In a conversation today at a fast-food restaurant, a 28 year old man told me that he doesn’t do church anymore. He went on to say that he still “believes in God, reads his Bible and prays.” He asked that I understand where hes coming from. I do.

I asked him why.

He then went on to tell me that when he was 13 (that would be 15 years ago) something happened at his church, and he has wanted nothing to do with church ever since.

For everyone reading this who is part of a church, please hear how serious it is that we “walk in a manner worthy of our calling.” Some people never go back to church 15 years later because of the sins we do. We must have others in mind before we make mistakes. The Bible speaks of the danger of being the reason that many people do not believe.

For everyone reading this who is the situation of that man I met today at the restaurant, Please re-consider your position on church. As a heart surgeon told me this weekend, not all churches are true churches. Please don’t allow one bad apple to spoil the whole bunch. I have been to a few Taco Bells that were so trashy and run down that left me vowing to never return to that particular Taco Bell. But that very store could never keep me from eating and loving those steak grilled stuffed burritos.
You see, Church is important to us only because Jesus is important to us. We love the church because we love Jesus. If we take Jesus out of it, then the church has NO significance at all.

Therefore if you’re like this sincere man i met, could it be that this church making a huge mistake and sinning it an awful way only allowed you to have what you consider to be a good excuse for why you are not involved in a church.  See, a bad Taco Bell is a shame but it will not cause me to stop eating at other Taco Bells because they are so good.
Well, so much more meaningful is life and death, heaven and hell, Jesus or no Jesus. Please do not throw Jesus out because of a bad church.

Finally, It is really hard to read the New Testament and picture a true Christian who is not a part of a church. Its just not there. If you follow Jesus, you are the church. So unite with one of His local churches and help us live in a way that represents Him well.
And do not live in such a way that people can say 15 years down the road- that is why I don’t go to church.

Today is Valeria’s birthday.
God has given me such a great, humble, encouraging, loving, and believing wife. I am truly undeserving of her. The boys and I have been trying to serve her kindly all day- since the other 364 days of the year she does that for us.

In honor of Valeria and her birthday, I am posting a devotional she has recently written from Psalm 60. Be Blessed!
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Psalm 60:1-5
“Save with Your right hand, and answer me, so that those You love may be rescued.” (Psalm 60:5)

 Psalm 60 is an earnest prayer made by David in the time of much calamity.  The first verses of the Psalm depict a people who feel rejected, suffer hardship and are living with the anger of God towards them.  Oh, how many times have we felt just that?  Through difficulties in this life, we often feel that God has cast us off.  Yet the mindset of David, even in his time of trouble, deserves our imitation.  He did not fail to see the hand of God.  It was God who made his people suffer hardship (v.3).  The beautiful thing about this is that God’s hand is upon the believer’s life all the time.  Just as David recognized God’s hand during the difficulty, he quickly recognizes that God has also given hope.  God has provided a signal flag- a banner- under which His people can find refuge and rally up to strive against opposition.  There is hope for the people of God.  The phrase David uses to refer to himself and the people of God in verse 5 is striking—“those You love.”  Even after clearly indicating God’s rejection and displeasure towards His people, David is confident of God’s love towards them.  His plea is desperate, yet with hope and standing firm on the fact that God’s love for His people is always there.

 Holy God, You are a mighty God, reigning over my life.  I know that all the days of my life are in Your hands.  Help me to have hope and be assured of your love no matter what comes my way.  Amen
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I had an interesting encounter with a lady this week. Let me tell you what happened.

There is a passage in Matthew 12, where Jesus is confronted by the Pharisees because Jesus’ followers were performing deeds on the Sabbath. Jesus answers their tattle-tale byasking them if they had not read a few places in the Bible where something similar had already occurred. One of those occurences in Matthew 12:5 is when the priests are in the temple. Jesus then proclaims to the Pharisees “I tell you something greater than the temple is here.”  Jesus’ point is that we dont love and worship and serve the Sabbath, we love and worship and serve Him the Lord of the Sabbath.

Well, this week I had a peculiar opportunity to say something similar to Jesus’ words. My words were “something greater is here.” 

I was at one of the local hospitals to pick up a church member who needed a ride home. A dear brother and I were standing in the lobby talking while we waited for the nurses to bring the person down to us. While we stood there, a sweet little lady was set up at a table selling goodies. It was kind of like a bake sale. She had all kinds of snicker-doodles and peanut brittle and valentines candy.
Well, then she looked over to me and my friend and asked an odd question. She said, “young men, are either one of you Boy Scouts?” 
I responded, “No ma’am, sorry, we are not.”
She then replied, “Oh! well, I need someone to move this here chair for me.”

Then came my opportunity. I quickly said “Ma’am, we are not boy scouts but we are something greater. We are Christians… real Christians. And I would be glad to move that for you.” And I gladly went and moved that chair for her.

No offense to the Boy Scouts of America. But they should never be able to out work, out serve, or out love the church of the Lord Jesus Christ.
If that lady or anyone else in the world is looking for a nice, humble, serving, do-the-right-thing kind of guy, please do not go first to the BSA, instead look to Jesus and then look close behind Him. Because right behind Jesus is where all of His followers should be – ready, willing and chompin’ at the bit  to show the world the affect He has had on us.

If you follow Jesus, please do not let anyone who knows you think more highly of a Boy Scout than they do of you.

Jesus is God. This means that He is eternal. He has always existed. There is not a beginning to Jesus. He has always been. This also means that He is creator too. Jesus created all things. Jesus is God.

Here are a few verses that you may have already known that teach us these truths.

John 1:1-2, 14
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.” “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

There are several places in the Bible that teach that Jesus is God, eternal, and creator. Here is another one that I read today.

John 17:5 when Jesus is praying right before He is betrayed and arrested.
“And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.”

Jesus praying to the Father and referring to the glory that He and the Father had together before the world existed.

Wow! Thank God for His Word. It is so important that we take God’s Word seriously. Knowing and Believing that Jesus is God; that Jesus is eternal; and that Jesus is creator; is so foundational and critical to our strength in living for Him by faith.

1 Samuel 2:12
“Now the sons of Eli were worthless men. They did not know the LORD.”

Romans 3:10-12
“None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks after God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.”

Philippians 3:8
“Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.”

Take some time to think upon these three verses from the Bible. Think about the words worth and worthless. Are your priorities in order? Is Christ your goal, focus, and heartbeat?

Let this jingle ring in your ears
“Only one life, will soon be past; only what’s done for Christ will last.”

Click on this link to see stunning pictures of Haiti three weeks after the earthquake.

This Sunday we will take up a special offering for Haiti.

Father God, Please give us hearts for these people and then the strength to do something about it.

Eli, my 9 month old son, began crawling today. You can click this link to see the video.

http://joshjr.blogspot.com/2010/02/we-have-crawling-baby.html

My oldest, JJ, never crawled, so I never thought much about crawling.  But today when Eli took off, I was reminded of that good ol’ sound foundational advice that says ‘you gotta learn to crawl before you learn to walk’. 

Following Jesus is so much like that.  As a pastor and leader in our church, I never want to lead people into thinking that beginning to follow Jesus is like taking off and running like a skilled athlete. Its not. At times, it is hard and sad and lonely and trying and discouraging. Jesus is there with you in those times. And it is unquestionably worth it. 
Following Jesus at times is like crawling, more than it is like walking. Especially early in the life of the believer. 

So if you are new to following Christ, or if you are just at one of those tough times, take heart and be strengthened because ‘you gotta learn to crawl before you can learn to walk.’  By God’s grace you will soon be walking. Hope fully and completely in God, He is teaching you to walk.