Humility

{For Nina}

A mighty woman of God and friend went to be with Jesus today.  She is not dead, only gone.  She did not loose her battle with cancer...she overcame with everlasting life.  She wears the crown of victory today! She was an awesome example of how we should live each day in worship to the Lord.  She not only spoke the words, she lived them.  She was someone that lived in the Spirit and shared the friut.  Well done good and faithful servant.  Well done Kendrick family.  May God be glorified.  Peace and Grace be with you. 

What Does Your Fruit Look Like?

"If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit." Galatians 5:25

LOVE...benevolence, affection, charity

JOY...gladness, rejoice, happy

PEACE...harmony & security

LONG-SUFFERING...patience, endurance, steadfastness

GENTLENESS...integrity & benignity

GOODNESS...uprightness of heart & life

FAITH...conviction of truth, fidelity, trust

MEEKNESS...mildness & humility

TEMPERANCE...self-control & moderation

These are the fruit of the Spirit {Galatians 5:22-23} in the King James with definitions from the Greek. These are the things that the Spirit enables us to be if we walk with him on a day to day basis. If we try to be theses things on our own we will eventually fail or give up. We must ask for the Spirit to enable us. We are given the seeds of these fruit and we must water them in the Spirit to make them grow and bear even more fruit. With an abundance of fruit, not only do you have enough for yourself, you have enough to give away.

Running On Empty

Been thinking a little more on what drives us to seek pleasure. As I said before pleasure in and of itself is not wrong unless it is outside the principles and truth of God. Otherwise God is a God of pleasure. He meant for our lives here on this planet to be enjoyable. So why is it that so many people are unhappy? A Christian would say "Well it is because you don't have the Lord in your life." But when I look around I seem to see just as many Christians "Holding out for heaven. " and completely miserable. Is this our testimony? Is this the joy and contentment of a life in Christ?

One of the most difficult things I have found raising my 6 and 3 year old is teaching them how to be content. In this day and age with the constant barrage of consumerism it has proven to be challenge. Not only that but also the non stop stimulation. Television, computers, cell phones, portable DVD players in the car, video games, portable video games, ballet practice, girl scouts, PTA meetings, field trips, potlucks, karate practice, swim team, gymnastics...aaahhh!!! It's no wonder that kids don't know how to sit still anymore! Or just sit and play with blocks or something simple.

Father Knows Best

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Are You Happy?

Instant Gradification Gradifies Only for an Instant

Building on what we discussed in the last couple of posts about desire and lust. How do we know the difference between righteous desire and violent desire{lust, coveting}? I think we first need to define the difference between desire and need. Need is something that is a necessity or requirement. What is it that man absolutely needs for survival? We often hear of hikers lost in the woods or mountain climbers losing their way in a blizzard. So if you were one of these people what would you do? Find food, water and shelter; right? Really with those three things man can last for quite some time. On the other hand desire is a wishing or longing for something beyond necessity. These are the things that we often define as pleasures. Pleasures are things that we don't need to survive but are also things that can enhance or make life more rich.

You Are Worth More Than You Think {my photography}

Some of my photography...

More photography...click the "my photography" label below.

Lust in Action

Who Told You You Were Naked?

What was one of the things that the devil gained from Adam and Eve in the garden? Why was it that the devil had to mess with Adam and Eve? Think of your quintessential action movie for a moment.

Good guy has something that the bad guy wants.
Bad guy can't get to the good guy to get it.
But bad guy can get to the good guy's kid.
Bad guy takes good guy's kid hostage for ransom.
Bad guy slanders good guy to the kid.
Good guy's kid begins to question whether his dad is a good guy.
Kid thinks if his dad is in fact bad, he must be bad too.
Good guy saves his kid from bad guy.
Bad guy doesn't get the ransom.
But bad guy still wins. Why?
Because for the rest of the kids life he wonders if what the bad guy said was true.
The good guys relationship with his son has been destroyed.

The Emperor's {and Queen's} New Clothes

Many, many years ago there was a king and queen who were exceedingly rich and wise. They lived in the most beautiful kingdom of Edemshire. They had everything they could ever want and were totally content.

One particular thing the king and queen of Edemshire were known for were their glorious clothes. People from all over the kingdom would come to banquets and parties just to see what the master tailor had created for them. Their style set the stage for the kingdom. Everyone wanted to dress as gloriously as they did.

One day a swindler came to the kingdom posing as a tailor. Upon entering Edemshire he demand that the guard at the gate take him to see the king and queen. He told the guard that his name was Planos. He went on to say that he was a master tailor from a far off kingdom and that he had been summoned by the king and queen. The guard obliged. He thought the new tailor must have been summoned for the upcoming Jubilee.

Planos was taken directly to the king and queen. They were both very excited to meet this new tailor. Planos declared to them that he could make clothes even more magnificent then they had ever seen. Not only would the colors and patterns be splendid, but the clothes would have a special power. Planos the swindler tailor went on to explain that the clothes that he would make would be invisible to anyone that was stupid or unwise. The king and queen had never heard of anything like it. They were sold! Their curiosity got the better of them. So the king and queen gave Planos a large some of gold to get started on the new invisible clothes.

Longing For The Spirit

Heart and Flesh Cry Out

Total Recall of Sinful Nature

As I was browsing the web on the question of mans sinful nature I was delighted to find one particular post. It was from "Better Bibles Blog" regarding the gross mistranslation of the Greek word sarx. The Greek word sarx should be translated as flesh and is in most bibles. In the ever popular NIV ,TNIV and NLT however there has been a long dispute among bible scholars of their mistranslation of the word. NIV, TNIV and NLT translate the Greek word sarx as sinful nature in certain verses and body or flesh in other verses. All the while it is the same Greek word sarx. Not only is this a mistranslation it is doctrinally misleading and wrong. But there may be hope in the matter. The NIV is coming out with a new version of the NIV next year. The word on the street is that the term sinful nature will be removed and replaced with the word flesh. To read more on this click here.

Now why is this such a big deal? Because the verses take on a whole new meaning when they are translated correctly.

Get Up And Walk!

Building off the last few posts I think it is safe to say that man does not have a "sinful nature". Man is not intrinsically evil. Man was created in the image of God for good purpose. The notion that God created someone in His image to be evil means that God is evil. God is not evil, He is good. Man has chosen against his Creator to sin. It is the devil that is evil and desires to destroy us. We sometimes get talked into that destruction via the devil's deception and our choice to sin.