I will...by the power of His Will!

At Church this weekend we started a new sermon series called "Real Marriage". It's based off the New York's Best Sellers #1 book by the same name. The book was written by Pastor Mark Driscoll and his wife Grace Driscoll.

The morning started off like any other Sunday, getting ready for church, setting everything up and praying that everything goes smoothly. See the Church that my family and I attend is the "Living Stones Sparks Campus", and we meet inside the Mendive Middle School is Sparks. We start each morning with an empty gymnasium, and with the help of roughly 50 volunteers it is transformed into a beautiful place of worship. It is a huge evidence of God's Grace that it all comes together the way it does. God is doing His work through us each Sunday to reach the city of Sparks, I see new faces every weekend. We are a church that preaches Jesus' name. We lift Him on high and He draws the people of Sparks to Himself.

The message started off with pretty much more of the same... keep Jesus the center of our relationships, and He will redeem and make them flourish, but as Pastor Harvey continued to preach, God was softening my heart and revealing to me the ways I don't keep Him central in my marriage. Harvey told the story of how he met his wife and that the first two years of their marriage didn't go so well. It was a story that sounded all too familiar to my own marriage. Don't get me wrong, I love my wife, and I love my marriage...but a healthy marriage is hard work and we can't do it alone, we need God's power, not our own. It's only through humbling ourselves, reaching out to our church, asking for help and submitting to His will, that this marriage will be redeemed.

The sermon was one of those that seemed like every word was directed at me. It was a huge kick in the butt by the Holy Spirit to grow up, be the man He created me to be and to fight like hell for my wife, kids and my marriage. Towards the end he asked all the men of the congregation to stand and take an oath. The oath was a call to action to re-engage and join back in that fight with the power of God that he gives us. It was a very powerful moment for me, that only got more powerful as we then went into a time of communion where Pastor Harvey told all the Husbands, Fiancés, Boyfriends to serve their Wives, Wives-to-be, and Girlfriends communion. It was a very powerful time as I served my wife communion. We prayed together, cried together as I reminded us as a married couple of what Christ had done for us, and made an oath to her that I will rely on God's power, grace and love. Then we took the elements as one flesh in Christ, stood and worshiped the one true God that saved us both and gives us the power to truly live as He has created us to be.

I DO solemnly resolve before God to take full responsibility for myself, my wife, and my children.

I WILL love them, protect them, serve them, and teach them the Word of God as the spiritual leader of my home.

I WILL be faithful to my wife, to love and honor her, and be willing to lay down my life for her as Jesus Christ did for me.

I WILL bless my children and teach them to love God with all of their hearts, all of their minds, and all of their strength.

I WILL train them to honor authority and live responsibly.

I WILL confront evil, pursue justice, and love mercy.

I WILL pray for others and treat them with kindness, respect, and compassion, because that is what Jesus Christ did and does for me.

I WILL work diligently to provide for the needs of my family.

I WILL forgive those who wronged me and reconcile with those I have wronged.

I WILL learn from my mistakes, repent of my sins, and walk with integrity as a man answerable to God.

I WILL seek to honor God, be faithful to His church, obey His Word, and do His will.

I WILL courageously work with the strength God provides to fulfill this resolution for the rest of my life and for His glory.

I encourage all of you men to take up this oath and join in the fight for our marriages, to break the chains of our pasts, our sin and to live as the men God has created us to be through His power, Grace and Love.

As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.  Joshua 24:15

Jason

Sitting on God's Shoulders.

 Remember when you were a kid and your Dad would hoist you up on his shoulders? Maybe you went somewhere special and couldn't see. Maybe it was because of your constant complaining that he put you up there to make it stop. Maybe it was out of sheer love that he placed you up on his shoulders, to be near you, to show you what he saw, and just to lead the way so you could enjoy the ride and the wonders around you.

 I don't know about you but those times were special to me. I felt safe knowing that my Dad wouldn't let me fall. I had confidence in knowing that He knew the way. I could see everything around me, as he would point out the special things and he would teach me about the world around. I could relax knowing I was in the presence of my father.

 Have you ever thought of the correlation between those times and what Jesus Christ has done and does for you?

 We grow too big to sit on our fathers shoulders and we rely on the teachings of our father to get us through this life, but the fact is that we fail. Without someone holding us up and leading the way the world gets the best of us. That is where Jesus comes in.

 Jesus gave up His crown and came to earth as a man to live a perfect life for us. He obeyed the Father perfectly, even as He was nailed to the Cross, dying the violent, bloody death that we deserved. Then three days later he rose from the dead, conquering death and sin so we could have life. What Jesus was doing was fighting for us. He was making a way to save us from ourselves, because he wants to hoist us up on his shoulders, just like our father did as children.

 Luke 15:5-6 says; "And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.'

 Did you catch that? Jesus is always there, searching for us. If we turn and ask for His forgiveness and place our faith in Him, He puts us on his shoulders and carries us home.

 So place your faith in Jesus and let Him hoist you up onto His shoulders, feel safe that He won't let you fall, have confidence in knowing that He IS the way. Rejoice in the blessings He gives you, praise Him for the truths that He reveals to you, and relax in knowing that you are always in the presence of the Father. His love is a perfect love, never changing, never fading and never ending. Jesus fought so we could live. So live a life on his shoulders, in reverence of Him.

 Call your Dads and tell him that you love him. Hug your children and tell them that you will always fight for them. Put your children on your shoulders and teach them that Jesus does the same, but most of all get on your knees and thank God the Father for doing the same for you.

Jason

Dodge Ramcharger and the Gospel?

 A few months back I became the proud owner of a 1984 Dodge Ramcharger. It may not be much to look at but it's my tank and I love driving it. It's full on strong, heavy Detroit steel, It has a roll bar, a big front push bumper, and when I turn the hubs and put it in 4 wheel drive it's unstoppable. I guess what I'm trying to say is although it lacks the modern safety conveniences, I feel safe and secure driving it around town.

 Like most older vehicles there are things that have long given up and no longer work. The back hatch won't stay up, the passenger side window doesn't work, the speedometer no longer works, and no matter how many times I reset the clock, it won't stay in time. So I leave with plenty of time to get where I'm going and just keep up with traffic to gage how fast I'm going, driving around looking out the huge windows, enjoying the beautiful area God has placed me in.

 Then one day I realized that my Ramcharger is a perfect picture of how I live in the Gospel (stay with me I'll explain). The Tank is just like I am, ruff around the edges, broken and in need of constant loving care, but just like the body of Christ, once inside I'm safe from what the world has to throw at me and He constantly gives me the loving care that I need. Jesus said that no one knows the time he'll return but God the Father, so what is time to me? I just move along, working diligently, trusting that if I steward my time well, I'll get to where I'm going on time and ready at moment's notice. If I do the same in my Christian life I'll be ready when the day comes that I die, or Jesus returns. The speedometer is one of the best parts though, because it's not how fast I go, or how hard that I work, I'll get there. My salvation is the same way, because it's not how fast or how hard I work that seals my salvation, It depends on the work already done by Christ on the Cross and because he is faithful I'll get there.

 Jesus' sacrifice was perfect and my soul is saved because of it. I'm safe inside Him because He is strong. I love Him, so I work for God's Kingdom because He loved me first and sacrificed everything for me. I love and care for the people around me, because He continues to love and care for me. When I think about the way He loves me and all he has done for me I am comforted and feel like I'm living in a bubble, and just like the big push bumper on the front of the Ramcharger, he has given me the gift of the Holy Spirit to empower me to push through anything.

 So I drive my truck like I live my Christian life. Safe and secure in the Body of Christ, and my salvation. I keep my eyes focused on the Heavenly prize that awaits me, but at the same time giving thanks to God for the things around me.

 Philippians 1:21 Paul says," For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain." and like my Ramcharger my physical body is just a vessel to get where I'm going.  I think that if we all look at our lives that way we be comforted and rejoice in the bubble God has placed in.

Jason