Should the Truth be Sacrificed for Feelings

So I was kind of excited last night. I got my new text books in for next semesters classes. I am taking another youth ministry class and I am excited to see what I will be learning this semester. So I open the box and this one book stands out to me, it’s called Almost Christian and it’s a book based off the results of the National Study of Youth and Religion. So of course I grab this book first and decide I am going to start reading early to prepare for my class. Well I made it all the way to page 15 before I decided it was time to put the book down and start putting my thoughts down on paper. So here we go.

I am going to throw out a very long and confusing name and then I am going to explain it a little. Christian Moralistic Therapeutic Deism. I mean look at that, it just looks like a big bunch of mumbo jumbo. Sometimes I find it hard to believe that there is someone that actually comes up with words like this, but that is for another day. What this long word actually is talking about is the following believe system that is currently being adopted by our younger generations.

1.     A god exists who created and orders the world and watches over life on earth.

2.     God wants people to be good, nice, and fair to each other, as taught in the Bible and other world religions.

3.     The central goal of life is to be happy and to feel good about oneself.

4.     God is not involved in my life except when I need God to resolve a problem.

5.     Good people go to heaven when they die.

Am I the only one who is bothered by this? I read about this and then notice that the author’s are not saying that the youth is to blame for this thought process rather that the congregations themselves are. So that begs me to ask; what exactly are we teaching our children/students today to where this kind of thought about God is even entertained.

What the authors or facilitators of the National Study of Youth and Religion are saying is that a noticeable trend has been to sacrifice and soften the truth of the Gospel in an effort to bring more students/children into the church. I ask you this if you are one who is willing to do this; are you still the church if you soften and/or sacrifice the truth of the Gospel for numbers?

A little while back my pastor presented a message on the salt of the earth. In his message he actually used props in order to present the message and it wasn’t until just now how much I realized that message applied to us. Human nature tells us we don’t enjoy pain and that the truth is indeed painful, therefore we should do everything we can to not present the truth to people so we don’t hurt their feelings. WHAT.

Have we actually gotten to the point nowadays were we are so desperate to tell people about Jesus that we compromise the message. I mean I look at it like this if we are softening or diluting the Gospel in an effort to reach the lost, aren’t we in fact helping them come closer to hell. Not to mention, by diluting the truth of the Gospel how are we glorifying our God? I mean there are just too many variables out there to play with in this realm and subject matter.

I for one will not compromise the truth of the Gospel when I am preaching or teaching to those who need to hear God’s Word. I am not afraid of the truth of the Gospel and what it represents. I will ensure that my students/children understand the truth of the Gospel because I love and respect them that much. I owe that to them. Don’t you?

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is God’s power for salvation to everyone who believes, first to the Jew, and also to the Greek. For in it God’s righteousness is revealed from faith to faith, just as it is written: The righteous will live by faith. (Romans 1:16-17)

 

Greg

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Fear

Fear is Natural

          To start of my week I have noticed that I am a little apprehensive, nervous, and fearful and I believe I know why. I think I know why I am apprehensive and nervous, I should be hearing from the school on whether or not my application was approved for seminary school. I mean when you want something this bad and its all you can think about, you will be nervous when waiting for the answer.

          What I have been thinking about is why I am scared. I know what fear is, see I have been scared plenty in my life. Through my tours in the military to Iraq I felt fear on an almost daily basis. There was an unwritten rule in Iraq, it was stupid and presumptuous to not have fear in your heart when going out on patrol in a war environment and it could get you killed. What I am unable to figure out is why I am scared about the decision from the school. I know that whatever the school says is meant to be because it is what God wants for me; so why am I scared of the decision?

          I have been thinking about this a lot today and I think I might have finally figured it out. I am not scared of being denied for the school, I think I am scared that I will be admitted by the school. Hear me out now, I think the fear is coming from being accepted and not being good enough. I mean to fail in something this big and not glorify God is a lot to take on. I know that I will put my best foot forward per say, but what if that is not enough? I know that doubts like this are normal and to be expected, but I still hate having them. I know what I have in my heart to do and what I can do; I know that He knows what I can do because He is with me always. I just can’t stop thinking about not pleasing Him and letting Him down. I will just have to put these thoughts to the back of my head and not worrying about this anymore. I have had this put on my heart and will fulfill His wishes 150%. Thank you for reading and God Bless.

G.E.D.D.

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Good Things

Great Things

          Well this weekend promises to be another great weekend to wrap up an awesome week. The only downfall to this week so far is the fact that I had to work the Graveyard shift for the rotation. The rewards from the week though will definitely pay for everything in the end though.

            As you have been reading so far, I have turned in my application for seminary school and I am just waiting on the answer. Although it is nerve wrecking, it is also exciting. My mother and my father’s birthday were this week which is awesome because that means another year they made it on this earth. My wife has been invited into the leadership of the church to take over the media (web based) side of the house, which we could not be happier about. So far I have not even gone through a half tank of gas on the new car which means that we are saving money as we had planned, the pool is clean which means the kids get to swim when they want, and my love for God and my family is stronger than ever.

            Now we come to the weekend and there are some just awesome things happening. Today we have our meeting for AWANA’s which kicks off this Sunday. My wife and I are so excited because we will be helping out with AWANA’s this year. It will be my first chance to influence not just my children but other children and help to educate and strengthen their relationships with God.

            Last but most definitely not least, I will get the opportunity to witness two more members of my family dedicate their life to God through baptism. That’s right folks, even though I am working all night I would not miss the chance to watch my beautiful wife and daughter get baptized on Sunday. I am so proud of not only Anna but Shannon as well, I dedicated not only myself to God but have also trusted Him with my family and let me tell you He is definitely guiding us and working in our lives. I have no idea why I waited so long to do this but I would not have it any other way. We as a family have never been as strong as we are now and that wouldn’t be possible without the LOVE of Christ in our lives. If you have not accepted Christ as your savior and asked forgiveness for your sins, I urge you to take a look at me, I have never been happier in my whole life. The LOVE of Christ is the best feeling in the world. It will change your life without a doubt. It has taught me to love those whom I hated and to LOVE those close to me even more. Just think about it. God Bless and thank you for reading.

G.E.D.D.

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Waiting

Waiting is Nerve Wrecking

            Well as the title says, waiting on an answer for something you want to do is extremely nerve wrecking. This week I completed the process of submitting my application for Seminary school through Moody Bible Institute, and now I am just waiting on the response from the school. Unlike most schools who will accept you just to get your money, this one actually has an approval process.

            The application alone was a little nerve wrecking because I was providing some fairly personal information to people I have never and will probably never meet. I had to answer questions not only about myself, but also about my wife and her previous marriage. For me that was a little weird, but I guess I understand why. When you make the decision to serve God in the way that I feel I am being led to serve, I have to stand for all mine and my family’s decisions. I am pretty sure though that my application portion was solid.

            Then of course is the transcript process of the application. This was a fairly easy process for me to complete. I am now just hoping that most of my classes that I have taken this far will transfer over to my new school, that would help to focus my studies in Word instead of core classes, which is what I am looking forward to.

            The last portion of the application and probably the one I am most worried about is the personal reference portion from my pastor. I am not worried because I think my pastor would say anything bad about me, but the process says that my pastor should know me for at least a year. Well there is no pastor that I have ever known for a year, but Pastor Greg is the only pastor that has truly had the chance to get to know me both personally and spiritually. I am hoping that my strength and dedication to my faith and my love for God will reflect and give strength to my application. Although my pastor did send me a message telling me that as long as the admissions team didn’t read his reference letter I should be good for the school. HAHAHA didn’t think I would throw that out there did you Greg. Nah I am just kidding, I have complete trust and faith in my pastor, and if he doesn’t think I am ready then I would respect that no matter what.

            So now comes the hardest part of the whole process, the waiting. I was told that once the school gets all the required documents I should have an answer within a week of yes or no on the admission. I am putting all my faith in the Lord to guide this answer and will respect whatever answer is given to me. You see I look at it this way, I feel that this is something that the Lord has put on my heart to pursue therefore the answer will be a yes. If this is something that I am being led to do for myself and not for God then the answer will be no. I will say this though, even if the answer is no, that does not mean I will give up. I will just study harder, pray harder, and seek more spiritual guidance until I fulfill this thing that has been put on my heart. For those who know me would all know that 6 months ago I would not have even thought about going into ministry. Thank you and God Bless.

G.E.D.D.

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Over Joy

Choosing the Right Path

            Ok so I had a wonderful weekend full of family time, swimming, and worship. One of the greatest things I believe that came out of this weekend is my son telling me he wants to know more about God and Christ.

            Our Sunday was our typical day of worship as we prepared for our day. There was only a few differences in this day. One of the differences was that all of our children, not just Gregory my oldest, was going to have to attend their first adult church service. Our church switched their age groups this week to help and reinforce our older children (2^nd Grade and up) in the Word of Christ. Another difference is that our assistant pastor Todd was conducting the service because our pastor was on a much deserved vacation with his beautiful family. The last major difference was that this Sunday was our day of rest, meaning we didn’t have our normal evening outreach projects so we could be ready for the kick off of AWANA next week.

            Well to start it off, the message from our service this week was straight forward, well delivered, and spoke directly to your heart. It was a cry for those who were not saved to come to terms and accept Jesus as their personal savior and ask forgiveness for your sins. I know most people will say, that is the typical goal of most services, but let me tell you from a personal standpoint that I think this did reach out and touch at least one person.

            My 9 year old son Gregory who we had believed to be attending church, not only because we make him, but also to see his friends and get free candy, I believe he has made the choice to follow the path of Christianity and take Church more seriously. What makes me think this you might ask? Well when we got home out of the blue he approached me while I was cleaning the pool and said “Dad I just prayed and asked for God to forgive me of my sins and help me be a better person.” To tell you the truth I had no idea what to say to this. Part of me was just overjoyed inside to think that my son wants to take the leap, the other part of me instantly wanted to question his motives. One thing I learned from the message this weekend was treating the guidance of God and direction that God wants us to go as a Bond and not an option. It might not always be the easy choice, but if we just treat it as something we have to do and not something we have a choice, in the end all will be ok. So I am going on faith that my son was pushed in this direction by the Lord and we are going to support it all the way.

            We will put Gregory in contact with our Church support and family to help him come to the decision that he is being pushed to make. I know how hard this easy decision is, I mean come on it took me almost 37 years to make it, I am just happy that it is not taking him that long. So to God, First Baptist Church Rosepine, Shannon (my wife), Pastor Greg, Brother Todd, Nicole, and all my other family at the Church I say thank you for helping my family. Most of all for my son Gregory I can tell you that this decision will be the most important and best decision of your life, you have a tough journey ahead of you but the support system in place will help you through it. Put your life in God’s hand and do everything in your life to Glorify Him and you will never be led astray. Thank you for reading and God Bless.

G.E.D.D.

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More Decisions

Decisions, Decisions, and More Decisions

          Well the time has come that my wife and I had to take a hard look at our life and decide what we could do to make it a little easier in our lives both spiritually and financially. You see if there is something that I have learned throughout my life and most recently my Journey is that these 2 things actually go hand in hand. Most couples in life that you see are financially straight and well off have a better overall spiritually strong relationship. I know that should not be the case, but in this day and age that is just the way it is. So we have decided to take a look at the things we have and start to downsize and determine the difference between what we want, and what we actually need. That transformation began yesterday with the purchase of a new car.

          I know you look at this and say; well if you are trying to downsize why would you buy a new car? Well I can answer that for you. First off my wife and I already had 2 cars. We were financing a 2009 Mini Van and a 2003 Suburban. We love both cars because of the size and fact that each one could carry our family as a whole when they are in town. What we had to look at is this really a necessity and if not what could we do to save a little bit of money. Well as far as if it was a necessity we realized it truly wasn’t. The van gets about 23 MPG and the Suburban gets roughly 16 if I am lucky. So ATM with the price of gas and the location of my work, I find myself spending about 100 dollars if not more a week to get back and forth to work in the Suburban, sure it would have been a little cheaper if I had driven the van, but not much and anyhow I like the cool guy car. What I truly needed to realize is that it is not always about being cool you know. It should always be about what is best for my family not my own personal pride. Of the two vehicles we have the van has the higher monthly payment and money owed, not to mention it only fits 7 and when my kids and all are here we need more space.

          So the first step in our downsizing was for me to go and trade the van in for a sedan that gets better gas mileage. So we prayed on this and yesterday I finally did it, and I believe we have made a good cost effective decision. So I went down to the dealership (which I hate to do) and started the process. I got pretty lucky, we knew going in we were upside down on the van but not by a lot. My wife had blue booked the van so we had a baseline of how much it was worth. Well the dealership gave me 18k for the van on trade in and started showing me some sedans. Our idea was to get a good used car but if you know me you already know what happened. Before I knew it they had a 2012 Nissan Altima in front of me, now I knew that the monthly payment on this was going to be right at or below what we pay on the van and that was my goal, not to go up in monthly payment but to save on gas. Well the Altima gets between 32 and 40 MPG so that was a plus. Then I got just about 3K in rebates off the vehicle and they dropped the sticker by a grand, so that just ate up my negative equity in the van so I believe the praying helped out. In addition we got our GAP insurance, 100,000 mile bumper to bumper warranty, and a year of free oil changes thrown in on the deal. So in the end, we are paying the same as we paid for the van a month, and if we have done our numbers correctly I should save about 300 dollars a month on gas alone with this purchase which will definitely help out.

          I credit all this success to God. My wife and I have put all of our decisions in God’s hand. We now pray about everything that we do and follow the guidance that is put in our heart by the Lord. He will always provide for us, that is something that we whole heartedly believe in. There is never going to be just a snap decision that we make again. We will continue to seek out His guidance and help and do everything that we do to glorify Him.

The Bible says “Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house, your sons like young olive trees around your table. In this very way, the man who fears the Lord will be blessed. May the Lord bless you from Zion, so that you will see the prosperity of Jerusalem all the days of your life and will see your children’s children!” Psalm 128:3-6

Even though this is our first step in downsizing I know it is one in the right direction. As long as we keep our faith in the Lord we can never be led astray. I love God, my family, and all my brothers and sisters. Thank you and God Bless.

G.E.D.D.

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The Decision

The Decision

            This is sort of a continuation from my last blog. It is mainly confirming the path that has been laid down in front of me. I had time to go home and talk to my wife and pray over the matter a little more. In addition I was able to attend another Bible study at my Church and talk to Pastor Greg. Everything I have talked about, prayed about, and have received answers for are all leading to the same answer. Go for it.

            I understand that the decision to change my schooling focus to Ministry is not one to be taken lightly. I also understand that it is not a career field that you go into for monetary glory or fame. My wife had asked me when I talked to her about this; do you know in your heart that when all is said and done, that this decision will be able to take care of the family not only spiritually but also financially? I can answer without a shadow of a doubt yes. I know in my heart that this decision is coming from a higher power, and as long as I am doing what the Lord is guiding me to do, then in the end all will be taken care of. As I learned last night going through our Bible study is that as long as I am pursuing LOVE everything else will fall into place. I might not understand that why at 37 years of age God has all of a sudden put this path in front of me, but it is my duty to follow that path even though I might not understand it. As long as I follow this path and put my faith in the Lord, nothing can go wrong.

            I already know that I am asking the world from my family. First off from my wife and children, I am asking them to support my decision in this journey. We will have tons of life changes in our household, all of which will help to strengthen our family as a whole. Secondly I am asking my parents, who did not raise me in a religious environment, to trust that I am doing the right thing and to believe in me. What is funny about parents is that no matter how old you get they always believe in you and will support you. Lastly I am asking my friends to trust and respect my decision to follow this path. In the end, if they don’t they are not the friends that I should have. I have recently reevaluated all of my relationships and have severed the ones that do not bring me closer to God. The friendships that I had that were destructive and not constructive are now out of my life. I only have a select few of my friends in the military that I still associate with, and those that I do are solid and reciprocate the love that I have for them. As far as my other friends, well that is simple, they are my Church family and as such are more than friends they are family, and I know they will support me.

            I know that this journey is going to test me all the way through, going to work full time and school full time simultaneously is not an easy feat. I know that I will be successful in this because it is what God wants me to do and God would not send me on a mission to fail. It is completely up to me to commit myself 150% to this endeavor and that is exactly what I will be doing. Please pray for me in this journey because I will be praying everyday about this. Thank you for taking the time to read and God bless.

G.E.D.D.

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Where Am I Headed

Something Is Calling

            Ok so for the last few weeks I have noticed that something is calling me to serve the Lord in a way that I never thought I would or could even fathom doing. When I attended my CONNECT class at Church we had gone over the GIFTS that we are all blessed with. For me the Gifts that jumped out at me immediately where Teaching and Knowledge. I had expressed this to my wife and basically we decided to take a step back and pray and see what might develop. Well I think that something spiritually is starting to finish that development and I will explain some of those things below.

            First off I have a passion for teaching. As a Non Commissioned Officer in the US Army it was one of my main duties to teach, mentor, and develop the young Soldiers under my control and in my Units. This is something that I thoroughly loved to do and one of the things that I miss the most about being retired. I don’t really have anyone to teach and mentor to anymore. I understand that teaching the Word is a completely different idea that teaching or training a Soldier, but it still is something that I definitely have a passion for. I have been working towards my degree in Homeland Security for a couple years now but the passion isn’t truly there for me to learn that subject so I kind of put my education on hold.

            Secondly, some changes to the MGIB have recently come to fruition finally that will allow me to attend school full time and still work full time. This is something that had never been a possibility before under the old GI Bills making it very hard for a Veteran to support a family while going to school full time. This change would allow for me to attend full time on-line courses and get paid a monthly housing allowance at a reduced rate, which would reduce some of the financial burden of attending school while working.

            Lastly my Love for Jesus and the Word are growing everyday and that thirst for knowledge (even though I know it will never be quenched in my lifetime) for the Word of God and Christ is something that is consuming me in a good way. I find myself wanting to know more every single day that I wake up. I always look forward to attend Church to see what we are going to talk about and learn about, I am volunteering to help with our young children’s worship, and I can’t wait for our AWANA club to kick off so I can be a part of that also.

            All in all, I feel something tugging at me to change my educational focus. To drop the school that I am currently enrolled in and change my major from Homeland Security to a Religious field. What I have been presented with yesterday and today alone has been guiding me to make this change. The one thing that I know that I am going to have to do is just dive in head first and at full speed. Not just take a class or two to see if I like it. This will take a 100 percent commitment which to be honest, is nothing less than it would deserve. I should be willing to give God 150% of myself which I am completely willing to do because I have this burning inside that won’t subside.

            So where does that leave me? I am currently waiting on a response from Moody online seminary school to let me know if they accept the GI Bill. If that is the case watch out world here I come. I will start my new journey into College as a student of God pursuing a B.S Degree in Ministry Leadership with a Focus in Preaching. This is not something that I hope comes to fruition; this is something I know will come to be. I know in my heart and soul that this is where I am being guided and I know it will only continue to strengthen my bond with God and Christ. Thank you for reading and God Bless.

G.E.D.D

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S.O.U.L

Summer Of Ultimate Love (S.O.U.L)

            Well this subject is near and dear to my heart this year. I learned this acronym through my Church as a program where we take our children into the community and perform work projects to help out those in the community who cannot help themselves. This program is dedicated to showing our children that it is Godly and awesome to serve people in the community without hope of reward or recognition. Let me tell you something, it does have a reward that you would not imagine; pride, confidence, since of selfless service, joy, and overall love for your community. I mean for real, on my first experience with my outdoor team, I was able to take my 3 boys in 97 degree weather over to a complete strangers house and tell them we are going to help mow this gentleman’s yard who had been in an accident that laid him up in a wheelchair and unable to upkeep his land. Now my children don’t even want to mow my yard, which is in total under a half acre, without giving me issues. But to my surprise my children were out there moving sticks, raking leaves, and helping where ever they could, and enjoying every minute of it. This program is priceless, I mean come on now, teaching your children to just love the community that they live in through hard work and dedication, PRICELESS.

            Now lets take a look at the other meaning of S.O.U.L that presented itself to me this summer. Every year my wife and I get a chance to have our 3 children who don’t live with us full time to come and visit. This is something that we both look forward to and dread a little each year. The dread side of the house comes from the financial side of the house, which is to be expected when you have 6 kids in the house who eat like small horses. But having them here totally outweighs the financial burden put on the family.

            My summer started actually back in April right after my lap band surgery. I had finally received the call that I could come to work finally, something I had been waiting on for 6 months. It then was followed by the good news that we actually qualified for the first time home buyers tax credit that we had been previously told we hadn’t qualified for. This meant that we could now purchase a quality above ground pool in preparation for the kids arrival in the summer, which in the end meant cheap entertainment for all the children. Then came June. Oh June. So many things happened in this month that was nothing short of a miracle that I can’t even count. First off to start the month, I had another issue with a bowel blockage that led to me being hospitalized for 5 days. The day after I got out of the hospital my wife had me going to an adult bible study group that I was a little apprehensive about attending. Then on the day that all of my children flew into Houston, I accepted Christ as my savior and was saved. This was all in the same week, for me miracle number one.

            So now all my children are here and we are having a great time. We are all going to Church, for my oldest child it was not an option I made him go, and you know what, I am glad that I did. In a little under a month, my son Colby, who did not happen to have the chances to attend and awesome Church like the one that we do here, came home and told me that he had accepted Christ as his savior and had found his salvation. So during the week before he left to go home to California we had him attend the Churches connect class with Shannon and me, and on the Sunday before he went home, both he and I got baptized together with his brothers and sisters watching. Miracle number 2.

            The first week of July the kids connect class began on Wednesday nights at our Church. This was an opportunity to get my youngest 2 children into the class and start learning about Christ and their relationships with Him. By the end of the second week of the 4 week class, I was presented with my most precious miracle yet; my 7 year old daughter had accepted Christ as her savior and found her salvation. I mean come on now. If you have never had the opportunity to see a 7 year old accept Christ as their savior you are missing out. I mean Anna came up to me and said “Daddy, the most wonderful thing happened to me today. I prayed to God and asked him to forgive me for my sins and let and to let me be a Christian. And you know what, He said yes.” With a huge smile on her face the whole time. Miracle number 3.

            Now unfortunately for my family this Summer is coming to a close. My oldest flew out 2 weeks ago back to California and today my other 2 step children will be flying home to be with their dad. This will mean that we will have some damage control coming up with our youngest daughter. She has been attached to her older sisters hip since she arrived, and every year when she leaves Anna is torn up for weeks about it. But there is nothing to worry about because she now has someone else she can talk to and look to for comfort. God and Jesus Christ. I fully believe that this will help not only her, but my wife and I through this tough time in her life. The one thing I can definitely say is that after this year, my wife and I are definitely looking forward to OUR Summer of Ultimate Love 2012. Thank you and God Bless.

G.E.D.D

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