Happy Easter!!

Just wanted to wish everyone a Happy Easter. This holiday has become one of the most bittersweet days of the year. While it is certainly the most important, it saddens me in some ways that we don't take the time more often to truly dwell on the significance of this day. May Christ bring peace and joy to all of you for another year.

Not only is he very much risen, but he's very much alive, and very much active in our lives!!!!!!!!!!!! It's a wonderful thing to celebrate!

An Additional Meme

I was reading an excellent political blog on grace (link included) and decided that I needed to add something to my list of meme's. It's important enough that I wanted to share it with you all as well, as it may be the most difficult of characteristics to follow.

14. Forgive regularly and freely, allowing the worst of grievances to be accompanied with grace and dignity.

While I may not agree with EVERYTHING the author said, I do agree with most of it. Forgiveness in my opinion can be one of the biggest character builders we can learn. When we forgive, we emulate Christ's character in it's ultimate form. That is the sole purpose of his existence, and if we are to be Christ like, than that should be our purpose as well. It would be easy to bombard you with bible verses on the subject, but I'll leave you with this one.

"Be ye kind one to another, tender hearted, forgiving one another, even as God, for Christ's sake, forgave you."
Ephesians 4:32

That verse sums up perfectly what we should strive for. I reflect on the times in my life when I needed grace the most and received it. I think of possibly the one thing I regret most in life over the rest, and when I think of the man who forgave me it makes me want to weep. His forgiveness makes it possible for me to hold my head up high on a daily basis. While I may never see this man again, he will forever and always be one of the most Godly and respected people I have ever met. His influence on a 15 year old boy will never be forgotten, and God will reward him eternally for his character.

Hopefully you have experienced on a personal level grace of this magnitude. While human forgiveness is sometimes rare, God's grace abounds and is limitless. He has forgiven you for the sins you've committed, and the ones you will commit tomorrow.

This is my additional meme, and I wanted to share.

"Life Meme's" or "The Man I Want To Be"

I wish I could say I was clever enough to come up with these on my own, but I'm not this articulate. Plus it wouldn't exactly go with my meme's. As I was reading last night I came across a list of traits that the author thought a "man" should display. This closely mirrors my heart and conscience's desire and I wanted to share them. I have printed them out under the title "The Man I Want to Be" and posted them above my computer monitor at work as a reminder of who I am striving to become. I would encourage anyone to use these, or create their own and share.

1. Prays, recognizing that his duty is to God first and above all things.
2. Is articulate, communicating his thoughts and opinions intelligently and respectfully.
3. Respects women, directly through honorable discourse and chaste living, and indirectly by his thoughts.
4. Defends the innocent, especially children and unborn life.
5. Is not addicted, whether to alcohol, pornography, or entertainment, and therefore is truly free.
6. Is healthy, actively maintaining physical fitness and a proper diet.
7. Holds convictions supported by reason and truth.
8. Is courageous, unafraid to defend truth in all circumstances.
9. Educates himself, not for the sake of accumulating factual knowledge, but for advancement in wisdom.
10. Works hard, acknowledging that time is a gift to be used wisely.
11. Sacrifices his needs for the sake of others.
12. Is charitable, recognizing that nothing is truly his own.
13. Is humble, possessing an honesty that doesn't tolerate deception, and a gratitude without envy.

God's Perfect Timing

Two posts in one day! Something must be going on. Sadly this is not a celebration.

This kind of relates to the book The Shack that I reviewed earlier today. One of the precepts that is hammered on in the book is Yahweh's perfect timing.

I found out today that one of my Aunt's is going in for exploratory surgery tomorrow. She has cancer pretty bad in her stomach somewhere. If they can remove the cancerous portion they will. If not they will sew her back up and wish her the best of luck. Those words hit me like a ton of bricks. In addition her brother (my uncle) is about to go through an open heart surgery within the next 2 weeks. He's had heart problems in the past, even though he is at a very young age.

The entire precept of the book is how God can allow bad things to happen. I consider myself fortunate in life not to have had very many "terrible" things happen to me. Particularly according to the world's standards. Suddenly I find my family in the midst of difficult times. It is amazing that I had read this book prior to all these things happening. It just speaks to God's perfect timing. While nothing is for certain yet, I am preparing for the worst. This could be one of those events that drives my relationship even closer to God. Who knows what the future may hold; even beyond the next few months. Either way, I will be equipped with the knowledge and love of Christ to pull me through any event. Taking solace only in the fact that it is in my faith in God that he has a plan much greater than I. Essentially when bad times come, I think this is all we have.

On another note, as I was studying my Bible and doing my quiet time this morning I was reading about being a good steward of what God has given us, and not asking for tasks greater than what we deem "trivial". The parable of the slaves who had been given the talents was what I was reading. To want to be used by God is natural. If you have a personality like mine, then it is only natural to want to accomplish the greatest tasks available. Partly this is my pride, but also earnestly because I want to do God's will. We must prove that we are capable of handling the tasks (or financial resources) that God entrusts to us first. When we do, then he will move us on to bigger and better things.

This comes in to play because yesterday I made a rather expensive purchase. One that I had the money for to be sure, but one that I probably didn't need to spend the money on. I knew this even as I was handing the cashier my card. I confess I am not a good steward with the things God has given me. The Holy Spirit really convicted me this morning of that.

The point of that story is not to blurt my sins in a public bulletin announcement, but rather to illustrate another example of God's timing. God speaks if we are listening and want to hear. As always, his timing is perfect. It never fails to amaze me when what I am reading or studying has immediate implications in my own life. Though this particular case may not have been in the best way, it's still awesome to see examples of Christ in people's lives. And after all, this is why I created this blog.

With much heartache I end this post. Please pray for my family.

Book Reviews and their Practicality

I've decided I'm going to begin adding book/bible study reviews occasionally. I decided this as I was reading The Shack by William P. Young, and started thinking about it's practicality. First of all, I think every believer should read this book. While it may not be the most "Christian" book by some standards (it obviously can't be if it is a NY Times #1 best seller), it is based on one man's personal struggle with a great tragedy in life, and his following encounter with God.

The book has been an incredibly moving read. I've only ever felt someone's pain in a book once before (and that book will be reviewed at a later date) and scout's honor, had I not been reading on a plane, I would probably have cried. The reason being is two fold. 1.) You truly live this guy's pain through his human perspective, and 2.) You live this guy's pain through God's perspective. While this book certainly doesn't satisfy the age old adage of "Why does God allow bad things to happen to good people?", it certainly gives the most satisfying answer.

This book will cause you to see God's love in a way that you've probably never thought before. For the first time in my life I kind of actually felt sorry for God (pity was not the emotion, purely just not being envious of his ultimate task). There comes a point in the book when Mack (the main character) is forced to judge his family, as God will one day have to. He was told that he had to choose 2 of the 5 children to go to heaven, and the other 3 to hell. All the while prior to this, you have seen nothing but the Trinity's love for each other. Then out of nowhere comes God's judgment. The point was that we judge God's actions (or lack thereof as we deem it) as good or evil, but who are we to judge? We are completely subjective and bias in our judgments. God is not. As a father could not condemn his own children to hell, God feels infinitely (and more so than we'll ever know) pain in condemning his children to an eternity of pain and torture. So he sent his own Son, who did nothing wrong and was completely blameless and pure, to die so that the rest of the world would not have to. I don't have children, but I imagined myself in Mack's shoes judging my friends and family.

While Jesus's return to earth will surely be a great celebration, I think we as believers often distance ourselves from non-believers. We think we'll be somehow separated from the judgment, and who knows, maybe we will. But we should not forget that their will be a great deal of pain and suffering on that day. People we've known and loved our whole lives will be condemned to an ETERNITY of suffering and torture. That thought scares me frankly, and causes my heart to break. At that point, we will know God's love to it's fullest extent, and while we have the capacity to hate and judge here on earth, I doubt we will when we get to that point. I think our hearts will break with God's as he condemns each and every non-believer. I'm no theologian, so please feel free to correct me if you feel otherwise. I have a feeling this could be a topic of great debate, and would love to read your inputs at the bottom of the page.

Anyways, as we experience pain and hurt in life, the book leads us to believe (and I don't know if I agree but it's certainly something to consider) that God experiences the same sort of heart ache that we do. He loves us so much that when we break,his heart aches for us. While God may not be shedding physical tears for us in heaven, I do believe that God can relate. After all, his son Jesus Christ was sent to die for us. While we can never truly understand the concept of the Trinity yet, God was Jesus, and Jesus was God. Therefore all the pain Jesus experienced at the cross, so God experienced also. So in effect, God does know pain.

The book is heavy no doubt. It will cause you to think and view things in ways you probably never have. I can't really say much more than that about it. It's a fantastic book, and you will cry, laugh, and be completely overcome with emotion (at least I was). This book has gotten me thinking about more spiritual principals and how they apply in my life in the last few days, than I have all year.

There is much more I want to share, and it all stems from this book. If you haven't read it, I highly recommend doing so. This book is for non-believers just as much as it is for believers. It breaks down pain in a way that only someone who has experienced that much pain can. I urge to take some time and pick it up. It's a very quick read, and once you start I promise you won't want to put it down.

Hooray for Persecution!

So I admit it's been a while since I've posted. Partially due to being on travel a lot lately, and partially due to the fact that well...I just did not have anything to share. But now I do!

For the first time in my life yesterday, I was berated for being a Christian. Completely out of the blue nonetheless. I mean sure, I've had discussions with others about my faith. And sure, people probably have thought that I'm an idiot afterward. If you know me, it's kind of hard not to think that anyways, am I right? Right? High five? Anyone? This wasn't one of those times though. Allow me to explain:

A former acquaintance of mine "friended" me on Facebook. For those of you familiar with Facebook there is a informational section at the top where you can disclose whatever information you want. One of those categories is religion. Instead of putting the typical "Christian/Protestant" or whatever it is that most people put, I want people to know that I have a "100% very real and practical relationship with Jesus Christ". So that is what it reads on my Facebook profile. The funny thing is you have to actually search for that to see it because of the websites layout (bear this in mind). This former acquaintance and I haven't spoken to each other in probably 7 years. Literally not so much as a word, phone call, text, email, or even a wall post. I know this guy ironically enough through my old church. Here is where it would be fun to drop names and start blasting him. That is what the internet is for right? But come on, this isn't perezhilton.com. We don't do that here.

Without reposting things that were on my Facebook wall and to make a long story short, he proceeded to "lambast" me (though I haven't quite figured out how you can do that via Facebook), ridicule my faith in Jesus (which is fine because he doesn't have to answer to me, he has to answer to God), and call me names like "blythe" and "disingenuous" and "repulsive". Luckily for this simpleton, I know how to access dictionary.com! But in his defense, I did tell him I was going to pray for him. Zing! I didn't force my beliefs on him. He had to actively look for it.

I think it's important to note that I have absolutely no ill will towards this guy whatsoever. The whole thing is actually quite sad, and my heart truly does ache for him. See I believe that he's still a believer, no matter how much he wants to turn his back on the Lord, and as a wise man told me last night (and I know to be true from experience) "It's tough living under the constant conviction of the Holy Spirit". For whatever reasons, there is a lot of pain, anger, and bitterness in his life, but that's not what I want to talk about.

The important thing is, I realized that this is the closest I've come to "persecution" in my brief lifetime. WOOOHOOO!!!! I put persecution in quotes because come on, really? Facebook persecution??

See, unlike most sane people, I want to be persecuted for my faith. It means your doing something right. What a privilege it is to suffer for your faith. Most of us here in America will never truly know what persecution is, but make no mistake the Bible says that we will be persecuted.

In fact, all those who want to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.
2 Tim 3:12

How sweet is that? Don't get me wrong folks, I don't really want to deal with the whole torture aspect. That certainly wouldn't be fun. But how temporary is our suffering compared to the eternal reward we would receive upon acceptance to heaven?? And how great an opportunity to show and prove to the world that you are legit, and to really just spit in the devil's face!!!!

But before all these things, they will lay their hands on you and persecute you. They will hand you over to the synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors because of My name. It will lead to an opportunity for you to witness. Therefore make up your minds not to prepare your defnese ahead of time, for I will give you such words and a wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict. You will even be betrayed by parents, brothers, relatives, adn friends. They will kill some of you. You will be hated by everyone because of My name, but not a hair of your head will be lost. By your endurance gain your lives. (ed. note - The last sentence refers to spiritual lives, not our physical ones.)
Luke 21:12-19

Awesome!! God not only says you stand a good chance of being persecuted, but then he tells you not to worry about what you're going to say, because he is going to give you the words to say! This reminds me of all the trials and tribulations Christ had to experience before the ultimate persecution. He always knew exactly what to say to further Gods' kingdom. That (arguably) wasn't his own doing, that was God!! I just can't imagine any greater privilege than getting to heaven, and the reason you are there, is because you died for your cause. It's like entering heaven with a blaze of glory. If I never heard 7 words again for the rest of my life, both here on earth and eternally, I want them to be "Well done, my good and faithful servant".

Now I certainly don't wish pain and suffering on anyone. But as believers if you are experiencing this in any shape or form, don't get down on yourself. Rejoice and praise God!

Instead, as you share in the sufferings of the Messiah rejoice, so that you may also rejoice with great joy at the revelation of His glory. If you are ridiculed for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you.
1 Peter 4:13

What an honor to be considered among those who have been persecuted. Jesus Christ, David, Jeremiah, Daniel, Joseph, Paul, and the Disciples just to name a few. I imagine the welcome reception in heaven far exceeds any pain or suffering we may endure here on this temporary plain, and when I get there I'm going to turn around and give Tim Tebow a high five.

Jesus Loves Me and My Tattoos

Those of you who know me know I have a couple tattoos. For those of you who don't, well...I have a lot of tattoos. Anyways I just wanted to share with everyone that my tattoo artist that I've been friends with for going on about 5 years now has recently had a stroke. Before he had his stroke however he met a woman (who he is now engaged to) and started going to church with her. I've been praying for this guy for a long time.

I am happy to report that after painfully sitting in his chair for 3 hours last night, I found out that he is now a believer. This is nothing short of a miracle. After his stroke he lost complete use of his right hand. He is in the process of learning how to tattoo all over again. (Don't worry, he's still the best and my tattoos still turned out perfectly). I'm sure he'd tell you though that the real miracle is the changes Christ's love has made in his life. His complete outlook on life has changed totally. It's no longer "screw the world". He's quit smoking, drinking, and he's now a vegetarian. This guy used to be MASSIVE by the way, and not in a fat way, but an "I can rip your throat out" type of way. He's witnessing to his co-workers every day, and we actually got in to an evolution vs. creation discussion with the guy who works next to him.

Many people encounter God when they have a near death experience. It's only then that they realize their own mortality. What excites me much about this is that I believe he was saved before his near death encounter. He has a genuine heart for the Lord, and is active in his church.

The ranks of the believers are rising friends, and sometimes in places you'd least expect it.

Support Life

I do not want this to become a political arena too much, but this is not a matter of politics, it's a matter of morality.

Please click on this link.

It describes in better words and facts what I could never say. If you happen to be a pro-choicer, I urge you to read the Bible and pray about it. Come to your own conclusion with God. For those of us who know which side we stand on, it is our responsibility to make our voices heard, however small that may be. We complain that government doesn't work, but we often do nothing to support it. The link at the bottom of the article has (I believe) been hacked, so I'm including the links "The Mighty Chuck Norris" intended below.

Fight the Freedom of Choice Act

Email your Senators/Congressman - You may have to click around a bit to input your Zip Code and find the Bill you are looking for.

Thanks!

Listening vs. Hearing

Oh stupid stupid me!!! All week I've been praying that God would open my eyes to the work that he's doing around me, and the results have been absolutely phenomenal. You can read a bit more about that in my previous blog "God's Work is Everywhere". Truly if you ask with an earnest heart for God to open your eyes, he will. In my studies today however I realized I've been missing something just as important. In addition to asking him to open my eyes, I should be asking him to open my ears as well!!!

How can we claim to want to do God's will if we are not listening? More importantly how can we claim to want to do God's will if we can not hear? The bible says in John 8:47 "He who belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God." The Holy Spirit is our intercessor, and without him God speaks a language that is impossible to understand. This is why so often non-believers do not understand the scriptures. It was not written directly to them. Of course they don't get it!

Once we have the Holy Spirit in our lives, we must actively listen for God's word. God speaks to us in a variety of ways: scripture, circumstances, prayer, other believers, and the church just to name a few. He can however choose to speak to us in any way that suits his purpose. While God does not speak to us in the form of burning bushes anymore, as believers we can not discount that he is actually speaking to us. It is so easy to discount miracles in today's day in age, but the Holy Spirit is nothing short of a miracle! If our lives are in sync with the relationship God has designed for us through Jesus Christ, there will be no doubt in our minds as to when God is communicating with us. The words will echo through our brains as clear as a bell. Not only that, but if it is God speaking to you, you will find confirmation of those words in seemingly everything.

Once God speaks to us we have reached an incredibly pivotal point. We can either choose to obey or disobey. The consequences for disobedience can and often are disastrous. Perhaps even for the long term. God punishes justly those who disobey him. You would not expect a parent to not punish a 2 year old for blatantly and defiantly disobeying them. The same applies to our relationship with God. When God tells us "do this", you darn well better do it. If not, you might as well be pulling down your pants and mooning the heavens. God will absolutely not tolerate it. I would say that it's almost better to not hear the Lords voice at all, but that would imply lack of salvation, and nothing is worse than that. God promises in Hebrews 12:6 "For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he punishes every son he accepts." If God promises something, you can take it to the bank. The last thing I want is to be on God's bad side.

For those of us fortunate to have the Holy Spirit in our lives, we have the privilege of hearing God speak. Listening however goes far beyond hearing, and requires action. Just as I have prayed for God to reveal his works around me this week, I am praying that God will open my ears and I will hear him. Not to just hear, but to listen. I am confident that he will, and I look forward to sharing with you what he is telling me in the days, weeks, months, and years to come.

Fellowship

I'm absolutely stoked that Caleb got this thing rollin'. I think this can be a good tool to bring believers together in growth through one anothers thoughts, ideas, and experiences. I understand fellowship via internet may not provide the best "delivery" but it certainly can be utilized in praying for one another and like Caleb said, sharing God's work in our lives.

One thing I have realized in the last 6 years is that fellowship is an essential tool and a vital ingredient to Christianity. My term with the military and even prior to that I had deprived myself of any type of fellowship and by doing so I hindered spiritual growth and maturing in my faith. Not having fellowship for that amount of time would prove to be a detriment in my life.
I believe being in a men's/women's group is a great way to fellowship. Fellowship is not just a social gathering where everyone reads different parts of the bible and then proceeds to talk about how everyone thought about the playoffs last week. Fellowship is a more in depth way of exercising our role as believers in edifying fellow Christians. Studying the Word as a group and dissecting and receiving it together is so important to your walk with Christ.

Also your prayer life will skyrocket. Sharing your needs and desires and possibly struggles will open the door for multiple men to pray over you. James 5 mentions that the prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. There is nothing more that motivates me in my walk than when I have several Godly people praying for me and you for them. I'm convinced that no believer can live this life on their own and that any spiritual growth demands a group study, intercession, and accountability. A bible study is valued, but few recognize the importance of accountability.

Accountability is another key ingredient to a healthy relationship with Christ, so I have found. Having a Godly individual who I know very well keeping me in check on a personal level, outside of a bible study or men's group, has certainly changed me for the better. My dad who I know is a firm and mature believer mentioned to me the other day, " I will never not be in a men's group, you NEED fellowship," and he is absolutely right. Paul states in his letter to the Romans "I want to impart to you some spiritual gift that you and I may be mutually encouraged by eachother's faith." I couldn't have said it better myself.

I have been in a bible study for almost a year now and am finding believers like myself in need of edification. Seeing God work in my life and in anyone's requires fellowship and without it would plateau our growth in the Lord, and I'm ecstatic about God working in my life and my friends.

God's Work is Everywhere

Let's review the events of this past week shall we? Governor Blagojevich was officially impeached (yay!) but vows to waste millions of taxpayers dollars in "fighting to the bitter end" (boo!), Hamas is still launching rockets in to Gaza(boo!), Somali pirates make off with 3 million dollars of ransom money(boo!) , while 5 got their just desserts(yay!), the Panthers probably just performed one of the biggest choke jobs in the history of the NFL (seriously, I think the Lions could've beat them last night), the Gators racked up another championship (I want to vomit), and my girl Anne is flaming with the rest of Hollywood now too(boo!). It seems the boo's would outweigh the yay's this week, but despite all this it has been an amazing week. You see this week I learned that God is at work all around us, and I can prove it.

See this week I've been praying that God would open my eyes to what he is doing around me, and the results have been incredible. I've seen people come to Christ this week. I've seen countless opportunities to witness to friends and co-workers. I've seen the most beautiful 65 degree days in the middle of January. I've been watching the most amazing things on Discovery Channel's "Planet Earth" (seriously you should watch it if you get the opportunity. I don't know how anybody could deny God's existence after watching that.) I've just seen God everywhere I go and in everything I do.

The point is that God is always at work around us, whether we see it or not. God did not create the world and then leave everything else to chance. God is working hard to draw the population to himself, and he chooses to do it through us, his chosen, plain, ordinary people! His will is going to be accomplished whether we choose to obey him or not, but the consequences for not following him are dire, just as the rewards for following in his footsteps are eternal. Can you even begin to fathom that? When you look at it that way, I don't know how anybody could choose to disobey God. Following God is not just about keeping his commandments. It's about obeying his Spirit. The very same Spirit that lives in every believer and steers us in the right direction.

As God is accomplishing his will, he invites us to join him. It is imperative that we join him in his works, and not the other way around. Inviting God to join us in doing what we think is "for the kingdom" is fruitless. He will accomplish more in a day, than we can in years. It is imperative that we listen to the Spirit and learn how to do so effectively. We must never rule out the possibility that he may ask us to do things that are uncomfortable, and in fact, we should probably expect it. This is how God forces us to rely on him, and makes us stronger. With the Spirit in us, we have all the resources that Christ had on this Earth. So if it doesn't feel comfortable, than there may be a good chance that is God speaking to you. Don't ignore it!

I highly encourage everyone to pray that God will open your eyes to the work that he is doing around you. You will be stunned at what you were missing. The other way I know God is at work this week, is that just 2 weeks ago I wasn't praying regularly, studying my Bible, or living in accordance with his word. There has been a dramatic change in my life in the past week. God has become my number one priority in every facet of my life, not just at my convenience. If God can change a sinner like me, you know he is at work in people's lives.

Welcome to The Well

Welcome to The Well. In ancient times the well was a meeting place for people to gather and receive refreshment. This also where we get the phrase "around the water cooler". People could escape the desert heat and get a drink of fresh cool water. Jesus himself was resting by the well of Jacob in John 4 when a woman of Samaria approached him. Jesus asked her for a drink of water and when she questioned him (as a Jews had no dealings with Samaritan women) he claimed in verse 13 "Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life".

The purpose of this blog is to allow believers (and non-believers alike) to see and share the works that God is doing in their and others lives. It is a place to share what God has laid on our hearts, and refresh each other. I am inviting anyone who feels called to share with other believers daily, weekly, or just occasionally to post the works and lessons God is teaching them. Hopefully in time this can become a mega database of posts and articles, a wealth of encouragement for all believers to learn from and fellowship with each other.

We are all brothers and sisters in Christ. Let's not keep the wealth of God's blessings to ourselves. With the millions of sites dedicated to pornography, entertainment, politics, news, sports and other things, why can't we use technology to create a beacon of hope in a world that needs it so much today. Who knows how your story can reach or affect others?

If you are interested, please contact me. Together we can create a "well" for today's day and age.

Your brother in Christ,
Caleb