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Spread God’s Love, Not Fear

   This is really a very unique and strange time we are living in. We no longer can tell what facts are true and which are made up. It would seem as though the media and certain members of the government would prefer we continue to live in fear. Unfortunately, there are also many people spreading fear in the name of God instead of peace, reassurance, and the saving grace of God’s love.

   Telling people that they are living in sin is not the problem. It is the nature of God to be truthful, and honest about sin. If you read the passages where Jesus had interacted with people you will see that Jesus did acknowledge their sin. He did not say that the sin was acceptable, but He forgave them for their sins if the individual was truly repentant for what they did. The best example of this behavior is found in the story of the woman at the well. Jesus asked the woman for a drink, which was already a big deal because Jewish men would not typically talk to someone like this woman. It was socially unacceptable. Then he began to talk to her about living water, the saving grace God extends to all of us as a free gift. The woman, whom I assume felt unworthy or convicted, told Jesus the truth about her life. Jesus acknowledged that the woman was speaking the truth and still offered her salvation, by forgiving her sin. The woman then went back to her village and spoke of what Jesus has done. I know I paraphrased the entire encounter, but what we are looking at is Jesus showing us the effective way of sharing God’s love, and leading people to salvation. I want to make it clear, we are not God and are not able to forgive sins or save anyone in our own accord, but we can lead them to Christ and therefore towards salvation.

    So what is the problem? The problem is that now there has been an aggressive increase in using people’s fear to guilt them into making an emotion driven pledge toward God. People are claiming that the rapture will be happening as soon as within the next 4 years and that the mark of the beast is here. The Bible talks of certain events that will happen leading up to the end of the world and it can be argued that those events have begun, but it does not say to use the events to scare people into making panic driven decisions. You see, fear is a tool of the devil and God will not use the devil’s tool to force someone into a relationship with Him. I am not saying that people will not turn to God because something caused fear. I am saying they will turn to God due to fear and find a relief of their fears in God. Salvation is a relationship, and no relationship can be healthy if one person in the relationship is fearful of the other. God will extend His loving mercy to people who come to Him, accept the fact that they have sin, confess the sin, and then accept God’s loving mercy the removes all sin.

    Some might be reading this and think, the Bible says we should fear the Lord, isn’t that a contradictory statement to what is being said here. The answer is no. The fear of the Lord is the same as living an oppressed life of fear. The fear of the Lord is a reverence of the Lord’s power. It is understanding and acknowledging that God can send your soul to Hell for ignoring Him and not accepting His salvation all the way to death’s door. It is also an understanding that God is in control of everything, and everything is temporary in this life.

    Fear becomes a poor tool in sharing God’s love because people make terrible decisions when they are full of fear. Fight or flight kicks in and people lose the ability to make an informed choice and the ability to see all the options in front of them. If I tell someone the world will end tomorrow and that if they do not know God they will be burning in Hell fire for all eternity, they will most likely ask how to be saved and pray the sinners prayer out of self preservation. There is no real relationship with God being formed in the moment, just a reaction to a frightening situation.  A second problem with this scenario is that my prediction will not come to pass and the world will most likely continue past the next day, So, I lied and the credibility of God’s character is tarnished in the eyes of this person because of my decision to scare them to to Christ. It is more than that. Now this person is turned off to God and tells their friends and relatives what happened. Look how many people I have now pushed away from God by using a fear tactic to share God’s love. Just look at that sentence and think about it. Use fear to share love? That doesn’t make any sense at all.

    Now what should I do? Well I can tell people about how much God loves us. I know it seems over stated, but it is such a profound truth that we need allow this verse to become a part of our being. John 3:16 says “For God so loved the world that he gave His only begotten son so that any who believe in Him shall not parish but will have everlasting life.” That is real love. God sacrificed His only son to save all of us. I can share about Jesus, and how he consistently showed compassion to people that others had tossed aside. I can share what God has done in my life and how I can look forward to living in heaven for eternity. We cannot excuse the sin, but we can share God’s love in spite of the sin by looking past the sin into the eyes of the individual and telling them that God values them more than His own son and that there is far better for them than the sin they are drowning in. We also have to stay consistent with this message. We cannot say God loves you one day, and then say God hates you the next. We need to remember that God loves people. He wants everyone to choose Him and to spend eternity with Him. Sin is what God hates and unfortunately sin is what many people choose in the end. We must remember that we all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, but there is forgiveness of sins. If we confess our sins He is faithful and just and will forgive us of all unrighteousness.

    The world will end at some point. The Bible says that no man will know the hour, only God will know. It also tells us that we should be busy doing the work God has given us and to not fixate on waiting for His return. People are scared because they put their faith in temporal things like money, careers, and politics. We need to be the witnesses designed for such as time as this and show them that putting faith in God will ease the fear and make way for faith to become the “new normal”.

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Blessed

   Times like this can put things into perspective. You will find yourself missing things more than you should. Also, you may be surprised to enjoy being home and with family more than you thought you would. It’s all about perception, and the values you hold close to your heart. There are lessons to learn now that have been forgotten to a memory of a “simpler time” and an opportunity to truly exercise your faith. If you are in Christ, you are blessed.

   The way we lived has been killing us long before the corona virus. We thrive on stressful work schedules, earning money, and perusing what we believed to be a meaningful life. Our families, health, and even our faith in God was put on at a lower priority because we had adopted this idea of self sufficient suicide. How can you have healthy relationships if the primary relationships in your life, family, is a train wreck? How can you push yourself physically if your body is giving out because of poor food choices, lack of rest, and lack luster sanitary habits? How can you really hear God’s call and direction in your life if you have allowed your soul to become frail due to lack of real quality time with time God? The answer to all of these questions is simple.. you can’t. 

    Having to live in this “new normal” has opened doors to healthy holistic Christian living. You have time to read the Bible now, time to make your own food, and time to reconnect with your family. The Bible says the things the devil meant for evil, God will use for good. I am not saying it is good that the corona virus is around. I am saying that there is a very large opening for amazing things to happen in our lives if we really refocus and re-prioritize our ways of thinking. 

   Personally, this has been an interesting time for me. I have been struggling with a very simple thing. God has been pouring out His blessing on me and my family and I feel so unworthy of it. In general, I have always had a harder time with accepting positive things in my life. One of the hardest things for me is actually how I feel about my career. I was so dead set on being a performer or some sort of Christian artist, that my vision of what that could be was extremely narrow. I didn’t make room for the idea of teaching, writing children’s music, composing, arranging, or anything else I do on regular basis. I know, and have known for a very long time, that I have a calling on my life and it has to do with music. In the past I have attempted many avenues including being a singer, being a worship leader, and having a band. All of these things were nice, and I am capable of all of them, but none of them were “right”. If you have found your calling in God and are walking your call, than you know what I mean by “right”. I wasn’t fulfilled, and it was effecting everything. My relationships were imploding, my finances were a complete wreck, and even though I was singing about God I was not as connected with God as I should be, I had to re-evaluate my perspective. So as I prayed and worked on my relationship with God I have learned of gifts and abilities that I have that are unique to me. Things I can do, but other people can’t do because they are the tools necessary for my call. I teach music lessons full time, and have developed a music programs for children that has been an amazing blessing. I am more a performer now than I ever was, writing songs constantly, and coming up with new ideas constantly. I have arranged and composed music and have eve written a few worship songs that I may not have written if I kept pushing the wrong direction. Obviously this all happened before the corona virus, but right now I am seeing the blessing of provision from God in its full bloom. We have what we need and we are able to live in peace during this time.

    My point is simply this, God wants to bless us. He is our Heavenly Father. The problem we as a people have with blessings is that we do not put ourselves in position for God to bless us. I am saying that if we choose to try to live our own way and cut God out of the equation, than we forfeit any blessing in our lives because we have chosen to “do it ourselves”. We are causing our own problems by practicing our independence instead of listening to God’s instructions. The Bible talks about stewardship, and I have come to understand that blessings require a certain amount of stewardship; For example, God will not bless some one with a leadership position if that person is making bad decisions in their personal life. The individual is being a bad steward, or is not taking care of, the relationships and their own behavior when no one is watching and in the end will hurt people by leading them the wrong direction.

    We can repair our relationship with God, find our calling, and align ourselves with God’s will. The first thing we have to do is truly repent. I am not saying you are not “saved” but I am saying you may have tuned God out. Ask God to reveal and lead you to what He has for you to do. I am going to tell you that there will be a temptation to compare what your calling is to someone else, and I advise you all not to. We are made for God, not to compete with one another, but to work together to share God’s love and live in unity. Once God has started to reveal your calling, follow His leading. It may not make sense at first. You may even begin to feel insignificant. Take my example, I have talent so I should be on a stage with my name in lights wowing that audience... destroying my life and earning a one way ticket out of salvation. Your calling, no matter what it is, will take you places you never had on your radar. You will do things, see things, and find joy in things that you didn’t realize you you needed in your life. As you walk in God’s calling, doors will open and God’s provision will be a comfort to you. You see blessing is not one thing. Blessings are the things that God provides us to not only feel His love but to extend His love to everyone we come into contact to.

    As things begin to get better, challenge yourself. Do not go back to “normal” and walk apart from God continuing the mistakes of the past. Take this time of shelter, family, and faith and grow in God. Allow Him to bless you and bless others through you. Adopt a “new normal” and show the world who God is through your priorities and behaviors. A final piece of advice from an ordinary guy of no real significance; the priorities required to find joy are as follows: Jesus Others Yourself. Be blessed and have a good day.

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The Two Pandemics

   The world has become a difficult place to live in. A pandemic has spread across the globe and has caused life as we know it to come to a halt for the time being. People are working tirelessly to find the cure, a way to make it better. We are barraged with updates like sports scores all over the internet; 1,000 confirmed cases, 18 dead, 20 recovered. The physical pandemic’s effects are very clear and very present, but there is a second pandemic. One we seem to be ignoring.

   The second pandemic is massive, all encompassing, and global. It has caused so much havoc and destruction and will continue to do so until we challenge it and conquer it. It is not a virus, or a bacteria, rather it is a powerful idea. Fear. Mind altering, decision distorting, and anxiety inducing fear.

   You don’t believe me? Look for yourselves. What causes people to panic buy things like toilet paper, and hand sanitizer? Fear. What is causing people to say nasty and judgemental things about each other as they pass six feet away from each other? Fear. What is causing undo stress in family units? Fear. Lastly, what is causing people to loose sleep and cause people to feel physically under duress even if they are well? Fear.

   This is fear is coming from the reinforcement of the negative statistics found in the news and on social media. We read about the number of cases, the number of deaths, and even the way in which corona virus can kill you, but we skip over the number of recovered patients. We skip over the benefits staying at home has had on nature. We miss the opportunities to really get to know our family units.

   This fear is also spawned by putting our faith in the wrong things. Putting trust in our jobs and money will crush you if you are not able to go to work. Putting faith in politicians to solve the problem will crush you because men are fallible, and just as afraid as you are. Putting faith in masks and gloves will crush you because prevention only works if you follow proper sanitation and do not guarantee your safety.

    What can we do to combat an emotion being fueled by a real physical pandemic? The answer is faith. Faith in God will bring hope into your heart. He is and was, and always will be, and He will shape your perspective to see things in the positive light. If you have faith in God you wont focus so intensely on  money, jobs, politics, or the media in general. You will learn to be grateful for your family and for another day to be alive. Also, if you truly do put your faith in God, you will stop the spread of fear and will start to spread the antidote, hope.

   God hasn’t given us a spirit of fear, but of love, power, and a sound mind. Seek God first and His righteousness and everything will be added to you. God’s promises renew each morning. God has to come to give us life, and life abundantly. Nothing can separate us from His love. By His stripes we are healed.In this life we will have trouble, but fear not for Jesus has conquered this world.

   We have a responsibility to end the ignored pandemic of fear. Trust in God and spread positive news, and God’s love. Praying for the end of the physical pandemic will dismantle the mental pandemic of fear. Be a light in the dark, have faith, press on, and above all else love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.