Gospel ADD

I remember watching cartoons on Saturday morning while eating my cereal and seeing one of the characters that was just put in a dilemma. You've seen them where the character has to make a choice and then *POOF* there are two figures one on each shoulder and one in a red devil outfit and the other wearing a white gown with a halo. They were trying to convince the character to either do the right thing or the wrong thing. Did you ever wonder where they cartoonist got the idea for that? Well in the book of James of course.

What is the source of the wars and the fights among you? Don't they come from the cravings that are at war within you?
James 4:1 (HCSB)

How many times per day are you bombarded by thoughts that conflict with each other? I mean that while we know that we are to be honoring God all the time and we are to put Him first in all things BUT we also have our own desires that are "at war" with holy thoughts.  All the time right!?!

I am not saying that we have bad thoughts all the time. I am saying that sometimes we have a disordered mind in that we tend to the selfishness side (or we listen to the character in the red suit on our shoulder).

Do a self test. List the top 5 things that you want to do today. Things you want to get accomplished. Things you want to acquire. Now look at your list and ask yourself where did God fall into the mix?

According to James, the war that rages in our minds as Christians is due to our desires that battle against each other. The disordered mind, or what I what dubbed it the "Gospel ADD", has both good and bad desires jumbled together with little order. This will is not in control of thinking. Therefore little tought is given to what we think about. Then our thoughts often lead to actions. Godly thoughts lead to Godly actions. Wrong thoughts lead to wrong actions.

The minds of Christ was not disordered but ordered. He controlled His thinking in such a way that only godly actions came through His life. This is one reason you and I need the mind of Christ.

You mean there's more?

Yes, there is more. Check out the other pages that we have. Feel free to comment. I'm still working on a few other things such as the "About" page for our class.
I would like to start a discussion via email on what do yall think our class is about. Mission minded? Evangelistic? Encouragers? etc...

Christ's unfathomable decision

I love the Lord's Supper. I treasure the reminder that it brings of Christ's sacrifice for us on the cross. As I was driving to work this morning, I began thinking about how undeserving we all are of God's grace and about how undeserving Christ's punishment was.

But while we talk much about Christ's ultimate act on the cross, we tend to consider less his earthly acts before that event. We should be constantly perplexed by the fact that Jesus, lord over all features of the universe in a broad sense and over each detail of our lives in a narrow sense, left His high and exalted position to seek and save a human race that, multiple times each second, rebels against His authority. The pain and heartache we experience on earth has general or specific causation to sin. Jesus came, however, with full knowledge that his pain and heartache would be due to His untainted righteousness.

As the old hymn puts it:

Man of Sorrows, what a name
For the Son of God, Who came
Ruined sinners to reclaim.
Hallelujah! What a Savior.

Guilty, vile, and helpless we;
Spotless Lamb of God was He;
Full atonement can it be?
Hallelujah! What a Savior.

Or as a more contemporary song poses, how many kings could ever do what Jesus did?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=noz8hc8u7Xc.

Just take a moment over the next few days to thank Jesus for his amazing acts that made available our redemption.

We'll be in the third and fourth chapters of Ecclesiastes this week. Hope to see you on Sunday morning!

The Pursuit of Happiness

Wow! What a week this has been. Rangers are going to the World Series, Crisps had another child, and

I was reading in Psalms this week and of course it spoke to my heart. In the first chapter it give the key for happiness. "How happy is the man who does not follow the advice of the wicked... His delight is in the Lord's instruction." (vs 1-2)
I am so glad that our church is involved with Boldcourse. It is a great plan for letting God take control and "instruct" us. He will always be faithful and meet with us to give us His perfect instructions. You see the person who hears the word of the Lord and does not follow is like the wicked. They will be like the chaff and will be blown away with the wind. However, to be HAPPY, is to delight in the Lord's instruction AND meditate on it day and night.
As we close out this week and look back... were we happy? Were we following God's instruction? It is easy to  get caught up in life's ebb and flow. But do we truly find the happiness that God has for us? It tends to be a facade and only lasts for a while. This week end and next week look back at the difference that being in God's word has made. List all of the things that made you happy before and then make a list f things that made you happy after being in God's Word.

As you sip on your morning coffee...

...think about this. In class yesterday, people voiced prayer requests that concerned seeking God's direction in various aspects of their lives. Others in the class may have similar concerns that they kept private.

I like all kinds of Christian music; in my mind, there's no bad way to praise our Savior as long as the worship comes with a heart of adoration and in a sincere, repentant, and doctrinally sound spirit. But I admit having an affinity for the poetic magnificence of older hymns, such as the one we sang yesterday as a congregation.

I woke up this morning with such a hymn on my mind, and the hymn relates to seeking God's direction but refocuses us on what's of utmost importance (a couple of verses included):

Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart;
Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art;
Thou my best thought, by day or by night,
Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light.

Riches I heed not, nor man's empty praise,
Thou my inheritance, now and always:
Thou and Thou only, first in my heart,
High King of heaven, my Treasure Thou art.

In other words, as spoken by someone who knows our needs and desires quite well, "Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." Matthew 6:33.

Here's to all of us going through today while viewing our circumstances through that lens.

BP

Something To Think About

I was just thinking... since we have Monday as our designated Family night Boldcourse, Tuesday is i2, and Wednesday is Power up/Activate, this would mean that We have nothing on Thursday. So I'm designating Blog night. What does that mean to you? Nothing. But you could read and refer. Perhaps you know someone that needs a word of encouragement.
The past few weeks we have been studying the book of Job. I have to say no matter how many times I read it, I always get something new from it. I think that no one could ever really relate to this man. He had everything, lost everything, then gained it back sevenfold all at the expense of an interaction between God and satan. But wait... what was the real theme of the book of Job? Anyone? Anyone? YES!!! God is in control! Yes He will never allow anything to happen to us unless He wants it to. Even if it means we lose everything. But even if we lost everything, in the sense that we know, have we truly lost anything at all? After all if God allowed something like this to happen to one of us today did we really lose anything at all? I submit to you a resounding NO! We can not lose anything that is not ours. I hear a Huh? in the background.
We could get into the discussion about "Do we really 'own' anything at all?" Or, we could discuss that what we have that is worth anything is stored up in heaven where moth can not destroy or thieves can  not steal.
My point and application:
If we trust that God is solely in charge then we can totally trust in Him.
I was reminded this afternoon about a place in Greece that I visited. It was a place to worship a Greek god named Pan. It was not like a temple or anything but instead it was a hillside that had no real order or organization to it. The worshippers did not really 'worship' but rather ran around as though they were confused or manic. They were in total 'Pan'damonium, and in 'pan'ic. They didn't know what to do? These are where we get our English words. They did this because something in their life happened and they were suffering some undeserved adversity.
You see we have a God of order and of organization. We can rest assured that God is in control and trust in Him. God received glory and honor in the book of Job. Job suffered horrific adversity only to bring the God who made everything by His word glory. How many times have we "suffered" and not realized that we have an opportunity to bring God glory. What a privilege!
Next time we find ourselves having a bad day or we are in the face of adversity, rest on the promise that we have from Job and not panic and run around in pandemonium.
P.S. Ever wonder where Peter PAN got his name? Perhaps?

A thought for your lunch hour...

Someone I know, when asked how his day is going at work, commonly says, "It's another day in paradise." Recently, however, when asked the same question, he responded presciently, "It's another day closer to paradise."

Indeed, it is. Find joy in the fact that we're one day closer to seeing Jesus. We're getting a little closer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_O4_qv359SY

Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. 1 Thessalonians 4:17.

Have a great Thursday...

BP

Welcome to the blog!

Welcome everyone to the blog for our Sunday School class! Three things:

(1) As you lead your families through this week and face inevitable challenges, remember the principles that we've learned from Job's story. God is good and merciful, and he has a plan for our lives and a desire to direct our paths even when we cannot understand his purpose in our circumstances. Find comfort in the fact that we worship a God who is powerful when we are powerless. He's always faithful:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTLfQ05Otk0

(2) Prepare yourselves this week for our next class, in which we'll study portions of Song of Solomon and discuss how God wants us to have genuine, loving relationships.

(3) Don't forget about our class dinner/party, Saturday, October 29, at casa de Perry. We'll have more details soon, and we'd love to see everyone, plus kids, there!

Have a blessed week!

Bryce

This is the first post from our Sunday School class.

Bookmark and join. When you invite someone or you come across someone who is searching for a class, refer them to here.