is out there” – Mulder

Recently I read that someone I once knew was jaded against love. It broke my heart to know that someone would feel this way. I wish I could tell them not to be jaded and that this is just a storm that they are going through.

I’ve had my heart broken, but I know that someone could walk into my life just as fast as someone who hurt me walked out of my life. We have to remember that love is out there can often get lost when we are with the wrong person. All it takes is for the “one” to come along and change all of our pessimistic perceptions on love into optimistic opinions.

I think we often misunderstand what “love” really is, which leads us to have negative connotations when things go bad. If loving someone has stipulations then it’s not love, but opportunism. If loving another person means that you have no intention of improving that person’s life, or accepting them as they are (which includes their faults) then its not love, as love is unconditional.

Love does not give others the right to mistreat or undervalue you as a person. In fact, love is not a guarantee but we should still love, as it is an incredible feeling. An article I read about love says we need to realize that love can be lost. “If you realize that you can lose the one you love, then you have a greater appreciation of what you have.”

For this reason, it saddened me to know that someone would be jaded against love, when 1) they experienced what love is about, just not with the right person and 2) they are already loved by God (the greatest love of all) that love will find them wherever they are in life.

The word love is actually used 697 times in the New International Version of the Bible! That’s a lot of love. Maybe I’m a forever optimist, but I know that I haven’t given up on love despite everything that’s happened over the past year. But I would rather put my trust in God knowing that love will find me wherever I am in life, even if it doesn’t come as fast as I want it to.