My God starches his jeans!!

 In my pondering today I began to evaluate who God is, and who I've made him out to be. I would love to think He is just like me!! Maybe he runs a few cows on a nice little place in heaven, has a couple nice horses and chooses square toes over tennis shoes (sound familiar). How many times in day to day life do we often try to "water down" God's image and provide ourselves with a little self indulged satisfaction.

For example - and dramatic effect - I've compiled a list (test) of " My God .....".

My God.__________

...... likes to hang with his buddies (apostles and disciples??)after work.

...... has a sense of humor and laughs at my jokes.

...... drives a Dodge!

...... understands why I cant make it church - cause he's cool like that!

...... wears a Tuxedo T-shirt cause he's formal - but still likes to party (Talladega Nights Movie)

...... is (denomination).

...... is (race).

Its my hope that if anyone reads this, by now, they would notice a problem with the previous statements. Our relationship with Him is often the INVERSE of what it should be! We should be (as Christians) striving to be more like Him each and every day. This is easier said than done, obviously! It is not easy to continue to sanctify (further your knowledge of Him and His will through His word) your life and raise the bar every day. Even harder to grasp is the fact that any progress made is a gift from Him -its not because your that good! Unfortunately, there is any easier way to feel better about ourselves. We can build this perception of Christ that resembles ourselves instantly making us equivalent (in our minds) to Jesus. All of the sudden, we wrote the book, do nothing wrong and can justify each and every sin we commit.

So who is God? Well, I'm grateful to say He is NOT a cattle producer from Hardinsburg, Ky!! He is the Alpha and the Omega (Rev 1:8)! He is the beginning and the end (Rev 21:6)! He is the one and only way to a life with Him (John 14:6) in a glorious state known as Heaven and we will abide in Him, by Him and for Him (John 15:4)! He is love(Agape)! 

Notice in the list above, when we make statements such as these that we leave out the fact that He sent His only Son to die on the cross for our sins(John 3:16). This is the most important thing we could possibly understand and have faith in and I'm more worried about what race Jesus is? It doesn't matter!! It matters that His blood fell to the ground so that mine wouldn't have too and that my faith in that act is required to be Justified (not guilty) in His sight(Romans 5:1)!!

It should be our goal to decrease each day so that the Lord our God may Increase (John 3:30), not the other way around!!

The World's Strongest Man....

Over the last couple months, it seems that many of my conversations with men of my stereotype and age have been have been dominated by a single topic. What does a strong man look like?

If I were to look at our world's current view, this man should have the capability to pull a bus up hill using his teeth and he should be able to pick up an Honda Accord and walk around the block (Source: ESPN). He should be able to take a beating and get up on his own. He should be able to take a cussing and give one when needed, work nonstop to provide the material necessities needed to get through life and never ever show any emotion whatsoever!!

Where on earth did we get these ideas? Let me ask a few questions? What about the man who skips a meal so his kids and cows can eat? What about the man who tithes when he has no income? What about the man who humbly declines from unneeded conflict? What about the man who is criticized publicly for spreading the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ? What about the man who tells another man he loves him (brotherly)?  How many times have we seen these things in real life and our reaction has been "He's a Sissy", "What a Wus" or "He'd make a good girl"??

Where do these men get their strength? Dare I say that the first does not derive his strength from the Lord. Lets recall the story of Goliath - who was still susceptible to blunt force trauma (notice clause).  David, a teenager at the time came into a conflict with a giant, but he came in the name of the Lord - his source of strength (notice lack of clause). Even though Goliath was monstrous (on earth) and had an arsenal of weapons, he fell due to a teenager strengthened by God! (1 Samuel 17) This is a perfect example of why to not  derive our "strength" from worldly items.  How about Samson (Judges 13-16)? He was a man set apart by God and blessed with phyiscal strength beyond compare, then he allowed his self to be persuaded to worldly sin. In doing so, he rejected God and was overtaken by men  of less strength!!  What would have been Samson's outcome, had he fixed his eyes on God and not gave way to sin?? (He later realigns his faith for the Glory of God!!)

The typical man of today - if statistics are correct-- and they are -- does not derive his strength from the Lord, nor does he lay his life down for his wife, lead his family spiritually, teach his children the way of the Lord and most likely never proclaims the fact that Jesus arose on the third day! Is there any doubt as to why we as men fail continually?? If your fixin to stand up and defend how successful your career is - don't bother!! Those dollar signs prove little to me!! At what point does this trend change? It changes when men of Christ unite and stand up for the Gospel so that they may prove time and again that strength is not related to how much you can bench press. It changes when the Christian man strives to live a life pleasing to God for the world to see. One that allows his wife, family and friends -- and complete strangers -- to see Christ doing work through him!! That's when it changes!! Notice it starts with the man who is already a Christian! I agree, we must encourage non-believers to seek Christ, but if they can't see Christ in me, how am I to convince them they need a Savior??

So, What's my point(s)??  As a Christian man - don't lose sight of what a man is called to be (Christ-like)! As a Christian man, ensure those around you that you gain strength from the Lord, and not a bottle of pills and protein shakes!! As a Christian man, in the face of adversity, proclaim the Gospel! As a non-Christian man, understand this, you are but a hollow shell without the presence of the Lord in your heart, and are sure to fall, and if you fall, so will those who depend on you!! You cant drink enough Muscle Milk and bench press enough to get into heaven!! Just like Goliath, the "unbeatable" will be beaten!!

A note to those who depend on a Christian man.... Encourage them in their effort to seek first the Kingdom of God and gain TRUE strength, and understand this - God does Bless his followers - but it most likely won't be with wealth!!