Spikenard, Alphabetizing, & Other Reasonable Services

    All or most of you who will read this know that I am a born again, Bible-believing Christian.  As such, I believe that there are 3 main goals for me in this life, and for all other Believers, which are:

1. Follow Christ, getting to know Him and become more like Him.  Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. (Luke 9:23)

2. Evangelize, witnessing and preaching the gospel.  And He [Jesus] said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. (Mark 16:15)

3. Edify the body of Christ through things such as teaching, and/or exhortation, preaching, rebuking, and encouraging.  And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, (Ephesians 4:11-12)

All of these have something in common: they involve doing, and more than that, they involve serving.

The Peace We Have (And Don't Have) In Jesus

    Growing up in the church, I heard a lot about peace: peace like a river, peace on earth, peace that passes understanding, etc.  So as I was reading and studying the gospel of Matthew, a certain verse struck me funny.  

[Jesus said,] "Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword.  (Matthew 10:34)

My Doubting Heart

O God, I know that You're there.

That's why I am praying this prayer.

Every day, I see the sun rise.

Every day, You keep me alive.

I know these things could never be

Unless it was You giving life to me.

An Absence Of Hate, And A Presence Of Love

    Anyone who's ever been in a church setting for very long has heard the phrase "Love your neighbor."  And that's because loving your neighbor is a really, really big deal. Jesus called it the second most important commandment ever.  And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”   (Mark 12:31)

Comfort Vs. Condemnation

    It has become apparent to me that, through many years, two elements of Christianity have become the forefront of what we believe: comfort and condemnation.  They are probably equally important, and they both apply to life consistently.  The tragic happening that I have observed is that, in the church, these two seem to have gone their separate ways.