I know that I wrote on this chapter last week, but it has truly been speaking to me. Yesterday, we taught the children the first half of the story to David and Goliath with an emphasis on verse 11. It is here that Goliath is standing in front of his army and taunting the Israelites. Everyone, I am sure is familiar with this story and know that Goliath was over 9 feet tall and his armor weighed over 125 lbs. In other words he was big. What really stood out to me this week was how the Israelites reacted to this: They were scared out of their gourds. They were more afraid of Goliath than they trusted God.

My thinking is this: What is it in our lives that we are afraid of? And even a better question is: Why does this fear outweigh our trust in God? We all have things we worry about: jobs, money, marriages, children, etc…I understand that these are important things, but we have to be careful about letting them consume us and hinder our trust in God. I will finish with what David said in response to this. He basically said, “Hey, I got this.” David trusted God more than he feared. It is my prayer that I handle these situations as David did.

My brother and I were so mean to my sister when she was little. We would pick on her until she would cry and then we would pick on her some more. Joe and I essentially had our own club and we thought that everyone wanted in. (Well our sister did at least) But our club was exclusive. NO GIRLS ALLOWED!!! One day she wanted to play and we told her something that has now become legend in our household. It was hot outside, so we told her that if she came and played with us that she would sweat. Now this is obvious, but the not-so-obvious part was that we told her that her brain would melt if she happened to sweat. She was devastated. She desperately wanted to play with us. (For her own safety, this could not be allowed.) This did not end so well for Joe and I…Danielle cried so much that our Mom yelled at us and made us play with our sister. Our club was ruined!

Today’s reading was Matthew 17. I know that this may be a stretch, but it totally reminded me of my baby sister today. Scripture tells us, after six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light. Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus. What is so cool is that Jesus took Peter, James, and John there with no one else. They got to see the transfiguration and see Moses and Elijah talking to Jesus. (I would have loved to had been in that club!) Then Peter gets an “awesome idea” and says, “Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, I will put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.” This kind of busted the club up. They tried to make it too exclusive. Then, they heard God speak and got completely scared and when they looked up…no one was there other than Jesus.

Could you imagine being part of the most awesome club ever and then trying to keep it all to yourselves? The cool thing is that Christ is not exclusive. In fact, He is very inclusive. I promise He won’t tell you that your brain will melt if you want in.

Recently, I have taken a step back and tried to truly examine my life. I have been asking myself many questions: Am I doing God’s will? How can I reach more people? What areas in my life do I need to work on or even change completely? Something that truly concerns me is how easily people’s opinions are swayed or where they are getting their information. They will misuse scripture to prove their point…or they will state something that they do not really know.

Today’s reading was Matthew 16. Christ was speaking to his disciples about not letting others wrong ideas influence them. He said not to let their yeast grow. It is so easy to get caught up in what people are telling you to do. We are being hit from all sorts of directions. Books on self help, Oprah, Dr. Phil…etc…So many listen to what they have to say, but never see what God’s word says.

My prayer is that we all take the time to check things out. Do not let the yeast of bad teachers grow in your life. Seriously, who do you really think has the answers to our problems; God or Dr. Phil?

For the next few weeks the Kid’s Gathering is learning about David. Yesterday they learned that big things can come in small packages because David was the smallest out of 8 brothers, yet God chose him. This morning while reading I Samuel 17, in preparation for next Sunday, something David did really stood out to me.

Here was this young boy literally facing a giant. Did he back down? Did he hesitate? No! In fact it says that “As the Philistine moved closer to attack him, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet him.” Here he was facing the biggest problem of his life and he ran to meet it head on with God.

How easy is it for us to turn and run to avoid our problems? We run from financial, marital, moral, and many other sorts of problems. Maybe we should take the approach that God is with us and that we should meet any problem we have head on with Him? Sounds like a good plan to me.

I love action movies. I guess the reason why is that I am a guy and I like explosions. Most action movies are all similar. Explosions being the first thing and having a hero is the second. At the climax of each movie the hero stands his ground while others are scattering. But because of his brave act, others begin to stand their ground with him as well. Independence Day with Will Smith is a perfect example of this. (It has explosions and aliens!) There is a scene in which the RVs are driving away in the desert and Will Smith is dragging an alien behind him. This causes the RVs to stop and turn around.

Today’s reading was Matthew 12 and it demonstrated this type of behavior. Christ is speaking and he lays it all on the line when he says, “He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters.” Think about it! Christ was the original action hero. He was standing firm. He was/is calling us to stand with Him. We face so many oppositions each and everyday that it would be easy to scatter in the opposite direction, or we could turn around and stand behind/with Christ. I personally feel much safer with my action hero…Jesus.

Today’s reading, Matthew 11, totally reminded me of a job interview that someone really wants. (I promise I will get to the point) I can remember going on a few interviews and they would ask me to tell a little about myself and I would get so excited and try and tell them all sorts of cool things. (The list was short) I would say the cheesy things like: I am a team player, I have good computer skills, I am looking for advancement, I am organized, and prompt. I bet that most have said these things. I know that when I have interviewed people before they would say these things to me.

Here is what I would say is probably the best interview ever: When asked if they qualify for the position, this person answered like this. “Go back and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor. Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of me.” By the way: This was Jesus’ interview. I bet they thought he was probably qualified for the job.

How cool is this? I can picture him answering John’s followers and their jaws just hitting the floor. I may need to get some help with my resume.

Have you ever walked through Walmart or Target and carried something the whole time until you get to the checkout and then put it back? April does this all of the time and it drives me crazy.  She’ll say something like, “I bet the other place has something better.”

Matthew 10:39 says, “Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.

I have this funny picture in my head where someone is standing  at the gates of heaven and they are wondering if they should have put their life down or bought it?

Makes me wonder what I should put back before I get to the checkout line?

Today’s reading was full of action. (Matthew 9) In this chapter, Jesus forgave and healed a paralyzed man, he was asked about fasting, he raised a dead girl from the dead, healed a sick woman, healed a blind man, and he healed a mute. (That is so cool)

But, to me, the one thing that truly stood out was how easy it is to follow him. This is shown beautifully when Matthew received his calling. If you do not realize, let me explain: Tax collectors were the scum of the earth. They were considered some of the worst people around. What is so amazing is that when Christ called Matthew, he got up and followed. It does not say that he whined around and dwelled on his past. No, it says that he got up and followed.

My question to myself and all of us is simple: What are we holding on to? What is keeping us from truly enjoying our life in Christ? All of us have sinned and done things that we are not proud of. But not all of us have truly let go of our past. We know that Christ has forgiven us, but we have not forgiven ourselves. There is no magical formula to follow Christ. All we have to do is get up and go. It’s that easy.

One of the funniest and truest things that I have ever heard was when I had a college professor tell me that if some uses “but” in a sentence that everything that they told you before the “but” is false. For example, “Honey, I love that outfit, but you would look great in this.” Obviously, if I told my wife this, I would hate what she had on and wanted her to change.

Today’s reading was Matthew 8 and it totally reminded me of this concept. In this chapter, Jesus is discussing what it takes to be a true follower of Him. Eventually a disciple, says, “I will follow you but…” Christ gave him a harsh response. He told him to let the dead bury the dead. In other words, Christ wanted this man and us to understand that if we want to follow Him, there cannot be any “buts.” It is a simple, “Yes, I will.”

This leads me to the question, “In what areas of our lives is their a “but?” What are some things that we are putting first and moving Him down on the list?

I apologize for not doing this the past few days.(Not that anyone actually reads this) We had to take 15 kids to camp. Let me tell you, it was an awesome experience. Our kids, as well as ourselves, truly felt God’s presence there.

April and I are so excited, because we got to see how a successful kids ministry is ran. We are so stoked! We are going to push the envelope and reach some kids!