Get over it.

So this post will be very short but as we all know by now Bin Laden is dead and gone and burning in Hell with no virgins. The thing that makes me mad this morning is that I am seeing pastors bashing people because we as proud Americans are rejoicing because of his death. This is so stupid.

People be happy that this murder is dead.

Just make sure that your pride is not causing your self to slip. There is good pride and bad pride and today I am PROUD to being an American.

By His Wounds

By His wounds we are healed. By His wounds we are saved. By His wounds we have life and life to the full. By His wounds the curtain was torn in two. By His wounds we are called God's Sons and Daughters. All of this and much more because of His Wounds.

Thinking

So here we are a few days away from the day that Judas betrays Christ. As we know and celebrate on Friday Jesus Christ went to the cross and died for the sins of Man. It is because of His sacrifice that we are free from sin and death. You may think to yourself "well ya a church is suppose to talk about this". One aspect of the death of Christ that we should think about is Judas. People blame him but we are all Judas. Thousands of years ago Christ died so that we can be free but yet everyday we fall to sin and we betray the grace of Christ. God does not want to see His children be separated from Him and his perfect love. So may you take some time this weekend and just think about how God loves you and fall in love with the one that loves you Jesus Christ. Also may this Sunday as we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord and Saviour may it be a time for you to rejoice and celebrate as well that you are no longer dead to sin but alive in Christ.

Chosen?

Yesterday at Mosaic Eddie talked a little about this idea of predestination/elect. I thought that I would share just a short thought on this. A few years ago when I started to take a real hard look at what is called Reformed Theology this doctrine was a hard one to swallow at first. The main thought towards this that people do not like is the idea that if everything is predestined for us then all we are all God's little puppets. This is so wrong it is not even funny.

John Piper has a great sermon that clearly shows much more on this beautiful doctrine.

1 Peter 2:9-10

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

In this text Peter comes right out of the gate and says that we are the chosen race. This is such a amazing thought. God ,who is perfect and holy in every way you can think, turns to some and calls them a royal priesthood. This is a such a sign of love and grace and mercy. At first this is a hard pill to take but if you really sit back and think about how amazing this doctrine truly is you will bend your knees and be so thankful.

God turns to some and pulls them out of the crappy life that they where in because of sin and rescues them from hell. We are adopted into his holy family. We are because of God's grace now called God's people. This goes back to moses rescuing ,not all but some, of the Israelites from pharaoh. Look at what He did through those people and they where called the chosen race/people. This is us and I am so thankful for it. Yes again this can be hard to think about but it is called the doctrine of Grace because by God's grace we are saved and called into His holy family.

Watch the above sermon and if you have any questions please feel free to email me and we can chat about it.

Blame God.

A few years ago when I was a teenager I had a bumper sticker that said Blame Canada. As you may think this sticker got me in trouble many times with people from Canada. Even though I thought it was funny I ended up taking it off my 1989 white van ( I was pimping).

I feel that at times we use the thought of Blame God when bad things happen to us. When a family member dies or a major earth quake happens we blame God. But yet when good things happen then we take all the credit for it right? This is all so wrong it is not even funny. Why do bad things like someone getting cancer or losing there job or a husband or wife running out on there family happen? It is because of sin and not God. We have to take the heat for it. When God made us we were made perfectly in the image of Him. Adam and Eve took and ate the fruit and at that very moment sin entered in the world and us. Bad things happen because sin entered the world.

This means that we should not be blaming God for the bad things but take some of the blame ourselves and lay it at the cross of Christ. Today I spent a long time in prayer and meditation on who God is and I started to cry uncontrollably because of how great God is. I do not blame Him for anything. But instead I thank Him that even though I am sinner He brought me into His family to live a life for his kingdom. To me that is a humbling thought.

A Mom's pride.

I am sitting here in my office reading Matthew 20:17-21 and can not believe what I am seeing. Jesus is talking about Him being betrayed and crucified and that He will return in three days from the dead and the first thoughts of the mother of Zebedee's son's was OK Jesus that is fine and all but make sure my sons sit with you in heaven.

Sometimes in our lives we can become so full of pride that there is no way to see our own sin. We are all ,sadly, full of pride and self but if you truly come to the cross and want to be humbled by it your pride will start to melt away. It takes years for it all to fall away but by the grace of God He helps us every step of the way.

The other sad thing is that as I read this story I can see my self in her shoes. Here Jesus is painting the bigger picture and all she sees is her own little world. We as called to be people that are kingdom focused and not self focused. So may we all pray for this to happen in our own lives as well as for those around.

Some thoughts on Love Wins

The past few weeks or so I have been listening and reading what a lot of pastors are saying about Rob Bells new book Love Wins and I just want to let you know where I stand on this peace off work. First I want to say that over the years I have learned a lot from Rob Bell. I really think that the way he communicates is amazing. He can tell a story in ways that I could never. However, his theology and doctrine is so far out of wack it is not even funny. I have seen over the years Rob Bell fall further and further away from the true Gospel of Jesus Christ. Now as this new book has come out He truly has become and false teacher. I known that there are people who would say that I am judging him by saying that but I am only looking at what he teaches and testing it to the Word of God and it does not line up.

We do not know if someone goes to hell or heaven. It is not for us to judge that but God is the Judge. There is a real place called Hell Jesus himself preached about it and called people sons of hell. If there was not a place of punishment then I would say that God is not a father at all. God as our father does not want to send people to hell but if someone does not believe in him then they are punished. It is just like a father when there son or daughter does not obey him he punishes them. To me the God of the bible ,who is the God I serve, would not be that God if everyone was welcomed into heaven. Then tell me what is the point of Jesus on the Cross and being or sacrifice for our sins. This would be pointless.

This week I will be preaching on how we as Christians need to test everything to God's word before we let it influence us and so I say church do not let this false teacher and his other gospel influence you.

Rob Bell I will be praying for you but as for me and my house you are not aloud in it anymore.

Keep your facebook post to your self.

Over the past year I have seen how facebook is good and also how it is bad. Let me first put out there the good of facebook.

1) Facebook is good to reconnect with old friends

2) Facebook is good to spread the gospel.

3) Facebook is good to know what other people are thinking about things.

4) Facebook is good to post funny videos.

Now let me share with you why Facebook is bad.

1) Facebook is bad because you can reconnect with old "flings"

2) Facebook is bad because there is ,at times, to much openness.

3) Facebook is bad because you can share to much about what is on your mind.

4) Facebook is bad because it can hurt people.

I want to hit on this last part for a little bit. Facebook is bad because it can hurt people. Over the past year our so I have seen and heard how people in churches us Facebook to hurt people. They use it to slander people and because of that I have seen churches ripped apart. When it comes to posting thing on Facebook you really should keep in mind the thought of "if you can not say anything nice do not say anything at all". Now as I write this I know that I have ,at times, not followed this. However God has been doing a lot of work in me the last few months and this is one thing that I have watched at times.

So what are you using Facebook for? Are you using it for one of the good or is your reason on the bad list?

Cross-centered Worship

I have heard worship leaders say that you should not focus so much on one thing in worship. I would strongly disagree. We need to always have cross centered worship. With out the cross you and I are nothing. with out the cross all of us are going to go to hell. We always need to be thankful for the cross and so that is why we need to always have cross centered worship.

Take time right now to thank God for the cross.

Hall Pass is trash.

Last night Kim and I went out on our weekly date night and I saw a preview for a movie called Hall Pass. I can not believe that I heard some Christian friends say that they can not wait to see this movie. This movie is trash and we as godly men and women should not see it.

Long story short it is a movie about two guys that get "hall passes" from there wives. A hall pass is a week off of being married and gives them the OK to hook up with other women and do what they want.

When I think about this movie it truly makes me sick. This is what the bible would call adultery. God does not take that as a joke. As a Christ follower you should not want to support a movie like this. Do not let impure thoughts into your heart. Instead of seeing trash and wasting your money on this just take a second to sit back and think " what would I think if a pastor in my church would get a Hall Pass ". Would you think it is funny then. Would you go pat him on the back and say way to go? No you wouldn't so why turn to Hollywood and do the same thing.

This is a toxic influence and should be avoided in every way it can be.

2 Timothy 2:22 Flee (run away) from youthful lusts but pursue righteousness, faith, love with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.

COME TO SAVE US

Jesus came from heaven to us in a manger. This is not just a christmas story but it is the story of God restoring a broken relationship. May you ,today know Jesus Christ and know that he did not come to condom but to save.

It is more then a religious action.

So as I have been studying and reading 1 Corinthians 10 today I stopped at 14-22 and it has caused me to do some thinking.

Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry.I speak as to sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say.The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ?Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread.Consider the people of Israel: [fn] are not those who eat the sacrifices participants in the altar?What do I imply then? That food offered to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything?No, I imply that what pagans sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be participants with demons.You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons.Shall we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he?

Sadly in the church today most people come to the Lord's table a lot like the church in Corinth did. They come and take just because they have to. But the Lord's table is so much more than a religious act. But sadly most people do not get it.

I had a friend one time ask me why I take communion and at the time I really did not know and so he told me to go to the back of the line until I get it. Today I do not even think about coming to my Lord's table unless I have come in repentance an thankfulness. It is not just something you do in church but we should strive to come to the Lord's table humble and thankful and take it seriously because Christ does and so shall we.

The Prosperity Gospel is crap.

So I do not know about you but I am sick and tiered of churches in america preach a message like" you want a better car,job,etc well God will give it to so ask for it because you deserve it".

Ladies and gents we dont deserve anything but hell and wrath and God gives us mercy and grace and yet we have the guts to go to him and say thanks for the job that I have but I deserve a better one so give it to me. If you belive this crap you are fooling yourself. God wants you to be satisfied in him and him only not the junk of this world but Him. THe king of Kings, Lord of Lords. Our Saviour. NOT OUR STUFF BUT HIM.

Please if you believe in this prosperity gospel please fall to your knees and repent of the idolatry that you are in and run to cross of Christ and be made new.

More videos:

Video 1

Video 2

Thirsty People

As I preach I pray that people to become fans of me but I pray ,as I hope you do fellow pastor/elder,that the church will become fans and thirsty for the living water from God. Do not entertain your church with funny jokes but instead give them passion, the passion for more of God.

We all need to become like a deer, thirsty for more of the stream.

Short and sweet

So the other day I was looking at my twitter and saw a post from a youth pastor that said "didn't have time to finish my sermon tonight for youth so going to let the kids cut my hear instead". WOW really dude.

When I read this I got pretty upset. When I look at some of the old dead pastors that I read and some of the pastors today that I look up to they all put a high standard on preaching. They put writing there sermons up there before anything. Paul himself tells us to let the deacons worry about the other things so that you can put your time into teaching the truth rightly.

This is one of the things that I feel is wrong with youth ministry today. So many youth leaders just get by by playing games and feeding students pizza and not teaching God's word. I feel that if you do not have time to study God's word so that you can teach it then it is not effecting your own life so why should it effect others.

Well my rant is over now. You can go back to doing whatever you are doing.

Deal with it.

I was part of a church once where because of sin the church fell apart and is now at a slow death. One of the problems of what happened was that the elders just wanted to sweep the sin under the carpet instead of dealing with it. We do this all the time in our own life's as well. Lately I have heard and seen sin in myself and others like Idol worship, pride, greed and the list can go on and on.

We are called to go to the cross and deal with our sin. We are always going to be sinners but we are told to always stay close to God and repent and be humble. I was just reading today Romans 12:21 that tells us how to fight a good fight Paul writes " Do not be overcome by evil,but overcome evil with good". We feel at times that we are to weak to fight the sin that we deal with always but if you feel like that then you are not believing the words of Christ when he says in Matthew 28:18 that All Authority has been given to me. Christ live's in you so if He has the power then you have the power to fight and deal with your sin.

As I write this I want you to know that even though I am writing this I am not saying that I am perfect. Just as Paul says that all have fallen I have fallen but because of the cross we have hope and grace. Do not let sin run your life but put on Christ and do not fulfill the lusts of the flesh (Matthew6:1) but deal with it. Be strong my brothers and sisters.

War on Christmas? What a Joke

So I know even now as I write this that I am going to make people made but I want to let you know some of my thoughts on this "war on Christmas".

First Jesus Christ is the main purpose for Christ but people it is not the only holiday that is being celebrated. Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and many others. For us to say that this time of year is only about us (The birth of Christ) is I think kind of prideful. Jesus Christ was not born in December it was around the fall.

Now do not get me wrong here. I am not saying ," Let's coexist then". All I am saying is that can we stop this WAR ON CHRISTMAS crap and stop being prideful about Christmas and telling other people that they can not celebrate what they want to. Paul tells us to be all things to all people. So instead of yelling at people if they do not wish you a merry Christmas instead share Christ in your actions and words and be humble and ready to be used by God to reach out to the lost.

What a Day.

So today was such a cool day. Kim and I went to the doctors and heard baby Hampel's heart beat. WOW you wanna talk about being amazing by God just do that. I am really looking forward to the day that I get to hold my child in my arms. June 16th 2011 that should happen but until then all I can do is pray for my child and keep kissing it through Kim's belly. :) I like that part just don't tell her LOL.

There is one more thing that I am doing and wow it is so cool. This past February I went to the desiring God pastors retreat and they gave us a book with a bunch of blank pages in it and it says romans down the side. We are suppose to write out the book of romans for us to study but I am writing the whole book of Romans and one day give it to our first born. On days that I write and something happens, like today, I write at the top of the page the date and what happened. So I am really looking forward to leading my son or daughter to know the Lord Jesus Christ.

STOP

When was then last time you stopped and gave a great God praise. Right now take a few minutes and thank God for being such a wonderful God.

Why the ESV Bible?

I was reading a blog called why the ESV Bible and I really wanted to pass it to you. One of the main reasons that I trust the esv in my preaching and own studying is that I have found that I can trust the way it is written more then any other translation. It does not change the wording to make people happy. It does not change the wording to fit our lifes. But it helps us to understand the the bible is speaking to us. Check the blog and this video below.

ESV Trusted By Leaders from Crossway on Vimeo.