Faith is like a golf swing

Last week, I played my first round on the par three for the year. It was ugly, challenging and golf.

The first time I picked up a club, I thought the goal was to clobber the golf ball. I figured the harder I hit the thing, the straighter and further it would go, but this is far from the truth.

My stepdad, is always encouraging, critiquing and guiding my golf swing. If it was not for my stepdad, I probably would not spend any time golfing at all. Anyways, he reminded me that clobbering the ball actually is not the goal. He said "focus on the swing and let the swing take care of the ball." This is amazing advice.

Another golf challenge is of self-thought and reflection. In order to focus on your golf swing there is a need to think. It is important to remember what a good swing looks and feels like. It is good to practice a good swing. How is my stance? How is my posture? How is my grip? Are my wrists bent? Can I keep my elbows straight? Will my back swing be slow and deliberate? Will my head stay straight? Will my forearm motion be smooth? It certainly is not about merely smashing the ball hard.

On the other hand, it is also easy to over think it. While I am standing in front of the ball, thinking about my swing, I need to actually hit the ball. Thinking about it will not do any good without the action. Also while I am contemplating all the details of my swing, my body gets more tense and tight.   The more uptight my body becomes, the less successful my swing actually is.

The faith life of a Christian is not unlike the golf swing:

My heavenly Father is always encouraging, critiquing and guiding my faith. If it was not for the Heavenly Father and His grace, I could not have such faith. The Father is always reminding me "have faith and in faith trust me to take care of everything thing else (Mt. 6:33)." This is amazing advice!

There is a need to think about our personal faith life. There is a need for personal reflection and outward strategy for faith in the church. We should think about our actions beforehand and do some planning. We should also do some praying and preparing (with God's Word). Are we sinning? Are we living righteous? Are we surrendering to God?

On the other hand, we can easily over think and over plan. While we are sitting in our churches (or in our reading rooms) over thinking, we can become too comfortable. We can think about and talk about our faith all we want to be there also needs to be action (James 2:17).

So let us make deliberate good moves in our faith life, let us pray, worship and study His Word together, but let us also go out and in action in the real word and get on par about our faith by sharing the love of Christ.

The Pleasures and Challenges of Substitute teaching so far

So this school year I have been a substitute teacher in all of the Fairfield County Schools (FYI, Lancaster City is not a County school). So I have been to Amanda Clearcreek, Fairfield Union, Pickerington schools, Bloom Carol Walnut Township and Liberty Union Schools. (Berne Union is also a Fairfiled County school, but I have not been assigned there this year).

 I have taught all school age groups (K-12) and just about every subject (from the basics- like math  and science to languages Spanish and French to specialties like cooking and industrial arts). It has been a neat experiences, some days easier than others.

There have been a lot of fun and good things about being a substitute teacher. Naturally, I like teaching and it comes easy for me. Although where I am used to teaching is in setting where the people are motivated to be there on their own power: (church, young adult, youth groups, extra-curricular hobbies/instruments or second languages). This is not always the disposition of the students. Obviously, in school the kids are required to be there and many do not desire to be there. So, with that said, I have  had to learn to keep students in line. I have been stretched this year in many ways:

I can be a very easy going, relaxed kind-of-guy. In high schools, this is fine. The students are glad to see me working in the their high schools. They know that I respect them to obey they rules and they respect me and there is no reason to cause any trouble. Working high schools is one of the easiest jobs. The downside is it can be boring, especially when the permanent teacher leaves boring worksheets or assignments.

I middle schools and elementary schools, my relaxed temperament is not always a good thing. I can be too nice and let the students do whatever they want. The good part about teaching middle schools and elementary schools is that I have to be more hands on and the teachers expect me to actually teach something, which is fun for me. The problem is that once students get out of line, I am not quick enough to punish. I will give a few verbal warnings and hope that they do not act up again and when they do I used to just ignore it or give another warning. But this aspect of my teaching temperament has been changing and stretching over the school year. Now I am more likely to follow through with the proper discipline measures after giving a verbal warning. Now the students are respecting my authority a little more. They know that they cannot walk all over me just because I am a sub.

Obviously, there are certain kids that have a more difficult time focusing and obeying than others, but yet these kids seem like they want to be social and develop a relationship with the teacher. They are probably hurting or lacking quality male role models in their lives. So I walk a strange line as duel roles come into play. One one hand, I am the authority of the class and disciplining them, but on the other hand, I am secretly praying for them. Also I am a low-key guy, so I let the kids be kids and socialize a little bit. As long as the kids respect me and do their work and obey the rules of the classroom, I do not see why we should be so uptight about certain behaviors, kids are kids - they need to talk and socialize. They need to play and learn. Life should be a life of balance. For me as the teacher, the challenge has been finding the line, drawling that line so the kids know where it is at and enforcing it. I am still learning the lines.

Some of the more challenging but also more rewarding days as a sub, have been working as a "intervention specialist," "special education" teacher and in the MD and DH classes. These classes I actually get to have one-on-one time with students and actually have to teach. These kids need a lot of patience, grace and persistence but once they actually make progress, even really small progress, it is very rewarding. I have intentionally taken a lot of these assignments because I feel like I am actually making a difference in these classes and have developed some relationships with the students since I have gotten these jobs on a pretty regular basis. I admit that these days can be draining and I would not want to do these classes every day, but these kids need the love.

Wait what just happened?

Ok so at dinner, my 55year old mother gets a phone call from her 70 year old mother, in-which  my Nana (in my mom's words) made her (mom) feel guilty about not replying to a text message she had recently sent to my mom! The phone call lasted all of 10 seconds, mom said she was sorry and said she was busy and the phone call ended.

I was sitting there taking it all in, wondering why the two did not just have a real life phone conversation about the topic of the text message. Instead mom replied to the text message and then Nana texted back merely saying "call me." So mom called her back and they talked.....oh technology and irony.

Skyrim and Rom 3

 ¹⁰ As it is written:

   “There is no one righteous, not even one;
 ¹¹ there is no one who understands;
   there is no one who seeks God.
¹² All have turned away,
   they have together become worthless;
there is no one who does good,
   not even one. (Ps 14:1–3, 53:1-3)”
¹³ “Their throats are open graves (Ps. 5:9);
   their tongues practice deceit .”
“The poison of vipers is on their lips (Ps. 140:3).” 

 ¹⁴ “Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness (Ps. 10:7).”
¹⁵ “Their feet are swift to shed blood;
 ¹⁶ ruin and misery mark their ways,
¹⁷ and the way of peace they do not know (Is. 59:7).”
 ¹⁸ “There is no fear of God before their eyes (Ps. 36:1).”

This sounds like one really bad dude. Terrible dude. It reminds me of my character on Skyrim. He is one bad dude. He steals, kicks and destroys anything that gets in his way. Not nice. He is bad.

But the reality is that all men, you and myself included, before salvation are all equally bad. We are all sinners. There is nothing good man can do on their own that can save themselves! No one can even seek out God on there own! 

How awesome it is that God comes down to man and saves us, even in our unworthy state. This truth is one that NO OTHER religion believes in. In other religions man has to work to earn something for God, but not with the Christianity of the Bible.

In the huddle...

Lk. 2:16- And they came with haste, and found both Mary and Joseph, and the babe lying in the manger. 

With College bowl season and NFL playoffs soon, it is prime time for football. Teams can spend all their  time, sitting in the huddle, planning the next play, but if they never leave the huddle, they will only accumulate penalties. Teams have to GO and PLAY.

Similarly, the shepherds in Luke did not spend any time at all huddling and planning what was next, they simply went....they were in a hurry....they MADE HASTE. We as Christians need to go and make haste also.

We spend a lot of time talking and planning  in the huddle, (which is a great place to be) but we need to get out of the huddle and make haste in the real world. We must impact people with Christ!

A more personal, musical update on me

So early this morning, on my commute/road trip to Mansfield, Ohio I plugged in my Ipod and played some of my favorite tunes. This past year there have been two albums that I have listened to a lot more than any other albums. These two albums are:  Anberlin's Dark Is the Way: Light Is a Place and  Emery's We Do What We Want. This morning, during the drive, I listened to both albums and was singing along, as usual. This morning though, it felt different, freeing. 

This past year has been a year of surrender. I have learned a lot and been through some interesting times so far this year. Anberlin's album was released about a year ago, so even before all the life-change that this year has brought to my life, this album has always been a go-to album for me in the good times and bad. This morning this album felt so good to sing to. I had a lot of fun singing in my car. I felt excited, like I did a year ago when it was first released. 

The Emery album was released earlier this year. Life looked a lot different for me when it was first released than it does today. When the album was first released, I always thought to myself that this album would be a great "break-up album" if I was ever to be "broken up." Turns out I was broken up later this year. These two albums have been with me and helped me get through that break up, especially the Emery album. At first the Anberlin was not one of my favorite albums to listen to because songs like "You Belong Here," "Take Me As You Find Me," "The Art of War" and even "Impossible" to an extent reminded me of love. While Emery's "You Wanted It," "I am Not Here For Rage," "Addicted to Bad Decisions," and pretty much to entire album as a whole, related well to what I was going through. "Curse the Perfect Days" at first seems like a perfect break up song also but in reality it is not. I went to see Emery this summer and it turns out the song is about how the led singer's wife has cancer and  the song is about them fighting this cancer. This really explains a lot of things in the song as well as oddities in many other Emery songs.

Back to my main story line, this morning I felt really free from the past. I have been free for awhile now. I know I am in a much better place, right where God wants me, than earlier this year. Sure, break ups are hard but there is a lot of perspective once you have moved on and learned from the past. I have moved on and learned from the past. I just wanted to give a shout out to these two bands and their wonderful albums as they have helped me get through the times. Praise God for music!

Did Heaven need cleansing?

There is a problem in seeing in what sense things in heaven—where God is (He 9:24)—need purification. Some deny outright that they need it, regarding the expression as a way of referring to God's people. Thus Bruce (in loc.) reminds us that the author tells us repeatedly that it is people's consciences that need to be cleansed; and so the author can speak of God's people as his dwelling, his house (cf. He 3:6). Others make essentially the same point and hold that it is not something material but spiritual that is seen as needing cleansing—a fact meaning that Christ's work is effective in the spiritual life of men, not in some material sanctuary. The difficulty with such interpretations is that, while what they say is true, "the heavenly things themselves" is a strange way of referring to men and women here on earth. Other commentators see in He 9:23 a reference to Satan's rebellion and think of that as somehow defiling heaven so that heaven itself needs cleansing. Still others think of purification in the sense in which it is used here as meaning not so much the removal of impurity as a consecratory or inaugural process. This, they feel, is not out of place with "the heavenly things" any more than with an earthly sanctuary. Akin to that is the view that the earthly sanctuary needed cleansing, not so much because it was unclean, as because it was the place where sinners were restored. So with heaven.

On the whole, it seems best to recall that in the NT there are references to "the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms" (Eph 6:12); the "rulers of this age" (1Cor 2:8); the "powers" like "height" and "depth" (Ro 8:38, 39), as well as "angels" and "demons." Such references seem to indicate wickedness beyond this earth. And when Christ performed his atoning work, he "disarmed the powers and authorities, … triumphing over them by the cross" (Col 2:15). It was God's will "through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross" (Col 1:20). This strand of teaching is not prominent in Hebrews. Nevertheless, the language used here seems to accord with it better than with other views. (Gaebelein, F, Editor: Expositor's Bible Commentary 6-Volume New Testament. Zondervan Publishingor Pradis = computer version)

Some related Scriptures:
 In Revelation, Chapter 12, we read that Lucifer and a third of the angels were kicked out of Heaven because of rebellion against God. Rebellion is sin.

Jeremiah 2:22. Day after day there was record of confessed sin marked before God in the earthly sanctuary, thus it was being defiled by sin. So it is now with us, even though Christ has cleansed us from our confessed sin, there is still a record of our confessed sin in the heavenly sanctuary. As the earthly sanctuary was being defiled from sin so is the heavenly.

Leviticus 16:19.Blood is used as the cleansing agent. Thus it is not some physical impurity in heaven that needs to be cleansed, for blood is not able to do this. Blood cleanses from sin, (1 John 1:7) so the work of cleansing the Sanctuary is not a physical work, such as a janitor would do, but a cleansing from sin.

However, in Job, we start by seeing that Satan still has some room in heaven -- at least in those times where God apparently calls together angels to give a report.

Other opinions :

Was it necessary to cleanse heavenly things? The heavenly sanctuary is not manmade and therefore is untainted by sin. It does not need to be cleansed. Before we are able to answer the question, we must understand the expression heavenly things in a spiritual sense. The true sanctuary, says the author of Hebrews, is heaven itself (9:24), and heaven is the place where God and his people dwell together. It is the place where the people of God serve him by offering themselves as living sacrifices. Then why does the author write that the heavenly things had to be cleansed? Heaven became a sanctuary for God’s people only when the blood of Christ was shed for them. Christ’s blood, then, became the basis for their entrance into heaven.

Without Christ’s blood God does not open heaven for us and does not accept our living sacrifices. We stand condemned before God in our sins, and heaven remains closed to us. However, the blood of Christ has made heaven into a sanctuary for us, so that we may live there. At the same time, it remains God’s dwelling place.

The blood of Christ provides remission of our sins but also sanctifies our presence in heaven. It makes us more delightful than angels and our service of praise more acceptable than that of the angels. We are God’s adopted sons and daughters who are “heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ” (Rom. 8:17).

Simon J. Kistemaker and William Hendriksen, vol. 15, New Testament Commentary : Exposition of Hebrews, New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1953-2001), 262-63.

It has frequently been asked in what sense “the heavenly realities”151 needed to be cleansed; but our author has provided the answer in the context. What needed to be cleansed was the defiled conscience of men and women; this is a cleansing which belongs to the spiritual sphere. The argument of v. 23 might be paraphrased by saying that while ritual purification is adequate for the material order, which is but an earthly copy of the spiritual order, a better kind of sacrifice is necessary to effect purification in the spiritual order. If we envisage the heavenly dwelling-place of God in something like material terms (and, surrounded as we are by the material universe, it is difficult to avoid doing so), we shall find ourselves trying to explain the necessity for its cleansing in ways which are far from our author’s intention.152 But we have already had reason to emphasize that the people of God are the house of God, that his dwelling-place is in their midst.153 It is they who need inward cleansing, not only that their approach to God may be free from defilement, but that they may be a fit habitation for him. Just as the tabernacle in the wilderness, together with its furniture, had to be anointed and sanctified so that God might manifest his presence there among his people and they might serve him there, so the people of God themselves need to be cleansed and hallowed in order to become “a dwelling place of God in the Spirit” (Eph. 2:22). The same essential teaching recurs in 1 Pet. 2:5, where believers in Christ are described as being “built up a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” But in order to be a spiritual house of this kind they must have experienced regeneration and cleansing by “sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ” (1 Pet. 1:2, 9, 22f.).

If more than this is felt to be involved in our author’s language here, it may be supplied by the words of William Manson: “if we conceive our author to be writing to Jewish Christians who perhaps missed in the spiritual worship of Christianity the many holy sanctions and consecratory rites of the old religion, we shall not think it strange that he should, in effect, say to them that Christianity has its own sublime, though invisible, sanctions imparted by a greater Sacrifice. Following out this conception, we can well imagine him saying that the book of the New Covenant (the eternal gospel written in heaven …), the Christian sanctuary (the heavenly Zion, cf. 12:18–24), and the New Israel (the Christian Church, including the company of the redeemed in heaven) have all been consecrated by the blood of Christ. The stamp of the Cross is on all of them. After all, the things in heaven represent realities which have a present existence for Christians through Christ.”154

F. F. Bruce, The Epistle to the Hebrews, Rev. ed., The New International Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1990), 228-29.

How could the heavenly sanctuary ever become defiled? We can understand how the earthly sanctuary could be defiled since it was used by sinful men. Each year, on the great Day of Atonement, the tabernacle was purified through the sprinkling of blood (Lev. 16:12–19). But how could a heavenly sanctuary ever become defiled? Certainly nothing in heaven is defiled in a literal sense, for sin cannot pollute the sanctuary of God. But, for that matter, nothing in the earthly tabernacle was literally defiled by sin. It all had to do with people’s relationships to God. The blood sprinkled on a piece of furniture did not change the nature of that piece, but it changed God’s relationship to it. God could enter into communion with people because of the sprinkled blood.

Through Jesus Christ, we who are sinners can enter into the holy of holies in the heavenly sanctuary (Heb. 10:19–22). Physically, of course, we are on earth; but spiritually, we are communing with God in the heavenly holy of holies. In order for God to receive us into this heavenly fellowship, the blood of Jesus Christ had to be applied. We enter into God’s presence “by the blood of Jesus” (Heb. 10:19).

Warren W. Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary (Wheaton, Ill.: Victor Books, 1996), Heb 9:11.

"Guard your heart"

I have an issue with this phrase "guard your heart" when it is ripped out of context and re-packaged in a way that emotionally paralyzes some people from good vulnerability and God-given opportunities.

Commonly Christian authors and Christian "dating experts" will use Proverbs 4:23 out of context, which says:

“Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.”

Obviously there is a lot of truth to this simple phrase that universally applies to every area of our lives, including dating/intimate relationships. Although I want to look at this passage in full context and see what the author is saying. I want to look at other instances in the Bible where "guarding the heart" appears. What does the Bible say about this really?

First the context of Prov. 4:23:

Proverbs 4:20–27 (NASB95)

20 My son, give attention to my words; Incline your ear to my sayings.

21 Do not let them depart from your sight; Keep them in the midst of your heart.

22 For they are life to those who find them And health to all their body.

23 Watch over your heart with all diligence, For from it flow the springs of life.

24 Put away from you a deceitful mouth And put devious speech far from you.

25 Let your eyes look directly ahead And let your gaze be fixed straight in front of you.

26 Watch the path of your feet And all your ways will be established.

27 Do not turn to the right nor to the left; Turn your foot from evil.

Someone is writing advice to their son. The author tells the son to guard the heart from deceitful things and evils. While this is good advice for all aspects of life, especially even in dating….the verse is understood a LOT differently in this fuller context than when a dating expert quotes it alone out of context. “Guarding my heart” does not mean protecting myself from being hurt. There’s no way I can insulate myself from any possibility of pain. Pain is a regular part of relationships in this broken world. Guarding my heart does mean allowing no one access to that most central place of my affections but God. It means keeping the first commandment first—and loving Him with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength (Deut. 6:5). In full context we are talking about hurt from an evil world, not so much or not even necessarily relating to dating at all.

Some immediate cross references include:

Job 18:5, 6; Prov 2:13; Is 59:9, 10; Jer 23:12; John 12:35, Matt 12:34; 15:18, 19; Mark 7:21; Luke 6:45

These verses continue the theme: Keeping our heart and mind away from evil.

Mk 7:21 | “For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries,

Lk 6:45 | “The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart.

Let’s take a look at the the Hebrew word for “heart” in Proverbs 4:23- -לב

It is used almost 600 times in the Old testament with definitions that vary from “inner man,” “character,” “disposition,” and “Center of man.” The word implies both mind and heart are involved. It is not just the ‘emotional heart’ but also involves thinking.

We are to guard our thinking and our emotions from evil in this world.

The UBS Handbook on Proverbs breaks it down like this:

“more than anything else you may guard.” NJB translates “More than all else, keep watch over your heart,” and NJPSV has “More than all that you guard, guard your mind.” We may also say, for example, “The most important thing you can do is be careful what you think” or “The most important … is to think good thoughts.” (pg 112)

In more of a whole concept theological cross reference, let’s look at Phil. 4:4-9 and Luke 21:29-38

Philippians 4:4–9 (NASB95)

4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!

5 Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near.

6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

8 Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.

9 The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.

Verse 7 is another verse that is easy to take away from the full context and try to build a case for something that is not there, as if God will bless you when you guard your heart. In fact in its full context that is not at all what is happening here. The main theme again is to “think good thoughts.” Keep your mind on the things that are good, noble, true and excellent! Don’t get me wrong, this is great advice for people who are dating, it is great advice for every Christian! Instead of worrying, instead of negativity, instead of evil, think “good thoughts!”

Luke 21:29–38 (NASB95)

29 Then He told them a parable: “Behold the fig tree and all the trees;

30 as soon as they put forth leaves, you see it and know for yourselves that summer is now near.

31 “So you also, when you see these things happening, recognize that the kingdom of God is near.

32 “Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all things take place.

33 “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.

34 “Be on guard, so that your hearts will not be weighted down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of life, and that day will not come on you suddenly like a trap;

35 for it will come upon all those who dwell on the face of all the earth.

36 “But keep on the alert at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are about to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.”

37 Now during the day He was teaching in the temple, but at evening He would go out and spend the night on the mount that is called Olivet.

38 And all the people would get up early in the morning to come to Him in the temple to listen to Him.

The theme continues here: Let not your heart/mind/all of you be weighted down with worries in life and drunkenness and evil thoughts. Instead think “good thoughts.”

Instead of about dating it has more to do with keeping thought life righteous and on God instead of on the worries of the world

The Bible wants us to keep our thoughts pure, true and clean.

Ephesians 6 reminds us that the real battle is not of flesh and blood at all, but of the unseen supernatural battle. So get ready!: Put on the full armor of God!

“Pray without ceasing” - 1 Thessalonians 5:17. Continue filling your mind with God and His Word. Continue talking with God all day. He wants to help you fill your mind with “good thoughts.”
I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you. - Psalm 119:11
Fill your heart with His Word!

Jesus said in Matthew 6:33, “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” This was right after He fed five thousand people with only two fish and five loaves of bread. He was speaking about worries and basic needs in life. He says “put me first” and I will take care of all your needs, no need to worry! Amen!

Earlier in another sermon Mathew (11:29) recorded Jesus said, “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”

Jesus said he wants to take away your worries and fears. He wants to help you get through the hard times in life!!!!

Instead of worry he wants us to have his peace and joy:

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. John 14:27

I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow! John 15:11

Leave you with a challenge-

Matthew 6:21 says “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

This goes for dating and for filling your mind with God instead of evil. Our lives reflect our heart. What we truly believe and think is reflected in our priorities, in our lifestyle, in what we treasure. In what we do with our time and money.

Let’s g back to the dating idea: “guarding your heart.” Sorry this post has been all over the place!

While I personally do not have anything against the dating principles that the authors are trying to make and I see some truth in what they mean, what I can not stand is the fact that these authors are ripping the Holy Word of God out of context to make a point that the original authors are not making.

“Guard your heart” is a good command because it is a Biblical command.

In full context, Prov. 4:23 suggests that keeping—or guarding—your heart means to retain wise words and resist wicked desires. Don’t confuse “guard your heart” with “don’t get hurt.”

C. S. Lewis provides the necessary rebuke:

There is no safe investment. To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly be broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket—safe, dark, motionless, airless—it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. The alternative to tragedy, or at least to the risk of tragedy, is damnation. The only place outside Heaven where you can be perfectly safe from all the dangers and perturbations of love is Hell. (From The Four Loves, as found in The Inspirational Writings of C.S. Lewis, 278-279.)

Basically, don't suffocate the heart. If someone guards their heart too much then they will miss opportunities to serve God, love (by all definitions) people and even miss God-given life blessings.

We need to maintain our hearts properly. Feed on the Word of God. Protect the heart. The pure in heart shall see God (Matt 5:8). Hebrews 12:14 says that without holiness “no one will see the Lord” (NKJV). We need to make a choice; and if we don't make it, that in itself is a choice!

So the dating principles of seeking God first are true, even as a general/overall life principle, it is true. We need to keep God first.

Mt 22:37 - Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’

We should keep God first in our heart and keep our hearts pure, focused on Him! This is true again in dating and in all of life. So I am not against the dating principles. I am concerned about how these principles are formed. I am not impressed when Scripture is ripped out of context and twisted.

Inside out and upside down on Main st Lancaster, Ohio

Summer time is full of “Vacation Bible Schools” (VBS). I want to highlight one that is making a difference in Lancaster, Ohio. Cross Pointe Free Will Baptist Church is holding “Inside Out & Upside Down on Main Street” this week July 11th-15th from 6PM-8:30Pm every evening.

This VBS is chalked full of surprises and is bent on reaching out to the community. Every evening, the church is offering a free meal to the community and families a part of VBS at 6PM. Then at 6:30-8:30 the Bible School is loaded with lots of fun activities centered on positive messages from God’s Word.

There will also be even more surprises: Monday night there will be a bouncy house, Tuesday July 12th evening, “Ruthy G” from 104.9 The River and their “Element” will be at Cross Pointe. A fire engine will be there on Wednesday night …expect more surprises for Thursday and Friday! This VBS is going to be a lot of fun but it will also focus on the community around the church.

Continue reading on Examiner.com Inside out and upside down on Main st Lancaster, Ohio - Columbus Biblical living | Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/biblical-living-in-columbus/inside-out-and-upside-down-on-main-st-lancaster-ohio#ixzz1Rio3Kyet

Not about me

I am not that great

I don’t even like myself

I am such a sinner

I am so weird and awkward

I can be selfish and arrogant

At times I am too aggressive

Other times I am just a slacker

I am unorganized

I am focused on the wrong things I don’t understand simple things the first time

I mess up relationships

I am not where I want to be in life goals or in Christ

Fortunately I am redeemed

Fortunately I am saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ

Who is working on me, changing me, molding me

Fortunately this life is not about me

Fortunately I am attempting to become more Christ-like everyday

Thankfully God is in ultimate control and not me

Today is a new day, a new chance to get right with God

To get on board with His agenda and priorities and plan for my life!