Hypocrisy in Action

Speaker of the House Pelosi says that those who disrupt and protest at town hall meetings are un-American, however check the video out, and see her commending protestors and disruptors during protests agaisnt the war. I guess it only applies when people protest agaisnt what she supports, what a hypocrite.

Going to Jail for Praying?

Students, teachers and local pastors are protesting over a court case involving a northern Florida school principal and an athletic director who are facing criminal charges and up to six months in jail over their offer of a mealtime prayer. Story Here.

Sharing with Others

This morning during my devotional time I read from 1 Corinthians 9, is a chapter were Paul shares with us his views as it pertains to sharing the Gospel. He left us with some helpful hints about how to share God's message with others. He shows us that if we want to communicate, we must first take the time to understand the other person. Paul was a master at listening to his audience and afterward finding common ground with them. He did this before he told them about their need to change. As we seek to help others, we do well by applying Paul's method. We must begin by gaining their confidence. We don't need to be good at winning arguments; which seems to be the popular thing to do now a days. Instead we need to be good at listening to them and showing them we care. We should be like Paul who listened to the needs of people and then presented his message in a way that met their specific needs. We can do the same as we carry the message of hope to hurting people.

Dealing with Opposition

If you are like me, you have probably felt at one time or another that doing God's will is bringing lots of opposition in your life. Well we are not alone, this morning I was reading the book of Nehemiah (very practical book by the way) and as I read, I realized that carrying out the will of God will always bring opposition. My, and your and even Nehemiah's experience is no exception. We may face ridicule, or sarcasm and those things may sting. But we must not focus our attention on the sarcasm or the ridicule; we must continue to look to God as we seek to obey His plans for us.

So then the question to be asked is; how do we counter ridicule and disdain? Well it is essential that we seek God and also keep our guard up. We must counter ridicule with prayer. But we must also remember that prayer must be accompanied by action. And finally we must also realize that there is a cost to obeying and following God's plan, but spiritual growth is always worth the pain and sacrifice.

Dealing with Sin

This morning I was reading the Book of Ezra the tenth chapter, is a hard chapter to read. I can say that God was being harsh in dealing with His people, I mean making them divorce their wives and leave them and in some instances with their children. But these were the consequences that sin brought to their lives, and is the same with me, I have to know that sin in my life will always have terrible consequences, and not only for me but for those around me that love me and care for me. This reminder must help me in my choices.

I also must remember that if I do nothing about the sins in my life, I will never move forward. I must confess these sins to God and then take action against them.

In this chapter we read that the people did not stop at mere confession; they also committed themselves to reform, redirecting the course of their lives back into alignment with God's commands. It is never enough to just acknowledge that we have sins in our lives. We must follow the example of these Israelites and follow our confessions with action,accepting responsibility for our sins and then taking active steps to eliminate sinful and destructive behaviors from our lives.

The Insider

We continue to go through the book of Jonah we are currently in the 2 chapter. Pastor Pedro named this teaching the Insider and it focused on Jonah 1:17-2:10. This is what I took away from the teaching today:

>God prepares a way. God will cause storms in our lives to bring us back. He will do whatever it takes to bring me back to where I need to be.

When we run from God, we miss out on His purpose for our lives.

>God hears us pray. It must be real prayer, we must be honest when we pray. We must own up to our mistakes our prayers must be repentant.

>God gives us a new day. No matter what we have done, God will give us another chance if we are sincere in our repentance.

If we want to go anywhere in life we need to die to self.

If you run from God you will always get burn.

God will restore the years that the locust has eaten.

Big Brother is Coming

The White House strategy of turning supporters into snitches when they see "fishy" information about the health care debate may run afoul of the law, legal experts say. Story Here.

Awesome Quote!

"Congress treats the American taxpayer like an all-you-can-eat buffet ... Pelosi and Reid, you need to put yourself on a diet, or we'll do it for you in 2010". Lynne Marino.

Congress Gets an Upgrade or The Irony of Hypocrisy

Congress plans to spend $550 million to buy eight jets, a substantial upgrade to the fleet used by federal officials at a time when lawmakers have criticized the use of corporate jets by companies receiving taxpayer funds. Once again our representatives laugh in our faces and spend our hard earn tax money. Read Story Here.

Discipline

I don't know about you, but there have been times in my life when I have made a mess of things, and is during those times when I find myself calling out to God in desperation. I have to say that He has never failed me although some times I have failed Him. Anyways, I have always felt great joy and gratitude when He has picked me up and does not allow for my problems to defeat or destroy me. Sometimes I have gone through some long, dark nights struggling with my problems before experiencing the joy of victory. All these things have taught me that there are times I must wait on the Lord. But when I do finally overcome, the joy of success is only that much sweeter.

I have also realized this, that sometimes we may be in the most danger when everything in our lives is going well. We tend to get overconfident and think nothing can happen to us. But we must remember that pride and overconfidence usually come before a fall. We must always remember that we can't make it alone. How do we keep things practical, by practicing spiritual disciplines, by staying close to God, seeking Him through prayer, meditating on His Word, and worshiping Him. These are all key spiritual disciplines that will help us in our spiritual walk.

Twitter Down

If you were having problems posting on Twitter or Facebook, this might be the reason why. Twitter, Facebook, LiveJournal, Google Blogger and other Web sites were hobbled Thursday Twitter was completely down for many users and it all appears to have been because of a coordinated online attack on one political blogger in the Republic of Georgia. Read it Here.

His Plan

There are some things about God that I still can't wrap my mind around, one of them is that He has had a good plan for us, yes for each one of us from the beginning of time. If we ask Him to work in our lives, that plan will come about. No matter how many mistakes you or I have made, God can still turn things around so they work according to His plan. Our part in all of this is simple, we just need to surrender our lives to Him and seek to follow His will as He reveals it to us. No matter what you or I have done in the past, God still loves us and can work His restoration within us.

Sometimes we might feel as if we have lost our direction, and our tendency is to blame God or feel that somehow He is making things worse. Well it is during those times that we must remember that He has wonderful things planned for us, things even more wonderful than we could ever imagine. We must remember that if we surrender our lives to God, He can build new lives for us that are beyond our wildest dreams.

This all may cause some of us to wonder how we could ever know God's will and plan for our lives. This is a valid question and one that I have asked myself many times, and the answer is that we can know God's mind and heart because He has given us His Holy Spirit to live within us, to communicate with us. What a privilege that is! God's presence in our lives will guide us in the way He wants us to go.

Decisions

Sometimes when I talk to people about God and starting a relationship with Him, they tell me that they are not ready to commit because they don't want to lose their friends. Some also tell me that they don't want to deal with people mocking them. I can understand and even relate to what they say, however, I also tell them that we ought to look forward to what God is doing with our lives and not look back and become depressed or discouraged. I remind them that God has a new life for us that He has yet to unfold, and one day we will be made sinless just like Jesus.

We also need to remember that when we decide to be real about our relationship with God there will be opposition. When God starts to do a great work in our lives, enemies almost invariably rise up against it. There will be adversaries against our work as we seek to obey God's plan for our lives, but we must trust in the Lord to help us persevere in obedience to His will. Today, we must accept the reality that many will not be supportive of our new way of life. We must never allow such people to stand in the way of our spiritual transformation.

Simplicity

The closer I get to the Lord and the more I seek to learn from Him I realize how simple it is to have a close personal relationship with Him. It seems that is us that complicate things. Let me explain, God makes it clear in the Bible that we need nothing but willing hearts to receive God's power and forgiveness. It is also clear that we have no power or ability that can overcome the power of sin in our lives. In fact, a life of self-sufficiency is ultimately self-destructive. When we surrender our lives to God, we accept His way, only then can we experience His power in our lives. Sounds simple right? But we tend to complicate things by adding all kinds of "hoops" to jump through. We as humans try to add our wisdom to the process when the Bible clearly says that God's plan for our redemption doesn't utilize our human wisdom, strength, or skill. And we don't have to be famous or rich to receive God's forgiveness and power. It is in our nature to be self-sufficient and as such we may have a hard time accepting all this. We want to feel worthy of our salvation. But until we can admit that we need God's help to change, we will not have the power to redirect the course of our lives.

This simplicity also applies when we talk to others about Jesus. Many times when we are sharing with people about Him we overwhelm them with a series of complicated explanations and instructions. We have to realize that doing this will only confuse them and maybe even turn them off to our message. We must keep the message plain and simple, and that is, that there is nothing we can do to save ourselves; God has done everything necessary for our deliverance. As we share this incredible great message, lets remember to keep it simple, and trust the power of the Holy Spirit to work in the lives of the people we are trying to help.

Chicago Style Politics

Following reports that White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel has been orchestrating an effort to intimidate members of Congress and Governors who raise legitimate concerns regarding the effectiveness of the stimulus, House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Ranking Member Darrell Issa (R-CA) sent a letter to Emanuel saying “While this type of scare tactic may work In Chicago, it will not work to intimidate me or other Members of the United States Congress.” Read letter here.

Random Thoughts

These are some of the thoughts I took away from my devotions time this morning, they might seem like they are all over the place but I know that there is a reason for it.

Encouragement is extremely important for anyone pursuing spiritual growth and a vibrant relationship with God. We all need encouragement to face new and difficult tasks. As we seek to live as God says we will need the encouragement and support of others. our relationships with those who encourage us will help us preserve our spiritual gains.

Success: Worldly success is never the final measure. If we refuse to live according to God's plan, we will not be truly successful in God's eyes.

God's Will: We can never ignore God's will without suffering the consequences. As we discover God's will, we need to act on it, redirecting the course of our lives to align with His plan.

Fear: We have nothing to fear in this life if we put our complete trust in God as our guide, deliverer, and protector. If we continually seek God, we can be assured that when problems come, He will watch over us, make our way secure, and draw us even closer to himself.

The People are Fed Up

I got this article from the Family Research Council:

Being home is no picnic for the Democrats in charge, as one blogger makes abundantly clear in a home video taken during a recent townhall meeting on health care. In a packed gymnasium, Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Penn.) and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius were booed so loudly that you can barely hear their answers to some basic questions. The comments that were audible only managed to cause more outrage.

One audience member asked how Americans can be confident in Congress to reform the health care system when members won't even read the legislation. Sebelius's response? "I'm not a member of Congress," which apparently absolves her from understanding the $1 trillion plan her Department will be tasked with implementing. That answer is still better than Sen. Specter's explanation, which was, "...[W]e have to make judgments very fast, and every bill is... understood by me before I vote." Sebelius tried to interrupt the hissing crowd but her defense of Senate Democrats was almost impossible to hear amid the jeering.

Of course, the mainstream press would have us believe through carefully choreographed broadcasts that Americans are perplexed but receptive to the White House plan. Producers have been wary to air anything but footage of the President in a controlled townhall environment, where he answers softball questions from a handpicked crowd. The media may show the grassroots as an agreeable bunch on the President's proposal, but as you'll see from the video on Panzramic, these public forums are turning into a public relations nightmare for the liberals in power.

In "Townhalls gone wild," Politico chronicles another side of the debate that includes "screaming constituents, protestors dragged out by the cops, [and, sad to say] congressmen fearful for their safety." More Democrats are canceling meetings, concerned about "angry, sign-carrying mobs" that greeted a long list of their colleagues including: Reps. Tim Bishop (D-N.Y.), Thomas Perriello (D-Va.), Allen Boyd (D-Fla.), Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas), Bruce Braley (D-Iowa), and Russ Carnahan (D-Mo.). Bishop, who was escorted away by police after his meeting got out of hand, said, "I have no problem with someone disagreeing with positions I hold. But I also believe no one is served if you can't talk through your differences."

Unfortunately, Americans are talking. The leadership just refuses to listen. Until it does, House and Senate Democrats can expect a long, uncomfortable August where the temperatures outside are nothing compared to the heat they're feeling inside their District offices. FRC has posted a schedule of townhall meetings across the country and sample questions you can ask. Please make a point of going to the forums near you and share--in a respectable manner--your thoughts with your congressman. While you're at it, why not bring your video camera?

Only in a Free Country

Have you seen this poster?

Apparently, it's beginning to appear in odd places in Los Angeles, but nobody seems to know who's responsible for it.

Be Doers

In our Christian walk is not only good to read and learn the Bible, but once we have done that, we must do what the Bible says. God's words are available to everyone. Men and women can both learn, discern, grow, provoke, and encourage each other in what God has to say to us. We also need to understand that to be doers we need to set aside significant resources to devote to God and His kingdom. It will demand a great deal of commitment and sacrifice, but no matter what we give up,the gains will always be worth the cost.

As we become doers we need some definite standards of right and wrong. Without God's Word, such things become matters of individual opinion. That is why we see that today, whole systems of faith are based on opinions, they are founded on what people want to hear rather than what God has to say. Our path to being doers of the Word must follow the way God has set out for us in the Bible.

Hearing and learning God's Word is important, but we must act on what we hear. If we refuse to act, the hearing is all in vain. To be a doer, we too, must hear the Word of God and then act on it.

We are not All the Same

There have been times in my past when I was tempted to do things that were not necessarily wrong but that could have led me toward a fall. I knew that such activities were dangerous, but it was hard to turn away, especially since some of my friends were involved. But as I got closer to the Lord and studied His word I learned that when we feel something is wrong for us, it is wrong for us. It may not be wrong for someone else, but that is not our concern. We are responsible for our own lives. We must accept this responsibility, which includes keeping our own consciences clean. I also learned that we must not only avoid sin, but we also avoid the path that leads toward sin. And this is why is so important to have people to hold us accountable, because is in those instances that they can help by reminding us not to follow the paths that have led us to sin in the past.

Living to Please Others

In today's society, the concept of putting others ahead of us is foreign. Almost everything that we come in contact with tells us that we must do whatever it takes to please ourselves. Well that is not exactly what Jesus taught, He taught different, He told us that God wants us to show consideration for others. However, our spiritual pursuits should never cause us to be selfish. Rather true spiritual growth will be characterized by our willingness to take others into account and show care for them. Jesus who is our highest spiritual example, came to serve others, not himself. Therefore, we too, must learn to be patient with one another. This does not come naturally. In order to do it we must seek God and ask Him to help us develop the attitude of Jesus when dealing with others. This will motivate us to nurture our personal relationships, showing consideration and deference to others.