The End is Near!

“7 The end of all things is near. Therefore be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray." 1 Peter 4:7 NIV

“The end is near” is not the most popular thing to say or hear. The way this is written it is easy to miss the context. The end has always been connected to Jesus’ return. The idea is that the end is near because Jesus is coming back; therefore we are to look for Him. Growing up I lived near a train station, sometimes people missed the train, they would be given so many warnings, the whistle blowing, the conductor saying all aboard. Yet there would be some who would still miss the train, and then be angry that the train would leave them. The following are some excuses people would give for missing the train. “We were busy just looking around. We were looking for ducks at the lake. We were for looking for rail spikes by the old tracks.” The list goes on. Why do people miss the boat, the plain, or the train? Because they were not looking for it, they forgot why they were there; they were too busy looking for everything but their ride home. Why do people miss out on grace? Why do some churches fail? It is because they are no longer waiting for Jesus to return. They forgot why they exist. The problem for the early church is the same problem for the 21st century church; we are no longer waiting for Jesus to come back. Peter reminds us that Jesus is coming back, that we need to be ready; that we need to be helping others to be ready for His return. A healthy church is one that never stops saying “Come Lord Jesus, Amen”.

“2 Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. 3 And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. 4 Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should.” Colossians 4:2-4 NIV


To devote ourselves to prayer does not mean that we are always to be praying, but Paul is saying we always have a reason to pray. Paul says that we are to “be watchful” or “be alert”. If we took this verse and literally translated it from the Greek it could say “be ready to seize the moment”. That is kind of like when Robin Williams in Dead Poets Society said “Carpe diem. Seize the day, boys. Make your lives extraordinary!” I think Paul is saying here that every moment we live can be captured and given to God.  That is good news, because sometimes we have bad days, difficult situations, moments in which we are overwhelmed with sadness, despair, guilt, or pain. Paul is saying here in this verse, “use prayer to seize that moment for God, hand it over to Him.” Paul also says we need to be thankful. To be thankful means that we know that God has been faithful to take care of us in the past, and if we seize the moment in prayer we can count on Him to take care of our present and our future. In v. 3-4 Paul asks that they would pray for open doors, for places for him to go and share the story of Jesus. The context of the entire book of Colossians is “live a life that honors God in every moment”. I think Paul is saying “pray that I will be so connected to God that I will seize every moment to tell lost people the story of Jesus, and share the transforming message of grace.

So I will take a little bit of liberty with the script of Dead Poets Society and say this “seize the moment with prayer, and witness how God makes our lives extraordinary!”

salt and grace

When it comes to snack foods, there is nothing more undesirable to me than unsalted peanuts. Really, who likes them anyway? I know they cause high blood pressure and other health issues, but seriously salt is a wonderful thing!

“5 Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. 6 Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.” Colossians 4:5-6 NIV
What does it mean to have conversation seasoned with salt? In the 21st century it is a weird thing to say.
Jesus said we are the salt of the earth. That is also a weird thing to say. But in the 1st century it made sense.

In the Bible salt has several different meanings. In Number 18:19, salt represents promise, the commitment between man and God. It also represents purity, goodness, and flavor. We also know that in ancient times salt was used as a preservative, it would help food last longer.
Words like grace and salt used in the same verse made sense to the early Christians at Collosse. First century people saw both words as transforming words. Salt changes bland food into food that is desirable and tasty. Grace by definition was the changing of ordinary things into things that are beautiful and extraordinary. So when the early Christians read Colossians 4, they knew what Paul was calling them to do, that their words should be transforming, turning this bland, loveless, and graceless world into a world filled with God’s love, grace, and hope.
It is as simple as saying “these peanuts needs some salt”, we can also say “this world needs Christians that transform the people and community around them.” So today I am going to commit to speaking words that encourage grace, to highlight God’s love working in my life, so that the people around me can learn about God’s wonderful love and grace.

I Passed a Runner!

Back in June of 2009 I began to run about 3 to 4 times a week. I started because as a minister I visit a lot of people in hospitals who are in poor health and live with regret over how they have neglected their health over the years. Anyway I have really enjoyed running, I’m not a crazy runner, in fact I only run about two to three miles each time. I’m not looking to run any marathons, but if you need a running partner in a 5-K I’m all for it. You are going to laugh at me now, because I am going to brag, Stacy and were running yesterday and we did something we have never done before, we passed another runner who was going the same direction we were. That never happens; we pass walkers all the time, but never runners. In fact we are often passed by “real” runners; you know the ones who run in triathlons and marathons. Anyway we were proud of ourselves, we finally passed another runner!

Achievements no matter how small they are can be quite satisfying! The truth is, if it wasn’t for my wife I wouldn’t be running, she got me into it, and now I love it. She started about four months ahead me; her new found excitement and continued example was too powerful for me to ignore. Before I knew it, I wanted to be part of what she was doing, and now I love running too. There are things in life we do, that we are passionate about, and that happened because we were influenced by someone else’s passion and example. See where I’m going with this?

As God’s children our passion and example or lack thereof is witnessed by the world. When we live connected to the Father we display a wonderful life that others notice. Right now someone is watching you (hopefully not in a stalker way), what do they see? People that know me know that I love Texas football, that I enjoy running, but do they know that I am a follower of Jesus? I hope so, I hope that I have not hidden that passion so deep that my love for God is a mystery. People know I run because I share (blurt out) small victories like when I passed another runner yesterday. My goal is to start sharing; blurting out the victories that God gives me each day. If I keep doing that, eventually someone will get the idea that this guy not only loves running, and Texas football, but he really loves God.

Stay tuned for my next running article called “I Love Cushlon!!!”

I have no pictures of me running, but here is one of me throwing a football. 
It is the most athletic picture of me that I have.

“Wonderful Maker”

A friend of mine shared with me these lyrics written by Matt Redman and arranged by Chris Tomlin. They are very powerful. Click on the link below to see the video performed by Jeremy Camp.


“Wonderful Maker” By Matt Redman & Chris Tomlin

“You spread out the skies over empty space
Said "let there be light"
Into a dark and formless world Your light
was born


You spread out Your arms over empty hearts
Said "let there be light"
Into a dark and hopeless world Your Son
was born

You made the world and saw that it was good
You sent Your only son for You are good

What a wonderful Maker
What a wonderful Savior
How majestic Your whispers
And how humble Your love
With a strength like no other
And the heart of a Father
How majestic Your whispers
What a wonderful God


No eye has fully seen, how beautiful the cross
And we have only heard
The faintest whispers of how great You are”



http://video.search.yahoo.com/video/play?p=what%20a%20wonderful%20maker&tnr=21&vid=165845205022&l=269&turl=http%3A%2F%2Fts1.mm.bing.net%2Fvideos%2Fthumbnail.aspx%3Fq%3D165845205022%26id%3Deae42b8e09e5b839c66a01df710b6e5e%26bid%3DI8B8wi0%252fqcPobg%26bn%3DThumb%26url%3Dhttp%253a%252f%252fwww.youtube.com%252fwatch%253fv%253dKoYWDCwxExs&rurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DKoYWDCwxExs&sigr=11ahm1jle&newfp=1&tit=Jeremy+Camp+-+Wonderful+Maker