Another Sonnet

While slowly rambling through a dusty field,
I stopped midway to wipe my sweaty head.
My sandal struck a secret partly sealed
beneath the sun-baked ground no soul had tread.

What is this buried object here amid
the rocks no one would seek? By digging here
with dirty hands a treasure I unhid.
Alone, I hid again while coast was clear.

As joyful heart beats strong within my chest,
my current task I joyfully postpone
on finding such a treasure clearly blest,
I go and sell off everything I own.

What ever could give joy midst such great cost?
Now, I by treasure found am no more lost.

Feel free to let me know what you think!

Sweeter With Time

I once heard (probably from a country song) that love is like a fine wine; it just gets sweeter with time. That has definitely been my experience. I can honestly say that when I got married I had no idea what true love is. I thought that the warm fuzzy feeling and giddiness I felt around my high school sweetheart was love. Although I don’t have a complete understanding as to the depth of love, after 11 years of marriage (to that same high school sweetheart) I have learned that love is more intimate and satisfying than I ever could have dreamed. There is a surety and security in love that is worth more than all the gold in Fort Knox.

Whom Are You Living For? - Part 2

As promised.

---

So now we must look at ourselves in the mirror of God’s word and answer the question, “Whom am I living for? At home, at work, at school and at church, Whom am I living for?” And if the answer is anyone or anything other than Jesus, we must repent and ask God to give us a heart for Him, a desire to see His Name and His fame spread, and the strength and courage to go out and show Him to our community. 

Whom Are You Living For? - Part 1

This post will be part 1 of my notes for a sermon I had the opportunity to preach this past Sunday at my home church. Our pastor and his family were out of town visiting their son in college, so he asked me to fill in for him. It was an honor to be entrusted with such a great responsibility as proclaiming God's Word to His people. I pray that He would be glorified in all that was said.

These are the notes I used and do not contain every word I said, but the core of the message is intact.

Whom Are You Living For?

Philippians 1:18b - 21a (ESV)

Let us turn to Philippians, chapter 1, and as I speak to you today on what I believe God has laid on my heart and mind to speak, I want to encourage you to ask yourselves a couple of questions.

1. Is what Bro. Chris saying the truth according to Scripture?
2. If it is, what am I going to do about it?

Why Not Here? Why Not Now?

If you gotta start somewhere why not here

If you gotta start sometime why not now

If we gotta start somewhere I say here

If we gotta start sometime I say now

Through the fog there is hope in the distance

From cathedrals to third world missions

Love will fall to the earth like a crashing wave

TobyMac, City On Our Knees

I’m going through Radical by David Platt for the second time now. This time slowly, so that I can take in and digest the truths he has written. And one thing is painfully clear: things have to change. If I’m going to follow Christ, I must follow Him in they way He commanded and not how my culture has deemed acceptable. Jesus has no time for casual Christians. The Father seeks worshipers and has commissioned His children to go find them no matter the cost. And while the cost is great, the reward is greater. See, Jesus is the reward. And He is enough!

While I currently give to international mission efforts, and plan to give more in the future, I’m not going to the international mission fields anytime soon. The fields in Pierce County, GA are white unto harvest and the laborers are few. So the place is here and the time is now to go and make disciples. People right here, right now, are dying without the truth. Sure, we’re in the Bible belt and most people here have at least heard of Jesus. But what “Jesus”? The one Joel Osteen and Benny Hinn preach about, who for a fee will give you your best life now and maybe even heal you? Or the Jesus of the Bible who commanded anyone who would follow Him to deny themselves daily. And have they ever seen the Gospel lived out? Or do they just see people gather week after week in padded pews and climate controlled buildings? As my awesome pastor says, “They see the church, but do they see the Church?” So I will go. For the glory of my Savior, I will go. And whatever comes, He will lead and guide me.

I encourage you to read Radical, thoroughly and carefully. I have seen many reviews where people have taken David Platt to say that poverty is the way to holiness and having wealth is evil. These people have missed the whole heart of the book. Two questions you must answer for yourself while reading this book are, “Is this author telling the truth?” and “If he is, what am I going to do about it?”