I never watch this scene that I don’t think of how closely it reflects our cultural view of Jesus Christ.

Although this was meant to be funny, the truth in it is saddening to me.

How many times have we prayed to our own little baby Jesus? To put it into perspective, how about our good buddy Jesus? How about our trust fund Jesus or our car mechanic Jesus? Ever talked to your handyman Jesus about fixing all the broken stuff in your life?

Don’t get me wrong. I don’t mean that we should not take our care to Jesus. What I am saying is that too often we are acting like Ricky Bobby in the video. We choose an image of Jesus that makes us feel good. We make Jesus out to be a certain thing and ignore who Jesus really is. We must be careful because idolatry is to worship a god we have created in our own mind. What are some common idols we hear about on the streets every day?

• The god of love who is going to pardon everyone of sin because he is a good god.
• The god who will not judge us by our deeds.
• The god who would never let anyone go to hell.
• the god, who if existed, would just get rid of evil and free will.
• The god who hangs out silently waiting until we need something so we will talk to him.
• The god who removes obstacles and paves your future path with gold once you call on him.
• The God who let’s you ignore; Luke 5:32 “I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to REPENTANCE.”  and believe that you can live however you want because you repeated someone’s prayer way back when.

The list could go on and on and on.

So what’s wrong with sweet little 8lb. 6oz. baby Jesus with his golden fleece diapers and fat little balled up fist pawing at the air? Nothing really except that it has so little to do with his life and purpose. In fact, Jesus being a defenseless baby just might be as dramatic an account of how low God came for US as the crucifixion! Think about that, GOD – loving you and me enough to leave Heaven and be born a baby to live as flesh on Earth. That chills me.

My Pastor Matt told a story once a long time ago in church that really demonstrated the nature of God and Jesus well. I’ll condense it best I can.

One Sunday morning a family was home. For some time the Mother and children had tried to encourage the Father to join them at Church on Sundays. The man always declined. One particular Sunday morning the man was napping when he awoke to see that a strong snow storm had blown in suddenly. Outside was a flock of tiny birds that had gotten stranded in the blizzard. They were seeking shelter in the bare trees. The sight caused the man to feel compassion for the birds so he went out and tried to shoo them into the barn but the birds just flew in circles. In his frustration the  man thought if he could just make himself into a bird he could lead the other birds to safety and they could be saved…

You see, that is the very thing God has done for us. He made himself a man to come into our world and show us the way so that we can be saved from the blizzard of our sinful nature.

Jesus is God, born in the flesh with a single purpose of sacrifice for us so that we can be saved.

Right now we are all engaged in the usual chaos of the season. Will you join me in something?

Every morning let’s start our days spending a few minutes alone with Jesus in prayer & meditation. Not the sweet little baby Jesus, but the mighty, perfect and powerful Jesus who did nothing wrong but took the punishment of man’s wrongdoing. The Jesus who loved you and I so much that he willfully left his place in heaven at the right hand of God the Father. Heaven, where he is worshipped and praised without pause. He left all that to make himself a man to live among us and ultimately gave up his life on that cross so that we might be saved. From now until New-Years let’s start each day just meditating on him, praising him and thanking him for all he has done and not ask him what else he is going to do for us. He has done all we need already.  

-john

Posted under FROM THE HEART

I recalled this great devotion from a long time ago. There is a lot of spiritual warfare going on now and God’s faithful servants seem to be in a great but painful time of purification. I believe it is so we can be ready when we are called up for what could be the toughest battles we have ever faced.

I hope you find strength and courage in this devotion. In your toughest hour, know that God has you in his closest care.

Zec 13:9 “And I will put this third into the fire, and refine them as one refines silver, and test them as gold is tested. They will call upon my name, and I will answer them. I will say, ‘They are my people’; and they will say, ‘The Lord is my God.’”

Malachi 3:3 says: “He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver…”

This verse puzzled some women in a Bible study and they wondered what this statement meant about the character and nature of God.

One of the women offered to find out the process of refining silver and get back to the group at their next Bible Study.

That week, the woman called a silversmith and made an appointment to watch him at work. She diddn’t mention anything about the reason for her interest beyond her curiosity about the process of
refining silver.

As she watched the silversmith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to ho ld the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest as to burn away all the impurities.

The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot; then she thought again about the verse that says: “He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver.”

She asked the silversmith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time the silver was being refined.

The man answered that yes, he not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire. If the silver was left a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed.

The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silversmith, “How do you know when the silver is fully refined?” He smiled at her and answered, “Oh, that’s easy — when I see my image in it.”

If today you are feeling the heat of the fire, remember that God has his eye on you and will keep watching you until He sees His image in you.

-John

Posted under FROM THE HEART

Hey hey hey! Y’all remember Rerun don’t you?

Figured I’d just post a little update on what I’ve been up to lately.

I don’t remember if I mentioned it before or not but Russ & I have been preaching at the WNC Rescue Mission. That is going so great. The guys there are awesome and we are getting to know each other.

I’ve had a couple small paying gigs lately so the Lord has provided once again and just in time.

Of course during my downtime it seemed like I was busier than when the economy was better! What’s up with that? I tell you what, some ministers had needs and the lord game me the time. I love it. I always do but sometimes it is hard when you have so much going on. The last few ministry projects I’ve done have not been the easiest. I’d say one of them in particular pushed being the toughest and most time consuming project I’ve ever worked on. You know what I like about that? I got the awesome privalege to work with some big-hearted people for a few weeks. We’re developing a great friendship and even ministering together! All that from doing a little work to help out a fellow ministry for Christ. Hey, think about that the next time your churches or minstries get that “competitive feeling” with each other. You go that route and you’re gonna miss an awesome blessing you would have received if you would work together.

Kaine and I had dinner with my good Friend Cesar Perez from Greenville the other night in Hendersonville. It was good to catch up on things and what’s happening. Cesar and I are enjoying an awesome journey together even though we only connect once in a while. Cesar and I served a couple of years together in MissionMax. Cesar is a project Manager in the technology field and is now realizing his life-long dream to earn his living working for the Lord. Cesar works with Upward sports in Greer, SC. We could sure testify of how we’ve seen God work over the years.

While we were talking, Cesar asked how my book was coming along so I might as well update on that too. Identity Crisis is coming along very slowly. With all else that is going on, the book just seems to always get pushed aside. That’s ok. I will get it when I can and when I do it will be great. I hope to devote some time to it after the 1st. For the record, Cesar’s book is on pace with mine. Looks like things are tough all over.

Most of you know I have spent the past 15 years in the hearth industry mastering installations, service, and sales. Through the sale of our store and my ethics not aligning with the new owner’s I have been out of that business for a while now. Although adjusting to the reduced income, I have truly enjoyed the free time in managing just one business for the past six months. Even so, I have also missed the industry, the customers, and the atmosphere that comes with it. It is a business of helping people while imporving their indoor environment. I’ve just always loved it.

Well, guess what? I am about to realize a dream that I have had for a long time. I am going to open my own retail shop here in Black Mountain. I’m finalizing things with my vendors and will soon be setting up the small store. I will miss out on the 08 rush season but next winter I will be in full force. I’m gonna do a small shop with select product lines. Our old store had everything and was just overwhelming for most shoppers. I want to avoid that. Of course I am going to have a killer MOJO web site and am working on the e-commerce for that. This is going to be a very cool shop both online and on location. Stay tuned for updates on that.

I guess that is about it for what I’ve been up to. I’ll be back in touch soon.

john

Posted under WASSSUP!

This morning I got up as usual; stirred around a bit until I got my balance then went to the kitchen to make some coffee.

This morning I went through the whole procedure of washing the coffee pot, basket, loading the filter, and then, as soon as I picked up the coffee container I knew it… I was out of coffee! Well I actually had just about a spoonful of good coffee left so I dumped it into the filter. I knew I had some stale coffee I kept for just such an emergency (stale coffee beats no coffee). I added the stale coffee to the mix and hoped for the best.

I’m writing while I sip this brew so you can say it is so bad it inspired me to blog.

Think about this;

I had about as much very good coffee as I had bad coffee. Even so, in my cup, all I can taste is the bad coffee. There are no fruity or nutty tones. No snap. No bite at all. In essence, you could call my coffee this morning, “flavorless”.

As I got to thinking about this mix it ocurred to me that I would have been much better off to make a pot of stale coffee for survival and use the little bit of good coffee in my french press for at least one cup of satisfaction. I will remember next time this happens.

All this started me thinking of how when I had my conversion experience a lot of things changed immediately and also progressively.

The first thing to change was my language. I used to speak very colorfully in sentences three times as long as they needed to be. That changed instantly.

The next thing to change was my relationship with a couple of very close friends. One was an alcoholic and the other an Atheist. We were together every day for 12 or 14 hours per day. For no real reason I could tell then, those relationships ended. They got mad at me and we were no longer together. I cried like a baby about that. These were my homies – the guys I’d do anything for and them for me. It took a long time but God finally showed me. He had to end those relationships because I was incapable of doing it myself.

If I was going to be set apart for his purpose, I was going to have to undergo some cleansing and purification and I did not need to be mixing with the oposite.

You see, like mixing good coffee with bad ruins the whole coffee experience, mingling with your same friends and your same routines may also ruin you. Your old lifestle and friends just might be robbing your spiritaul life of it’s robust flavor and snap.

Just be mindful of who you hang out with. Know who they are and be aware of their reputation because whether it is true or not, you will be guilty by association. I hate to say this but if your friends are not born again, they are of no benefit to you. OUCH!!! Yes I said that out loud. I’m not saying you have to get rid of your friends just because they are not Christians. I AM saying that because they aren’t you no longer have a useful bond with them. What you feel is an emotional attachment from an irrelevant period in your life. Trying to maintain the same relationship in the same places with the same people will only cause you to stumble and bring on tempatations.

Should you stop talking to them or cut them off completely? Well, that depends. If you can relate without mixing yourselves up in the filter together then go for it. If you can’t then you should ask the Lord to do what needs to be done. You might require a little pruning* to set you free (*last weeks blog).

Posted under FROM THE HEART

John 15: 1-8 (the message)

The Vine and the Branches

1-3 “I am the Real Vine and my Father is the Farmer. He cuts off every branch of me that doesn’t bear grapes. And every branch that is grape-bearing he prunes back so it will bear even more. You are already pruned back by the message I have spoken.
4″Live in me. Make your home in me just as I do in you. In the same way that a branch can’t bear grapes by itself but only by being joined to the vine, you can’t bear fruit unless you are joined with me.

5-8″I am the Vine, you are the branches. When you’re joined with me and I with you, the relation intimate and organic, the harvest is sure to be abundant. Separated, you can’t produce a thing. Anyone who separates from me is deadwood, gathered up and thrown on the bonfire. But if you make yourselves at home with me and my words are at home in you, you can be sure that whatever you ask will be listened to and acted upon. This is how my Father shows who he is—when you produce grapes, when you mature as my disciples.
_________________________________

I’ve been enduring some pruning lately and to be honest, it stings a little sometimes. You know what I mean – those relationships you have become a significant part of your life are not bringing forth any fruit anymore. If we were brutally honest with ourselves we’d go even further and confess that those relationships are not only useless, but tend to leech off us – to suck up our spiritual giftedness, dilute our ministry and reduce the fruit we produce. Even so, it hurts sometimes when the parasitic members are cut away from us so we can be all we can be.

Ever notice how we never have the strength to prune ourselves? Think back, when did you go to a person and just say, “you know, I love you but there are things about our relationship that hold me back. I need to break away and see how high I can soar”. If you’re like me, you answered NEVER. That’s becasue pruning is painful. Remember when you were a kid. The band-aid hurt to take off so you had to let your Mom do it. You just couldn’t get the nerve up. It’s the same way, we have to let our Father do the pruning because we just can’t get the nerve up to do it for ourselves.

The past month or two have shown me a lot. Who my friends are and also who the posers are – the leeches – the parasites that suck you dry and move on. Even so, I could not just do what needed done. I had to go to Daddy and he took care of it. That was nice. I sit and mind my own business and next thing you know, the pruning is done and all is fresh and new. Once the bad was cut away, the other relationships began to flourish better than ever! The pain is gone and now I am really looking forward to what is next. I say that because this isn’t my first time being pruned and I know I am about to pass a milestone in my life. I like that. Thank you Lord!

How about you? Do you feel bogged down? Just feeling like you’re in mud and progress has slowed to a crawl? Listen up; While you’re looking to yourself trying to see where the problem is, it just might not be you. It could be that you’ve blossomed all you can until you endure a good pruning.

If you feel like this relates to you today, don’t even worry about where the trimming needs to be done, just call of Jesus to come and shape you up. Ask him to cut away anything that is holding you back and causing you to stall in your walk. I guarantee he will do just that. It may sting a little, but know that in the end you will find new freedom and will go to the next level in your ministry life.

With much love,
John

Posted under FROM THE HEART