Remember when you were a child, reading the story of David & Goliath, wide eyed. Remember when you first heard about Moses parting the red sea, or the fiery furnace? Remember when it seems so amazing that no matter how far Jonah tried to run God brought him back, even though it took a giant fish? Or how Jesus fed the multitude with five loaves and two fishes? Or how we read about how the angels stopped the mouth of the lions, and Daniel was safe in the pit?

  When we were children, it all seemed so amazing. We read those stories, and they seemed so real and so exciting. But somewhere along the line, we lost some of that. Sure, we still remembered them, but they became children's stories. Maybe we began to think those stories weren't important, or maybe our Bible were left to grow dusty on the shelf.

    So we began to forget.
    When a giant set itself in our path, we decided that wasn't the one we were meant to follow, even though God was whispering "go".
    When there was a sea dead in the middle of the way God was leading us, don't wait and we decided to try and find our own way.
    When we were faced the choice of either a fiery furnace, or compromising some of our morals, it seemed too risky to stand strong.
    When we were running away from our problems and everything just got worse, we didn't listen to the voice of God and face up to our mistakes, instead we kept running and tricking ourselves into thinking we're stronger than Him.
     When what we had was so little compared to what we needed, we forgot that God can make it work.
    When there were roaring lions with giant teeth, suddenly, standing for the truth didn't seem so important.

   But the God of David, Moses, Jonah, Daniel & his three friends is the same today.

  "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and today, and forever." Hebrews 13:8

   He has not suddenly become a weak and powerless God. He is not diminished to words on a page. If He could close the mouth of the lions then, He still can.  

   When Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednago were before Nebuchadnezzar, they didn't know what was going to happen. What they did know was that there was an idol, and that they could not bow down before it.
   I suppose they could have reasoned to bow down but "in their hearts" not really be worshipping it. How many hebrews did that? Surely there were more than just them in the crowd, yet seemingly none of the others caused problems. They could have softened their words so the king wouldn't be mad, or flattered him. They could have taken the easy route.
    Instead, they refused to bow down. They went up to the king, and said this:

    "If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou    hast set up." Daniel 3:17-18

   They knew that God could save them. They also knew that they could be thrown into the fire and burnt to ashes if that's what God decided. Either way, they knew that to serve God means to follow Him no matter what it costs.
 
   I don't have to tell you how the story ends. They were obedient, and Jesus was there with them in the fire. They came out without a hair of their head burnt, and without the scent of smoke upon them.

    "Christianity without discipleship is always Christianity without Christ." Dietrich Bonhoeffer

   David went out to meet the giant, sling in his hand, but most importantly with God. He had to take a risk that the entire army of Israel would not take. Jonah had to stay in the belly of a fish until he finally decided to stop looking at himself, and look at God. Daniel had to defy the death decree of a king.
 
   But in all these cases God did something so completely amazing. He always does.

   When I was a child, one day there was such an angry storm outside. Pouring rain, booming thunder, flashing lightening. My grandmother was hiding in the house because she was afraid. Not me. My dad and I were sitting on the porch watching it. We started talking about when Jesus and His disciples were on a boat in the middle of the storm, and Jesus stood up and rebuked the storm. "Peace, peace, be still."
    Naturally, we decided to try it. It couldn't hurt, right? Nowadays it would seems silly to do that. What if God didn't decide to work a miracle, and then I was disappointed? God has better things to do than stop a storm. Besides, miracles are a thing of the past, He works in different ways now.

    But as a child, there's a sense of faith and belief that is rarely found in adults.

    "Except ye be converted, and become as a little child, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosever shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 18:3-4

   So, we did it. "Peace, peace be still." The pelting rain which had not slowed for over an hour, suddenly stopped. It didn't slow down, or gradually stop, it immediately stopped. Not another drop  of rain fell, and not another bolt of lightening crossed the sky. I was so excited about it.
   God doesn't change. But we do. We look at ourselves instead of God, and our faith fades. Some of our plans are ruined, and we wonder if God is actually leading us.

  "The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty..." Exodus 34:6-7

   The God of the old testament, who did so many miracles, is the same God of the new testament who did miracles, and is the same God today.

    Sometimes things don't go the way we plan. Although God chose to save Daniel from the mouth of the lions, He didn't choose to save Stephen from being stoned. If He had, Paul may never have been converted, and might not have had the epistles. Even when He doesn't work in the way we expect, He is still the same.
 
    My closing point is this - go read the Bible stories that you loved as a kid. You might see something new in them that you never realized before, you will be encouraged to grow in righteousness and in the Lord, and you will be refreshed and reminded of God's power and love. Don't underestimate God!

 

    This past weekend I went to a 'Music In the Mountains Camp'. As I was thinking about my time there, I realized a couple things. So, I decided to share my thoughts.
 
        There are so many Christians out there who don't focus on God. Yes, you read that right! Even in church they focus on conspiracy theories, theologies, gossip. Especially gossip.
 
   Conspiricy theories... What can I say? I mean we know that not everything that the news tells us is true, it's many times one sided. There are certainly lots of crooked things going on, and it's good to be aware of it. But focusing on it will taking you in a downward spiral. You'll get more and more paranoid, and fearful. It will become your religion.
    Jesus literally had the Jewish rulers following Him, and plotting His death! But His sermons weren't all about how He was being watched, and about how the rulers were 'out to get Him'. He did point out their corruptness, but He didn't focus on that. He taught truth, He contradicted them, and He showed love and an example of what should be.
     Why do so many times Christians spend their times together talking about conspiracies? Frankly, it's easier than trying to do something worthwhile. Instead of constantly talking about how the goverment is wrecking people's lives, go help those people! Instead of constantly talking about how the media is unfair, bring justice and light to someone near you who needs it. Instead of constantly talking about the goverment is cheating and stealing money from workers, check yourself and stop buying things made by slaves!
    Be aware of what's going on in the world around you, but instead of sitting around and being fearful and moping, go do something about it! Help those in your neighbourhood, bring love and truth to someone's life.

 
     Theology is most certainly important. Learning how to obey God is important. But God is still the focus of all of this. We learn all this for Him, so we can honour Him. If every sermon is going to repeat the same thing you've been doing for years, there's not really much of a point. That's like learning the alphabet, and everyday memorizing it again. Sure, you need to be reminded of it once in a while, and practice it so that you don't forget it, but you don't need to constantly be memorizing it once you have it down.
     When we start doing this, we tend to forget about God. That might seem to contradict the point, but it really doesn't. We are supposed to praise God, to worship Him. Learning the same thing over and over can easily become a routine which we do mindlessly. We don't really think about why we are doing it, or what the whole point of it is.
 
     Gossip, oh gossip. How many times in the Bible are we told not to gossip? However Christians so often seem to forget those verses, when they're so busy pointing out the sins in others lives.
"So and so did this. We heard that so and so was seen going here..."
    Often this is hid behind the reason that the person needs prayer. It is wonderful if you really want to help the person, and care about them, but most of the time this is not the case. You want to tell a juicy story, you want to show that you're the first to know it, you want drama. It's often the case is that you feel guilty about something, and you need to raise your self-esteem a bit. Putting someone else down, and slandering their name is a good way for you to do that.
     To clarify, gossip isn't just telling lies about others. No, it's telling stories that are true, but not yours to tell. This usually goes hand in hand with hypocrisy. You can turn from gasping over someone's mistakes, to doing the same thing the very next moment.
    I feel really sad for you if this is the best thing you can do with your time. Spending your fellowship talking about others and what you think they're doing wrong is such a waste! Instead you should go read Proverbs 6:16-19.
    If someone needs prayer, you should definitely ask for a prayer request, but make sure you have the right motives, and don't share the story if people don't need to know.
   
     So many times I've been to visited with others, and left feeling worse than when I went there. The things I talked about above, are very often the reason for this.
     We should worship God when we meet together! We should tell of the glorious things He has done. We should learn more about His wonderful plan for us! We should encourage each other, and strengthen each other in the faith.
     
      This weekend as I headed home, I felt happier and so much more peaceful when I arrived. Of course I was a bit sad that the weekend was over, but I was encouraged. Spending time worshiping God, and spending time without all the distractions and depressing things of the world refreshed me. I had drew closer to God, I'd been reminded of His goodness and how much He loves us. It was time of uplifting and not tearing down.
     Why? Because it was about God. It wasn't about me, it wasn't about the world. It was about the heavenly kingdom. It was't about fear, or others. It was about praising God, recognizing His grace, love, sacrifice. That's what being a Christian is about. It's about Christ.